Posted: 11 months ago
Date: 21 June 2012
Notes: 13 notes
Tagged as: cloud room. shoot the freak. devon craig johnson.
Interview: Devon Craig Johnson
Date: 21 June 2012
Notes: 13 notes
Tagged as: cloud room. shoot the freak. devon craig johnson.
Devon Craig Johnson is what you call a Renaissance Man, which is to say, he does a little bit of everything (and everything he does well). You might have seen his face on an ad for music software or glasses. You might have heard his music or danced to his dj sets. He might be producing your new favorite band. With a keen ear for producing and a willingness to try anything, he is definitely a New York “person to watch.”
I asked him about everything he does (it took a while), and how to run with what life throws at you.
S: So what do you say when people ask what you do, you say DJ and Producing?
D: Depends on who’s asking. But no, what I do is, generally I stay at home re-watching the Wire, catching up on episodes of tv that I refuse to watch on tv.
S: I’ll watch HBO while its on.
D: Yeah, I’ll watch cool tv, on my own time, but I am not going to be a slave to the channel. When I want to watch Game of Thrones, I’m gonna watch it when I feel like it. So yeah, the first thing I say is producer. And I used to be very shy about saying that. Because you know, I’m not a real producer, I don’t have songs on the radio, I’m not working with big names or anything like that. Finally people helped convince me that it was necessary, that that’s what I’m doing. You say it, and that’s what you do. So that’s my ultimate goal I think. I love playing music but I wouldn’t bet the house on my musician skills, I would on my producing skills. So I would say first and foremost I’m a producer, that’s my main aspiration, and everything else is sort of auxiliary to that. I find other ways to keep the income steady so that I only work on things I want to work on, production-wise. So I do the DJ thing, the modeling and acting thing. I mean, take my picture, I’ll take your money. Its funny, none of this stuff, none of it gets in the way.
D: Depends on who’s asking. But no, what I do is, generally I stay at home re-watching the Wire, catching up on episodes of tv that I refuse to watch on tv.
S: I’ll watch HBO while its on.
D: Yeah, I’ll watch cool tv, on my own time, but I am not going to be a slave to the channel. When I want to watch Game of Thrones, I’m gonna watch it when I feel like it. So yeah, the first thing I say is producer. And I used to be very shy about saying that. Because you know, I’m not a real producer, I don’t have songs on the radio, I’m not working with big names or anything like that. Finally people helped convince me that it was necessary, that that’s what I’m doing. You say it, and that’s what you do. So that’s my ultimate goal I think. I love playing music but I wouldn’t bet the house on my musician skills, I would on my producing skills. So I would say first and foremost I’m a producer, that’s my main aspiration, and everything else is sort of auxiliary to that. I find other ways to keep the income steady so that I only work on things I want to work on, production-wise. So I do the DJ thing, the modeling and acting thing. I mean, take my picture, I’ll take your money. Its funny, none of this stuff, none of it gets in the way.
On going to school for stage management and theater tech and realizing halfway through he wanted to do music:
D: So I went to school for something I don’t really use but I don’t regret it, because it all informed the way I think and organize and I’m sure it happened that way for a reason. And maybe because of that, music and all this other stuff is really fresh for me. It’s fresh and exciting for me at this age because it wasn’t a scholarly thing. I always think, oh I wish I went to school for music, and I finally realized maybe it wouldn’t have been right. Maybe it would have been a little more stale. But I’m figuring out so much on my own, production-wise, from reading books and magazines and looking stuff up and just diving in.
On how to join a band you’re a fan of:
(The Cloud Room’s “Hey Now Now” was on Rolling Stone’s Top 10 Singles of 2006, along with such hits as “Hollaback Girl.” The success of the single led to a quickly put together album. Now they have a new album out, 7 years in the making and very different from the first. DCJ currently plays guitar for them.)
D: I met J, the lead singer, when we were both working in a restaurant, and J was like “oh I have a band,” and I’m like “oh yeah, everybody has a band,” and then sometime randomly he told me what his band was and I was like “oh shit man, I know your band!” I think I weirded him out because I told him the whole story of his band and how they had to record the album and what happened, and I guess from that he was like, “well i guess if you know so much about the band, you should join us!
On pick-up lines:
D: I met this girl at work…she had this shaved side, hair comb-over thing, rock and roll, awesome, and the only thing I could think to tell her, I was like, “I am going to start a band with you whether you like it or not. If you don’t play an instrument we’ll figure something out. But if you’re not in front of a band…you’re not doing it right.
S: Not living up to your potential.
D: You’re not, you’re not. You look like you should be doing this, it’ll change your life. Date me. That’s my pickup line. LADIES.
On producing Emily Danger Band:
(Friend Emily Nicholas mentioned that she was doing music, and after seeing a few live performances he knew they had something unique.)
S: What was the recording process like?
D: It was one of those that you talk about, like if something happens in the future, you talk about those magic days in the beginning, and it did feel like that.
We worked on dirtying up Emily’s classical training, to find a sound that was vulnerable and emotional more than pretty and perfect, so that its not so much like a girl singing, in the best way possible, but someone conveying a story, and you can’t do that being perfect.
[To record] we went to this converted barn upstate-
S: What is this trend, I swear, every band is like, ‘Well we went out to this cabin…”
D: I know, it’s so cliche, that could be the next pickup line after “What’s the name of your band,” “So what barn did you record your album in?”
S: Are you a perfectionist?
D: I don’t think I’m a perfectionist, because I don’t have an idea of perfect, but I do think I have a really discerning ear for what’s good. I don’t have really fancy equipment, but mixing it I’m comparing it to Adele’s records and Fiona Apple, and those are recorded in million dollar studios, and I can hear the difference, so that sort of stresses me out. So I just have to accept that I’m working within my means.
On how to join a band you’re a fan of:
(The Cloud Room’s “Hey Now Now” was on Rolling Stone’s Top 10 Singles of 2006, along with such hits as “Hollaback Girl.” The success of the single led to a quickly put together album. Now they have a new album out, 7 years in the making and very different from the first. DCJ currently plays guitar for them.)
D: I met J, the lead singer, when we were both working in a restaurant, and J was like “oh I have a band,” and I’m like “oh yeah, everybody has a band,” and then sometime randomly he told me what his band was and I was like “oh shit man, I know your band!” I think I weirded him out because I told him the whole story of his band and how they had to record the album and what happened, and I guess from that he was like, “well i guess if you know so much about the band, you should join us!
On pick-up lines:
D: I met this girl at work…she had this shaved side, hair comb-over thing, rock and roll, awesome, and the only thing I could think to tell her, I was like, “I am going to start a band with you whether you like it or not. If you don’t play an instrument we’ll figure something out. But if you’re not in front of a band…you’re not doing it right.
S: Not living up to your potential.
D: You’re not, you’re not. You look like you should be doing this, it’ll change your life. Date me. That’s my pickup line. LADIES.
On producing Emily Danger Band:
(Friend Emily Nicholas mentioned that she was doing music, and after seeing a few live performances he knew they had something unique.)
S: What was the recording process like?
D: It was one of those that you talk about, like if something happens in the future, you talk about those magic days in the beginning, and it did feel like that.
We worked on dirtying up Emily’s classical training, to find a sound that was vulnerable and emotional more than pretty and perfect, so that its not so much like a girl singing, in the best way possible, but someone conveying a story, and you can’t do that being perfect.
[To record] we went to this converted barn upstate-
S: What is this trend, I swear, every band is like, ‘Well we went out to this cabin…”
D: I know, it’s so cliche, that could be the next pickup line after “What’s the name of your band,” “So what barn did you record your album in?”
S: Are you a perfectionist?
D: I don’t think I’m a perfectionist, because I don’t have an idea of perfect, but I do think I have a really discerning ear for what’s good. I don’t have really fancy equipment, but mixing it I’m comparing it to Adele’s records and Fiona Apple, and those are recorded in million dollar studios, and I can hear the difference, so that sort of stresses me out. So I just have to accept that I’m working within my means.
On how struggling makes you appreciate things more, in terms of New York weather and life:
D: You appreciate things more when you know what it’s like to be without. When its super fucking cold out and then the sun comes out it is a GLORIOUS thing.
S: What would be your ideal venue/occasion to DJ?
D: Something on a raised platform where I can lord over the people and put my hands up and they put their hands up, and then I put my hands down and they put their hands down.
S: Sounds like you should go into televangelism.
D: That’s kind of what its like sometimes. ‘And then they said “Thank you DJ!”’
S: And then he played a remix, and it was good.
D: My favorite thing honestly are house parties. Because people are down to dance. There’s no agenda for them, and my favorite thing would be to mix the indie danceable fun stuff with Top 40….my ideal DJ set would be something informal like that, but maybe in a club situation where it’s always packed and people dance because they want to dance, they’ll dance if there’s a beat, they’re not like “I don’t know this song.”
D: Something on a raised platform where I can lord over the people and put my hands up and they put their hands up, and then I put my hands down and they put their hands down.
S: Sounds like you should go into televangelism.
D: That’s kind of what its like sometimes. ‘And then they said “Thank you DJ!”’
S: And then he played a remix, and it was good.
D: My favorite thing honestly are house parties. Because people are down to dance. There’s no agenda for them, and my favorite thing would be to mix the indie danceable fun stuff with Top 40….my ideal DJ set would be something informal like that, but maybe in a club situation where it’s always packed and people dance because they want to dance, they’ll dance if there’s a beat, they’re not like “I don’t know this song.”
S: Favorite New York bands/artists?
D: Matt Sucich, I’m obviously biased. That boy hustles, man. And whatever success comes to him, he deserves.
Hohme is pretty legit, but everyone already knows that.
S: What was your favorite book growing up?
D: When I was a kid, Charlotte’s Web. That resonated with me for some reason, and The Giver…I would love to go back and read those books as an adult and see how it resonates.
On grammar:
D: I read something about dashes and how to use a dash and that’s when I checked out. Nah, that’s too much, I’ll just struggle with the semicolon…you gotta pick your battles.
Hohme is pretty legit, but everyone already knows that.
S: What was your favorite book growing up?
D: When I was a kid, Charlotte’s Web. That resonated with me for some reason, and The Giver…I would love to go back and read those books as an adult and see how it resonates.
On grammar:
D: I read something about dashes and how to use a dash and that’s when I checked out. Nah, that’s too much, I’ll just struggle with the semicolon…you gotta pick your battles.
On the big picture:
D: I don’t have a specific plan, it’s not like, in five years I’m gonna be here and I’m gonna be there and I’m gonna be doing this. For me its making myself available for as many opportunities as possible. When things start happening, that’s when I start hustling after it…After luck, I hustle. You don’t know what’s going to make it for you.
D: I don’t have a specific plan, it’s not like, in five years I’m gonna be here and I’m gonna be there and I’m gonna be doing this. For me its making myself available for as many opportunities as possible. When things start happening, that’s when I start hustling after it…After luck, I hustle. You don’t know what’s going to make it for you.
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