BIOGRAPHY

Daniel Johnston is born on the shore of Sacramento River at the onset of the historic sixties. In the early 80s he starts to record his shy songs on cassette. Soon after that, his oddly moving songs are sold at a local record shop, and, the young music station “MTV” features him in 1985. This attract´s the attention of the American Underground . Soon after, many artists want to record songs by and with him. But, his disease gets in the way of his career. Manic depression, medication, blackouts and excesses have severe consequences. A visit to a Sonic Youth concert in New York ends up in a disaster. He frightens a woman (whom he believes to be possessed by the devil) so much, that she jumps out of a window and breaks both her legs. On his return from the Austin Music Awards he causes a crash by pulling the key from his father´ s small aircraft. Father and son survive slightly hurt. Daniel gains his widest public exposure to date, when, at the 1992 MTV Music Awards, Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain (who constantly touted Daniel in interviews) wears a Johnston T-shirt. The “Hi, how are you?“drawing, is still a cult object for shirts and graffiti. Subsequently he signs with Atlantic Records and releases "FUN" in 1994, selling only a few thousand copies. Once more his career starts to fade, even though his status as a genius songwriter and cult figure is established in the art scene, and, for connoisseurs of music. David Bowie, Beck, Eels, Bright Eyes, TV On The Radio, Sonic Youth, Death Cab For Cutie, Tom Waits, The Flaming Lips, Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and many other famous artists interpret his merciless songs.