In 1985, Daniel Johnston roamed the streets of Austin, Texas, passing out cassette
recordings of his primitive homemade songcraft to just about anyone he encountered.
Someday, he told people, his music was going to make him famous, really famous.
Beyond the simple wish that people hear his songs, he wanted the glory, the
adulation, even the pitfalls, just like his idols (and occasional songwriting
subject), the Beatles.
So far, things haven't quite worked out that way. On a cult level, Johnston has
never wanted for attention. His career was only a few months old when he earned a
slot on an all-Austin episode of MTV's The Cutting Edge. Since then, he has been a
celebrated denizen of the underground, and literally scores of artistes have covered
his work, celebrating what they consider to be Johnston's absolute genius:
quavering, disarmingly honest songs that are - behind the crude execution -
memorable, intelligent and prodigiously crafted.
But for all its power and singularity, Daniel Johnston's music has not been his sole
drawing card. A manic depressive who is gentle, funny, good-natured and even sharp
when at ease, Johnston is also given to spectacular flights of fancy and frightening
violent spells. Hi How Are You, the tape that first brought him wide recognition,
was recorded during a nervous breakdown in 1983. On the 1986 evening he appeared
on MTV, Johnston was in the Austin State Hospital, having attacked his first manager
amid bouts of increasing incoherence, the result of an acid trip that has had
lifelong consequences. To many, Johnston is simply "that crazy guy," notorious
mainly for his bizarre but ultimately tragic adventures that invariably end with
him confined to the hospital or in the care of his ageing, long-suffering parents.
But it could also be the worst thing that has ever happened to him. That's because
Daniel Johnston's life and career seem to mirror the lockstep pattern of his illness.
Excessive attention always sends him over the edge, the best times inevitable
precursors to the worst. A recording session in Maryland was followed by an
incident where Johnston chased a woman out her 2nd floor window because he thought
she had the devil in her. Whilst being flown home to West Virginia after playing
the 1990 Austin Music Awards, Johnston - convinced his pilot father was possessed
by satan and taking Daniel to be executed - caused the plane to crash-land.
Daniel has spent the last 14 or so years exposing his heartrending tales of
unrequited love, cosmic mishaps, and existential torment to an ever-growing
international cult audience. Initiates, including a healthy number of discerning
musicians and critics, have hailed him as an American original in the style of
bluesman Robert Johnson and country legend Hank Williams. A growing number of
artists - among them Yo La Tengo, Sonic Boom, former Velvet Underground drummer Mo
Tucker and even Johnny Depp! - have covered Daniel’s songs. He’s also collaborated
with the likes of Jad Fair, the Butthole Surfers, Kramer, and members of Sonic Youth.
Daniel gained his widest public exposure to date when, at the 1992 MTV Music Awards,
Kurt Cobain (who constantly touted Daniel in interviews) wore Johnston’s ‘Hi How Are
You?’ T-shirt. Simpson’s creator, Matt Groening - a big fan of Johnston’s - even
toyed with the idea of using ‘Rocketship’ as the theme to Futurama.
The bulk of his considerable acclaim snowballed from a series of homemade, lo-fi
cassettes which Daniel started recording and handing out to fans and friends alike
in his adopted hometown of Austin in the early 80s. Local indie label, Stress
Records, picked up on these, and continue to sell these cassette-only releases
today. Eventually, New York independent, Homestead, re-issued some of these
tapes on CD and vinyl, and Johnston recorded further new albums in almost-proper
studios.
In the spring of 1992, the Lyon Opera Ballet commissioned a piece from world-renowned
choreographer Bill T.Jones. "Love Defined", a 25-minute piece set to six songs
from Johnston's Yip/Jump Music, was premiered in France, and later performed
throughout Europe, as well as New York. Daniel himself refused to see the ballet,
expressing little interest in watching "a bunch of weird people jump around.
Cult film maker Richard Linklater featured Daniel’s music in both ‘Slacker’ and
‘Before Sunrise’, and two of Johnston’s songs were featured in the hit movie, ‘Kids’.
Alongside his his music, Daniel has always drawn and painted. His art, like his
music, is very direct and almost childlike in its honesty. It has none of the
knowing cleverness of the much-championed contemporary art. His artwork and music
share many of the same concerns, such as battles between ‘good’ and ‘evil’, and
are played out in an array of comic characters, many of his own creation. Over
the years, Johnston’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited extensively around
Europe and America.
In 1994, after negotiations with Elektra had collapsed, Johnston signed to Atlantic
Records, who released the ‘Fun’ album. Daniel was suffering from deep depression
during the making of this album, and didn’t actually play any instruments on it.
Although it contains many fine songs, it lacks the magic of his earlier work.
Promotion of the album was low-key by major label standards, and with Daniel not
being able to tour because of his mental state, sales of the record fell way below
Atlantic’s expectations. Daniel was subsequently dropped by the label in 1997.
However, now free from the pressures of a major label deal, Daniel’s health
improved, and he started recording once more with the Dead Milkmen’s Brian Beattie.
The results of these sessions make up the new album, ‘Rejected Unknown’, which was
released in 2000 on Pickled Egg in Europe, and Gammon Records in the US. Since
then, Daniel has embarked on numerous tours in the US, and Pickled Egg organised
his first ever European tour in the autumn of 2000, which saw him play shows in
London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Brugge.
