Nick Johnston

When I was a young boy, a guitar was a mystical magic machine of infinite power and potential. I always had strange attraction to it, finding it terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. Eventually I worked up the courage to ask for one for my 14th birthday. After that, I quit playing all sports, and my parents noticed a significant plunge in my academic life. Basically, playing guitar ruined my life!

Around 20, I was able to snag my first job as a guitar teacher. This turned into a full-time gig, and I could start to see how a guitar player could make some money in the industry. After playing in a few bands, I joined a gypsy/latin guitar duo which resulted in hundreds of gigs, tons of high profile festivals and most importantly – experience.

By the time I was 23 years old, I had written enough material to release my first album. This album turned out to be ‘Public Display of Infection’. I don’t typically listen to instrumental music, but because of my inability to sing with any confidence, I decided that instrumental music would be the best vehicle to deliver my brand of noise. I met and befriended one of the best musicians in the world through this project – Travis Orbin.

I formed The Nick Johnston Band in 2010 to facilitate the live performance of the music that would become my first record. Playing live is to me, the single most important thing as a guitar player and a musician. The ability to properly execute your own music in front of an audience is a skill I’ve always tried hard to develop.

A strange turn of events took place after meeting the incredible Mark Rehkopf. Mark has been the force behind all of the amazing artwork for me. In 2011, we started working on a project that would later become a comic book titled “Nick Johnston and The Tale of the Cosmic Strings”. Comics books and music always seemed like a perfect fit. I figured I’ve spent so much time and money on comics, I might as well have my own.

I love music and I love playing guitar. It’s always exciting to imagine where it will take you next. I couldn’t be happier working with Rob Chapman and Chapman Guitars.