Dan Johnson is an American drummer for Love and Death-a band of Brian “Head” Welch, KoRn’s guitarist, and the band “Red”

Dan keeps himself busy with studio and live work as well as teaching students drums. He proves himself to be one of the premiere up and coming hard-rock drummers of today. “Playing drums of any kind is truly why I exist but nothing replaces that feeling I get when I’m onstage doing what I love, and connecting with the audience because of that.”

Press contact Yvonne Laughlin at danjohnson.publicist@gmail.com

Thorne: Alright, I’d like to welcome Dan Johnson to the show, to The Thorne Experience. Thanks for coming on, Dan, how are you?

Dan: Ohh, dude, good man! Thanks for having me.

Thorne: Excellent! Hey, how was your long weekend, man, what were you up to?

Dan: Long weekend, it was cool. Just playing locally. Played Friday and Saturday, and in the studio on Sunday. Just like normal.

Thorne: Play, Play, Play. You’re a monster, man! Hey, before we get started talking about the incredible rock that you’ve been a part of, I wanted to find about Dan Johnson – the guy from Phoenix? If that would be ok?

Dan: (chuckles) Yes, of course!

Thorne: Alright, my first question is: How does a guy from Uniontown, PA end up in Phoenix? And what I mean by that, is that I read that you [were] 19 when you rolled out. And, depending on how you traveled west, you passed Kansas City, right over Dallas-Fort Worth. You could have dropped down to Nola. All EPIC music scenes, but no…

Dan (stepping in): You know I should have! But, I went the other way. I usually take the 40. I’m partial to that way, I guess. So, I was a little bit more North! But, I was 19. I just figured I’d pack up my car. I came out, got a job, and that was kinda the mix.

Thorne: But why Phoenix? Why didn’t you go on to L.A.?

Dan: I knew I couldn’t afford it out there.

Thorne: Ohhh, (chuckles) you know, I can’t either, and I live here!

Dan: So, I heard nice things about here (Phoenix).

Thorne: Yes, yes. Are you a family man? Do you have a family – kids?

Dan: No, I haven’t gone down that road.

Thorne: What about the Johnson family? I also saw that you said in an interview that they were very supportive. Do you have any other famous brothers and sisters?

Dan: No, I’m an only child, actually.

Thorne: You’re an only child!

Dan: Yeah, that’s right.

Thorne: Were your parents musicians?

Dan: No, nope.

Thorne: Wow, the apple fell and started rocking from the tree, I guess!

(both laughing)

Dan: There you go…

Thorne (laughing): OK! Here’s where I hit you with one of the most important questions of the night, I hope you’re ready for it.

Dan: Alright…

Thorne: Just between you and me, what are you listening to on your mobile device, right now? What genre, and bands are your favorites to chill with?

Dan: Ooohh, that’s tuff! It ranges from Justin Bieber, to frickin’ Slipknot, to Wage War. You know what I mean, those are some good, good bands I’m listening to. I don’t know, just everything, man! I like Country just as much as heavy metal.

Thorne: There’s a lot of that going on in my house, too. You’re like me; you are all over the place, man.

Dan: All OVER THE PLACE!

Thorne: So, Dan Johnson, I’m going to go ahead and do a drum track I got for you.

Thorne: Dan doing his thing in Nashville on the drums. Man, what a monster! Hey, let’s talk about your career so far. Here’s a short list of the bands you’ve rocked with: Back From Ashes, Seasons After, Flaw, and now, Red, and Love And Death. I got a couple of questions for you on that.

First: Bands are like small families and sometimes just as dysfunctional. What’s it like to drop into an established band? Is it easy to meld into the group? And tell us what your experience has been there playing with all these different bands?

Dan: Well, that’s kinda the fun part, you know, is just being around a new group of guys. I like to think that I can get along with just about any kind of personality. I try to just blend in, no matter what the situation is, be there, and do my job. Just end up becoming friends and stuff, and that’s just it. You know, everyone has been pretty cool, so, I’ve been lucky to work with some cool people.

Thorne: Yeah, easy then, ok. My second question is: How does a guy, like you, figure into the creative process when you got these established members? Do you write music? Do you get into it with those guys?

Dan: With drums, I haven’t ever done any song writing. It’s both, I like both too – I like having music already done for me, play-it-how-you-want-it, or I like being able to put input into it. It’s just each side equally.

Thorne: OK, alright. You’re Red’s fourth drummer, I understand.

Dan: (chuckling): I didn’t even know which one..

Thorne: Yeah, I think that’s what I saw, you’re the fourth drummer. And you had the chance to make 2015’s “Of Beauty and Rage” with those guys. Red was on fire at that time. Can you talk a little bit about that experience?

Dan: Super fun! They were one of my favorite experiences. We went out to this amazing studio that we still record at. It’s called Dark Horse, in Tennessee. We stay there on the property. It was a really wonderful experience waking up and getting right to it every day. So we are all there together; it was cool.

Thorne: Out in the country?

Dan: Out in the country. And, it’s so beautiful out there, man.

Thorne: Excellent! Love and Death, is what I would call a super group. All you guys come from epic bands with Brian, of course, from Korn, and JR rocking with Islander…

Dan: Well, Jason Rauch some of that new stuff he produces it too, so he’s a great mind and awesome person to have. So [he] really brings it up another level too.

Thorne: How did you get involved with Love and Death?

Dan: So, the guy who put together [Brian “Head” Welch’s] first band- I had known him from some years prior, [he] got [me] an audition call. I auditioned, and that’s how I met [Love and Death], and it just went from there.

Thorne: Wow, just that simple, huh!

Dan: Well, it was just a really crazy, but I just auditioned with 5 songs and just kinda went in there with some other guys that were auditioning with their parts. You know, it was pretty cool.

Thorne: Alright, good deal. Now I think it’s time to listen to some of your work off of Red’s album Of Beauty and Rage, “Fight To Forget.” I picked it out, because I saw that we could hear your drums real good. We’ll see…

Thorne: All right, back to Dan Johnson! When we were off-air and talking, he hit me with something that I hadn’t uncovered in my research. So, I gotta get a better researcher, which is me. I don’t know how you would do that, but there it is! Dan told me that he’s doing some work with Digital Summer. Dan, talk to us about that because that’s super cool – another of my favorite bands!

Dan: Ohh, nice, they are a great group. I have always been a fan of them since I moved here. We tracked the drums for the new stuff almost a couple years ago. A few tracks have been released over the past six months. So be sure to check that out!

Thorne: OK! And are you going to plan any touring with them at all – or?

Dan: Yeah, I don’t know what those guys want to do. Hopefully we’ll do some shows. They haven’t done any but I’m trying to hassle them into getting a rehearsal going (laughs).

Thorne (laughing): Right, right. So, what’s next for you? We’ll jump right to it, I know you are a man on a mission.

Dan: (interjecting): ahhh, right on, man!

Thorne: What’s next for you. You’ve talked a little bit earlier about when Red was going to release that song. And I saw that they were going to start touring soon. So, tells us all about that!

Dan: Well, we have a new song and music video coming out next week, on the seventh. And super excited about that! The touring will be kinda minimal through the fall, we’ll be ready to hit it hard in 2020. So, just new music and new video coming out, so [touring] will pick up slowly….

Thorne (jumping in): What’s the name of that song they’re releasing on the seventh [of April]?

Dan: “The Evening Hate”

Thorne (repeating): “The Evening Hate.” Can you tell us, what it’s about?

Dan: It’s a World War Two term…

Thorne (interjecting): ohhh?!

Dan: Yeah, so it goes along, and kinda makes sense with the song and video, when it comes out.

Thorne: Ok, cool! dude, it’s been great talking to you! I appreciate you coming on The Thorne Experience, sharing that with us tonight and, giving us your time. I know you are a busy guy! You’re out there drumming for everybody! Heck, I’m even expecting you to show up and drum for me tonight, so..

Dan: aww, thank you, man! So there you go, there you go, man (laughing more).

Thorne (laughing along): Very good, very good! Alright, that was Dan Johnson, drummer extraordinaire, with us on Skype tonight!

Dan: aww shucks (chuckling).

Love and Death: From left to right: (former member) Michael Valentine, Dan Johnson, Brian “Head” Welch, J.R. Bareis)

The Thorne Experience

Thorne Schreiber / BackStage360