Calvin Johnson (musician)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Calvin Johnson

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Background = solo_singer
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Alias = Selector Dub Narcotic
Born = Birth date and age|1962|11|1|mf=y
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Origin = Olympia, Washington
Instrument = guitar, vocals
Genre = Punk
Lo-fi
Indie rock
Occupation = Musician
Songwriter
Disc jockey
Record Producer
Label head
Years_active =
Label = K Records
Associated_acts = Cool Rays,
Beat Happening,
The Go Team,
Halo Benders,
Dub Narcotic Sound System
URL =
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Calvin Johnson (born November 1, 1962) is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, music producer, and disc jockey born in Olympia, Washington, USA. Known for his uniquely deep, droning singing voice, Johnson was a founding member of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and The Halo Benders.Calvin Johnson is also the founder and owner of the influential indie label K Records, and has been cited as a major player in the beginning of the modern independent music movement. [Michael Azerrad, Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes From the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 (USA: Little Brown, 2001).] As a prominent figure in the Olympia music scene, he was one of the major organizers of the seminal International Pop Underground Convention.

Biography

Early years

Calvin's first introduction to underground culture was in 1977 when he became a volunteer at Olympia's community radio station, KAOS-FM, at the age of fifteen. The station's uniquely progressive programming policy mandated a focus on music available through independent and artist owned labels, rather than centralized corporate media. This independent, do-it-yourself ethos has been an important influence on Johnson's career. Johnson soon began writing for fanzines, such as Sub/Pop (later to become Sub Pop Records) and Op, and also organized music and film events. Johnson attended the Evergreen State College in Olympia, where his first band, a short-lived group called Cool Rays, made their debut recordings with Steve Fisk in 1981. Calvin established K in the summer of 1982.

olo career

His first solo album, "What Was Me", is an introspective album about love, loss, and death. While some songs employ simple nylon-string guitar accompaniment, many feature only Johnson's haunting baritone.

His second album, "Before the Dream Faded...", is more varied. It includes collaborations with a variety of northwest indie luminaries. The songs cover an odd range of subjects, such as the size and color of hearts, Lucifer, and falling in love.

The most recent album "Calvin Johnson & The Sons of the Soil" is a career-spanning collection of re-recorded songs with a band consisting of Kyle Field, Adam Forkner, and Jason Anderson.

In 2008, Calvin Johnson appeared in the film "The Lollipop Generation" by G.B. Jones.

Relationship with other musicians

Perhaps because of his staunch DIY ethos, Johnson became friends with the members of Fugazi, and Beat Happening was the opening band on one of Fugazi's first tours. The choice of Beat Happening as an opening band for Fugazi, who, especially during the late 1980's, were still attracting an audience of hardcore punk fans, could be considered brilliant or foolish. The Fugazi crowds came to see a hardcore show, and the sassy-queer jangle-pop of Beat Happening was about as opposite to what they expected as possible. This garnered two reactions: the first was obviously the one that the members of Fugazi were aiming at (unless of course their goal was simply to bring along a band they liked), and that was to provoke thought. The statement was that music can take on varied forms, but it was the message of any music that was important, and any little box that music fans worshipped at the expense of anyone different, needed to be confronted. The second reaction was violence or pseudo-violence--this was still close enough to the classic "punk rock violence" era that people in the audience didn't fear retribution for throwing things at the stage. In an especially important moment in the progression of punk rock thought, an ashtray was thrown at Johnson during a show at the Country Club, in Reseda, California, while he was onstage singing and playing guitar. The ashtray struck him directly in the nose, cutting his nose and spurting blood instantly. Johnson never missed a beat, kept on playing the song, and finished the show. The first thing that Ian MacKaye said, rather in disgust, upon walking on stage, was "that dude (Johnson) is way more punk rock than the pussy who threw that ashtray." The incident got a lot of publicity in the independent music circles and, at least to some extent, elevated Johnson's status amongst traditionally more "punk rock" enthusiasts.

Johnson has worked with Modest Mouse, Beck, Heavenly, The Microphones, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Blow, Jens Lekman, The Gossip and Built to Spill among others. Since founding his Dub Narcotic recording studio in 1993, he has produced and engineered recordings by many bands and artists.

Friends of Kurt Cobain such as Ian Dickson of Earth, Mark Arm of Mudhoney, Bruce Pavitt and Slim Moon have all acknowledged Johnson's significant influence on the late musician. Cobain cited Beat Happening's "Jamboree" as one of his favorite records, [Kurt Cobain Journals] and even got the K Records logo (a small "K" in a shield) tattooed on his arm to "try and remind ["him"] to stay a child." ["Nirvana: the True Story" by Everett True] They were friends in the late 80s/early 90s when Cobain lived in Olympia; he'd been a guest with The Go Team, and on September 25, 1990, Cobain appeared on a KAOS (FM) show hosted by Johnson and performed a number of songs acoustically, including a duet with Johnson on the Wipers song, "D-7." Cobain later grew to resent Johnson's perceived arrogance and denounced his ties in an unsent letter to Tobi Vail.

Johnson is also referred to in the John Peel session version of the Hole song, Olympia (also credited as Rock Star on the album Live Through This). The band's lead singer, Courtney Love has the line: 'I went to school, with Calvin" a reference to Johnson's influence within the burgeoning Olympia indie music scene.

Solo discography:

*"What Was Me" (2002, K Records)
*"Before the Dream Faded..." (2005, K Records)
*"Calvin Johnson & The Sons of the Soil" (2007, K records)

References

External links

* [http://dubnarcotic.org dubnarcotic.org]
* [http://www.kittenpants.org/33_notblog/cj.asp KittenPants.org interview]
* [http://www.presentspace.com/presenttwo/presents/calvinj.html Present! interview]