Johnny Faslane
Johnny Faslane, quiet, unassuming, and with appalling dress sense. He's not been on any of the front covers...yet, but he's an undeniable central character in the Cold Steel novels.
Johnny is the manager of Cold Steel. He was imposed on the band during Cold Steel on the Rocks, when their previous manager, Andreas P, fell foul of the Japanese police, and with good reason, although you'll have to read the book to find out why.
Johnny's the most unlikely looking manager of a metal band. He's got receding hair, and while he should submit to Mother Nature and get it cut short, he wears it in a ponytail, Francis Rossi style. He also habitually wears leather pants and cowboy boots. He's got a lot of things going for him, but dress sense isn't one of them. Maybe Rachel Shaw will be able to do something about that....maybe not.
When we first meet them, Cold Steel are premier league, and Johnny is barely any league, but Ozone Records still made him the band's manager. They saw his potential, even if Cold Steel didn't. The band didn't take kindly to him to begin with, and he had to work really hard to earn their respect.
And the band had to do the same to earn his.
Although he isn't a musician, heavy metal flows through Johnny's veins. He lives it, eats it, breathes it just as much as anyone in Cold Steel, just as much as any other metal musician. And because it moves him, lifts him, is him, when he manages a band, he's got their back every step of the way.
And if Johnny's passionate about the music, then that means he's doing his best for his band, although what's best for the band isn't always what they want to do, so there are always plenty of fireworks along the way.
Johnny can always see the bigger picture, but the band usually can't, which is the focus of many of their disagreements, but when it's all said and done, Johnny wouldn't have it any other way.
He's loyal, organised, strict when he has to be, and blessed with a very inventive mind, which is just what he needs to keep Cold Steel both out of trouble, and still in work.
In short, he's probably the best manager any band ever had, although Cold Steel are probably the last band to actually see it.
Faslane isn't Johnny's real surname. There's a definite link to the Scottish submarine base, but you'll have to read one of the books to find out what it is.
If my books were ever filmed, and if I was ever asked, who would I get to play Johnny? Well, receding hairline would be a first requirement. I was thinking Benedict Cumberbach or Ralph Fiennes for the role. They're both fab actors, but they're probably a bit heavyweight and serious for the role. So my choice would be Tom Felton.
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