Daniel Johnston
Encyclopedia
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American
singer, songwriter
, musician
, and artist
. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
. He currently lives in Waller, Texas
.
Johnston has been diagnosed with manic depression and schizophrenia
which has been a recurring problem throughout his life.
, and grew up in the northern panhandle of West Virginia
between Ohio
and Pennsylvania
near Chester
and New Cumberland
, West Virginia
. He began recording music in the late 1970s on a $59 Sanyo
monaural
Boombox
, singing and playing piano
and chord organ
. Following graduation from Oak Glen High School, Johnston spent a few weeks at Abilene Christian University
in West Texas, but soon dropped out. Later he attended the East Liverpool
branch of Kent State University
.
. Johnston began to attract the attention of the local press and gain a following augmented in numbers by his habit of handing out tapes to people he met. Live performances were well-attended and hotly anticipated.
His local standing led to him being featured in a 1985 episode of the MTV
program The Cutting Edge featuring performers from Austin's "New Sincerity
" music scene. Subsequently he performed at the 1985 Woodshock music festival in Austin, where he was featured in a short documentary of the festival, Woodshock.
In 1988, Johnston visited New York City and recorded 1990 with producer Kramer
at his Noise New York studio. It was released in 1990 on Kramer's Shimmy-Disc label. This was Johnston's first experience in a professional recording environment after a decade of releasing home-made cassette recordings. His mental health further deteriorated during the making of 1990.
Interest in Johnston increased when Kurt Cobain
was frequently photographed wearing a t-shirt featuring the cover image of Johnston's album Hi, How Are You
which music journalist Everett True
gave him. In spite of Johnston being resident in a mental hospital
at the time, a bidding war to sign him ensued. He refused to sign a multi-album deal with Elektra Records
because Metallica
was on the label's roster and he was convinced that they were possessed
by Satan
and would hurt him. He also dropped his manager who brokered the deal, because Johnston believed he too was possessed by Satan. Ultimately he signed with Atlantic Records
and released Fun
, produced by Paul Leary
of Butthole Surfers
in 1994.
Johnston contributed two songs to the soundtrack for Larry Clark
's controversial 1995 film Kids
, produced by Folk Implosion and Sebadoh
's frontman, Lou Barlow
. Johnston later covered Schoolhouse Rock!
s "Unpack Your Adjectives" for a compilation of the popular education songs called Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks
in 1996. In 1989 Johnston released the album It's Spooky
in collaboration with Half Japanese
singer Jad Fair
.
In 1990, Johnston played at a music festival in Austin, Texas. On the way back to West Virginia on a small, private two-seater plane piloted by his father Bill, Johnston had a hypomanic
episode believing he was Casper The Friendly Ghost
and removed the key from the planes ignition and threw it out of the plane. His father, a former Air Force
pilot, managed to successfully crash-land the plane, even though "there was nothing down there but trees". Although the plane was destroyed, Johnston and his father emerged with only minor injuries. As a result of this episode, Johnston was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.
In 2004, he released The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered
, a two-disc compilation. The first disc featured many artists, such as Tom Waits
, Beck
, TV on the Radio
, Jad Fair, Eels
, Bright Eyes, Calvin Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie
, Sparklehorse
, Mercury Rev
and The Flaming Lips
covering songs written by Johnston. The second disc featured Johnston's original recordings of the songs.
In 2005, Texas-based theater company Infernal Bridegroom Productions
received a Multi-Arts Production/MAP Fund grant to work with Johnston to create a rock opera
based on his music, titled Speeding Motorcycle.
A 2005, Dutch
documentary about Johnston for the TV series R.A.M. was followed in 2006 by The Devil and Daniel Johnston
. Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary, four years in the making, collated some of the vast amount of recorded material Johnston (and in some case, others) had produced over the years to portray his life and music. The film won high praise, receiving the Director's Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
. The film also inspired more interest in Johnston's work, such as the film's theme song, "I Had Lost My Mind
", and increased his pull as a touring artist.
In 2006, Johnston's own Eternal Yip Eye Music label released his first greatest hits compilation, Welcome to My World. He also appeared as musical guest on The Henry Rollins Show
on which he performed "Mask" and "Care Less" (the latter was exclusive to the internet).
Through the next few years Johnston toured extensively across the world, and continued to attract press attention. In 2008, Dick Johnston, Daniel's brother and manager, revealed that "a movie deal based on the artist's life and music had been finalized with a tentative 2011 release." He also said that a deal had been struck with the Converse company for a "signature series" Daniel Johnston shoe. Later, it was revealed by Dick Johnston that Converse had dropped the plan. In late 2008, Adjustable Productions released Johnston's first concert DVD, The Angel and Daniel Johnston – Live at the Union Chapel, featuring a 2007 appearance in Islington
, London
.
On January 31, 2009, Daniel Johnston joined the band The Swell Season
on a broadcast of Austin City Limits
(previously recorded on September 28, 2008) to perform the song "Life in Vain".
His latest album, Is and Always Was
, was released on October 6, 2009 on his Eternal Yip Eye Music record label. In 2009, it was announced that Matt Groening
had chosen Johnston to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties
festival that he curated in May 2010 in Minehead, England
. Later that year, he was invited by rock band Cage the Elephant
to appear at Starry Nights Fest, an upstart music festival in Bowling Green, Kentucky
. Johnston performed a brief solo set before being joined on stage by Cage, who backed performances of several songs, including "Speeding Motorcycle" and "True Love Will Find You in the End."
In January 2011, it was announced that Daniel Johnston would be performing at the Middle of the Map Fest in Kansas City, Missouri
.
writes that Johnston's recordings range from "spotty to brilliant."
and New York's Clementine Gallery. both in 2006, and the 2008 Liverpool Biennial
. Currently his work is being exhibited as "The Museum of Love" at Verge Gallery in Sacramento, California
.
In 1993 Johnston was commissioned to paint a mural
of the Hi, How Are You? frog (also known as "Jeremiah the Innocent") from his 1983 album cover
on the side of the Sound Exchange record store located on the corner of 21st and Guadalupe in Austin, Texas
(the "Drag"). At the time, the frog image had recently become nationally recognized from media images of Kurt Cobain
wearing a "Hi, How Are You?" t-shirt during Nirvana's promotion of their 1991 album Nevermind
. The building remained unoccupied until 2004 when a mexican grill franchise called Baja Fresh
took ownership and decided to paint over the mural. Diego Gonzalez Joven, an international student from The University of Texas at Austin convinced the managers and contractors to keep the mural intact, later that year it became a sushi and thai restaurant called Crave. In Spring 2008, a Jeremiah the Innocent collectible figurine was released in limited runs of four different colors.
As of June 2010, a biopic about Johnston's life featuring Gabriel Sunday of My Suicide
is in production.
platform game
called "Hi, How Are You". The game is similar to Frogger
, but features Johnston's art and music.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a 2006 documentary film about the noted American artist Daniel Johnston. It chronicles Johnston's life from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his experiences with bipolar disorder, and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession. The film was...
. He currently lives in Waller, Texas
Waller, Texas
Waller is a city in Texas, United States, partly in Waller County and partly in Harris County within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 2,092 at the 2000 census. The Waller area is located along U.S. Highway 290 forty-one miles northwest of Downtown...
.
Johnston has been diagnosed with manic depression and schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
which has been a recurring problem throughout his life.
Early life
Johnston was born in Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, and grew up in the northern panhandle of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
between Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
near Chester
Chester, West Virginia
Chester is a city in Hancock County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,592 at the 2000 census. Chester was established in 1896, but not incorporated until 1907. The city is...
and New Cumberland
New Cumberland, West Virginia
New Cumberland is a city in Hancock County, West Virginia, USA, along the Ohio River. It is the county seat and is part of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,099 as of the 2000 census.-History:...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. He began recording music in the late 1970s on a $59 Sanyo
Sanyo
is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....
monaural
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
Boombox
Boombox
Boombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox, or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music , usually at relatively high volume...
, singing and playing piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and chord organ
Chord organ
The chord organ is a kind of home organ with a keyboard and a set of chord buttons, enabling the musician to play a melody or lead with one hand and accompanying chords with the other, like the accordion....
. Following graduation from Oak Glen High School, Johnston spent a few weeks at Abilene Christian University
Abilene Christian University
Abilene Christian University is a private university located in Abilene, Texas, affiliated with Churches of Christ. ACU was founded in 1906, as Childers Classical Institute...
in West Texas, but soon dropped out. Later he attended the East Liverpool
East Liverpool, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,089 people, 5,261 households, and 3,424 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,010.3 people per square mile . There were 5,743 housing units at an average density of 1,320.8 per square mile...
branch of Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
.
Music career
Johnston's musical work gained some notoriety when he moved to Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. Johnston began to attract the attention of the local press and gain a following augmented in numbers by his habit of handing out tapes to people he met. Live performances were well-attended and hotly anticipated.
His local standing led to him being featured in a 1985 episode of the MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
program The Cutting Edge featuring performers from Austin's "New Sincerity
New Sincerity
New sincerity is a term that has been used in music, aesthetics, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy, generally to describe art or concepts that run against prevailing modes of postmodernist irony or cynicism.-New sincerity in music:...
" music scene. Subsequently he performed at the 1985 Woodshock music festival in Austin, where he was featured in a short documentary of the festival, Woodshock.
In 1988, Johnston visited New York City and recorded 1990 with producer Kramer
Mark Kramer
Mark Kramer , known professionally as Kramer, is a musician, composer, record producer and founder of the New York City record label Shimmy-Disc...
at his Noise New York studio. It was released in 1990 on Kramer's Shimmy-Disc label. This was Johnston's first experience in a professional recording environment after a decade of releasing home-made cassette recordings. His mental health further deteriorated during the making of 1990.
Interest in Johnston increased when Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
was frequently photographed wearing a t-shirt featuring the cover image of Johnston's album Hi, How Are You
Hi, How Are You
Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album is the sixth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in September 1983. It is arguably his most popular album. Johnston claims he almost had a nervous breakdown recording it and calls this his "unfinished album."The...
which music journalist Everett True
Everett True
For the cartoon character, see The Outbursts of Everett True.Everett True is a British music journalist, who grew up in Chelmsford, Essex...
gave him. In spite of Johnston being resident in a mental hospital
Mental Hospital
Mental hospital may refer to:*Psychiatric hospital*hospital in Nepal named Mental Hospital...
at the time, a bidding war to sign him ensued. He refused to sign a multi-album deal with Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
because Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
was on the label's roster and he was convinced that they were possessed
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
by Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
and would hurt him. He also dropped his manager who brokered the deal, because Johnston believed he too was possessed by Satan. Ultimately he signed with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
and released Fun
Fun (album)
Fun is an album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston. It was his first major label release, as well as his only album for Atlantic Records...
, produced by Paul Leary
Paul Leary
Paul Leary is an American musician from Austin, TX, best known as the guitarist for American rock band Butthole Surfers. He is also the producer of a number of songs and albums by other bands, including U2, Sublime, the Meat Puppets, Daniel Johnston, The Reverend Horton Heat, Pepper, Maggie...
of Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
in 1994.
Johnston contributed two songs to the soundtrack for Larry Clark
Larry Clark
Lawrence Donald "Larry" Clark is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for the movie Kids and his photography book Tulsa...
's controversial 1995 film Kids
Kids (film)
Kids is a 1995 drama film written by Harmony Korine and directed by Larry Clark.The film features Chloë Sevigny, Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Harold Hunter, and Rosario Dawson, all of them in their debut performances...
, produced by Folk Implosion and Sebadoh
Sebadoh
Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
's frontman, Lou Barlow
Lou Barlow
Louis Knox Barlow is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion. Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
. Johnston later covered Schoolhouse Rock!
Schoolhouse Rock!
Schoolhouse Rock! is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming on the U.S. television network ABC. The topics covered included grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics...
s "Unpack Your Adjectives" for a compilation of the popular education songs called Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks
Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks
Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks is a tribute album based on the Emmy Award-winning animated TV series, Schoolhouse Rock!. It was released by Atlantic/Hollywood Records in 1996 and contains 15 tracks, the original "Schoolhouse Rocky" theme and covers of 14 songs from the series performed by popular music...
in 1996. In 1989 Johnston released the album It's Spooky
It's Spooky
It's Spooky is a collaboration album by musicians Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair, of the band Half Japanese. It was first released in 1989 on 50 Skidillion Watts Records, under the title Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston. It was re-issued on CD in 1993 on Paperhouse...
in collaboration with Half Japanese
Half Japanese
Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in their Coldwater, Michigan bedroom around 1975. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out of tune guitar...
singer Jad Fair
Jad Fair
Jad Fair is an American singer, guitarist and graphic artist, most famous for being a founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.-Biography:In 1974, with his brother David, Jad Fair founded the lo-fi group Half Japanese...
.
In 1990, Johnston played at a music festival in Austin, Texas. On the way back to West Virginia on a small, private two-seater plane piloted by his father Bill, Johnston had a hypomanic
Hypomania
Hypomania is a mood state characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated or irritable mood, as well as thoughts and behaviors that are consistent with such a mood state...
episode believing he was Casper The Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. As his name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite personable...
and removed the key from the planes ignition and threw it out of the plane. His father, a former Air Force
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
pilot, managed to successfully crash-land the plane, even though "there was nothing down there but trees". Although the plane was destroyed, Johnston and his father emerged with only minor injuries. As a result of this episode, Johnston was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.
In 2004, he released The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered
The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered
The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered is a 2004 Gammon Records two-disc set. The first disc features covers of Daniel Johnston songs by a variety of different artists...
, a two-disc compilation. The first disc featured many artists, such as Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
, TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music....
, Jad Fair, Eels
Eels (band)
Eels is an American indie rock band formed by singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E...
, Bright Eyes, Calvin Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
, Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous.-History:Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success...
, Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
and The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
covering songs written by Johnston. The second disc featured Johnston's original recordings of the songs.
In 2005, Texas-based theater company Infernal Bridegroom Productions
Infernal Bridegroom Productions
Infernal Bridegroom Productions was a theater company located in Houston, Texas, formed in 1993 and dissolved in 2007. IBP garnered national attention when it was featured on the cover of American Theatre in September, 2002, for its original play, We Have Some Planes, by Brian Jucha, about the...
received a Multi-Arts Production/MAP Fund grant to work with Johnston to create a rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
based on his music, titled Speeding Motorcycle.
A 2005, Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
documentary about Johnston for the TV series R.A.M. was followed in 2006 by The Devil and Daniel Johnston
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a 2006 documentary film about the noted American artist Daniel Johnston. It chronicles Johnston's life from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his experiences with bipolar disorder, and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession. The film was...
. Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary, four years in the making, collated some of the vast amount of recorded material Johnston (and in some case, others) had produced over the years to portray his life and music. The film won high praise, receiving the Director's Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. The film also inspired more interest in Johnston's work, such as the film's theme song, "I Had Lost My Mind
I Had Lost My Mind
"I Had Lost My Mind" is a song by famed alternative rock musician Daniel Johnston. It was first released on his album Don't Be Scared, self-recorded and released in 1982. The song subsequently became the major theme song of the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston....
", and increased his pull as a touring artist.
In 2006, Johnston's own Eternal Yip Eye Music label released his first greatest hits compilation, Welcome to My World. He also appeared as musical guest on The Henry Rollins Show
The Henry Rollins Show
The Henry Rollins Show was a weekly talk show hosted by Henry Rollins on the Independent Film Channel . The show featured Rollins' monologues, interviews with celebrities and uncensored musical performances. The show was canceled after the wrap of its second season.-Sections:Each episode features...
on which he performed "Mask" and "Care Less" (the latter was exclusive to the internet).
Through the next few years Johnston toured extensively across the world, and continued to attract press attention. In 2008, Dick Johnston, Daniel's brother and manager, revealed that "a movie deal based on the artist's life and music had been finalized with a tentative 2011 release." He also said that a deal had been struck with the Converse company for a "signature series" Daniel Johnston shoe. Later, it was revealed by Dick Johnston that Converse had dropped the plan. In late 2008, Adjustable Productions released Johnston's first concert DVD, The Angel and Daniel Johnston – Live at the Union Chapel, featuring a 2007 appearance in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
On January 31, 2009, Daniel Johnston joined the band The Swell Season
The Swell Season
The Swell Season is a folk rock duo formed by Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová. "The Swell Season" name is derived from Hansard's favourite novel by Josef Škvorecký from 1975 bearing the same title...
on a broadcast of Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
(previously recorded on September 28, 2008) to perform the song "Life in Vain".
His latest album, Is and Always Was
Is and Always Was
Is And Always Was is a studio album by Daniel Johnston released in 2009. The album is noted for its upbeat sound in comparison to previous albums.-Track listing:All songs written by Daniel Johnston.# "Mind Movies" – 3:01...
, was released on October 6, 2009 on his Eternal Yip Eye Music record label. In 2009, it was announced that Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
had chosen Johnston to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival that he curated in May 2010 in Minehead, England
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the border with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National Park...
. Later that year, he was invited by rock band Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant is an American rock band from Bowling Green, Kentucky, that formed in mid-2006. Since their formation, the band has gained a large following in the US as well as the UK and Canada for their sound and their high-energy live performances. The band released their self-titled debut...
to appear at Starry Nights Fest, an upstart music festival in Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
. Johnston performed a brief solo set before being joined on stage by Cage, who backed performances of several songs, including "Speeding Motorcycle" and "True Love Will Find You in the End."
In January 2011, it was announced that Daniel Johnston would be performing at the Middle of the Map Fest in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
.
Reviews
One critic from Pitchfork MediaPitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
writes that Johnston's recordings range from "spotty to brilliant."
Art career
His artwork is shown in galleries such as in London's Aquarium GalleryAquarium Gallery
The Aquarium L-13 was a contemporary commercial art gallery run by Steve Lowe. It was originally based in a Georgian building in Bloomsbury, London, and then moved to Farringdon...
and New York's Clementine Gallery. both in 2006, and the 2008 Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial is a British international festival of contemporary art held in Liverpool. The festival comprises the International Exhibition, the John Moores Painting Prize, the Bloomberg New Contemporaries Exhibition and the Independents Biennial....
. Currently his work is being exhibited as "The Museum of Love" at Verge Gallery in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
.
In 1993 Johnston was commissioned to paint a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
of the Hi, How Are You? frog (also known as "Jeremiah the Innocent") from his 1983 album cover
Hi, How Are You
Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album is the sixth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in September 1983. It is arguably his most popular album. Johnston claims he almost had a nervous breakdown recording it and calls this his "unfinished album."The...
on the side of the Sound Exchange record store located on the corner of 21st and Guadalupe in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
(the "Drag"). At the time, the frog image had recently become nationally recognized from media images of Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
wearing a "Hi, How Are You?" t-shirt during Nirvana's promotion of their 1991 album Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
. The building remained unoccupied until 2004 when a mexican grill franchise called Baja Fresh
Baja Fresh
Baja Fresh is a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California in 1990 and headquartered in Cypress, California. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, and each restaurant features a self-serve salsa bar....
took ownership and decided to paint over the mural. Diego Gonzalez Joven, an international student from The University of Texas at Austin convinced the managers and contractors to keep the mural intact, later that year it became a sushi and thai restaurant called Crave. In Spring 2008, a Jeremiah the Innocent collectible figurine was released in limited runs of four different colors.
As of June 2010, a biopic about Johnston's life featuring Gabriel Sunday of My Suicide
My Suicide
Archie's Final Project is a teen dramedy feature film directed by David Lee Miller and starring Gabriel Sunday. It won the best feature film prize for the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival's youth film section Generation 14plus...
is in production.
New media
Daniel Johnston worked with Dr. Fun Fun and Smashing Studios to develop an iPhoneIPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
called "Hi, How Are You". The game is similar to Frogger
Frogger
Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one. To do this, each frog must avoid cars while crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of...
, but features Johnston's art and music.
Official
- Hi How Are You: Daniel Johnston's official website (maintained by the Johnston family)
- Daniel Johnston's official fan website (also maintained by the Johnstons)
- Daniel Johnston's digital download site (also maintained by the Johnstons)
- Daniel Johnston's Book "Hi, How Are You?" (maintained by Jack Medicine)
Other
- New York Times article on Daniel Johnston (Feb 2006)
- Daniel Johnston on MusicAustin
- Secret Tones review of The Devil and Daniel Johnston (by John Barron)
- 2001 Daniel Johnston interview with Jon Niccum
- "Songs of Pain" interview with Daniel Johnston (Apr. 2008) on MonsterFresh.com
- Daniel Johnston, Paris, 2007
- Exclusive Images of unreleased Daniel Johnston signature model Converse
- Feature on Daniel Johnston in German magazine ZOO, Summer 2005