Demian Johnston

Narrows flyer.

2012-02-24T19:02:00.002-08:00

Stone Wings LP is out...

2012-02-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

I designed a double 12" for the doom band Stone Wings that just came out on Contagion Releasing. I recommend you check this out. It's heavy.

Relevant

Back in school and hopefully learning a thing or two about a thing or two...

2012-01-12T02:30:00.000-08:00

So this is the new one.

This is the original. The line up had to change.

I have been playing solo sets live a lot more often...

2011-12-15T02:47:00.000-08:00

...which is good news. I have a mountain of recordings due and I feel that playing live always helps me focus on writing. Especially in my solo guitar work. Here is a photo that Ryan Blinksy took of my last show at the Comet in Seattle. Thanks!

New Great Falls shows in January.

2011-12-15T02:44:00.001-08:00

Great Falls will be backing Eugene Robinson again.

2011-11-25T01:03:00.001-08:00

Here are a few other recent flyers as well:

Dan La Rochelle is turning 40!

2011-11-12T23:11:00.001-08:00

You may not know Dan but you really should. He is one of the most supportive and coolest people on the planet. I, of course, was tardy in designing a poster for his birthday show but here is my attempt.

Servile Sect "Svrrender" cs for Handmade Birds

2011-11-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Blue Sabbath Black Stout

2011-10-19T03:12:00.000-07:00

For Dead Brewing

Design.

In action.

Yellow Swans/Oakeater insert artwork #2

2011-09-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

Originals for Sale.

2011-09-29T15:18:00.001-07:00

I am trying to afford school so I need to sell off some originals. I am not super excited about selling all of these but I am in need of the money because school isn't cheap. Feel free to inquire about prices if you are interested.

New Great Falls release on Coextinction Recordings.

2011-09-16T02:30:00.000-07:00

So we went on our NE tour last August and ended up recording three new tracks for Coextinction Recordings. Dave Curran (Unsane, JJ Paradise Player's Club) handled most of the deal with some help from his partner and an excellent engineer from Brooklyn. Check this out if you got $3 in your paypal account. Features guest vocals by Cole Crickenberger (Passage Between) and Brian Montuori (Psychic Limb).

GREAT FALLS tour stuff (Sorry I have been away).

2011-07-27T00:54:00.000-07:00

New Great Falls full length cd. Some available here online.

Oh yeah... I also have a new cassette available. There are very few available on Dead Accents' webstore.

Here is a flyer for a show we are playing Brooklyn.

I have a ton of new stuff but i have been so busy...

These rule my daughter's life right now.

2011-06-24T10:35:00.003-07:00

It's super cute. Apparently that is "dr. baby" in the front there...

The Dethroned!

2011-06-17T19:21:00.001-07:00

Work in progress.

Rejected Vastum artwork.

2011-06-17T19:18:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately this did not work out but I thought it looked pretty cool. I did not do the artwork, just a simple layout but they wanted to go a different way. Look for this record soon though. It's going to fucking rule.

Hey those posters are available for sale!

2011-05-21T18:16:00.001-07:00

The few that are left are in the dead accents store. Check it out!

Next show. New Poster.

2011-05-07T00:03:00.001-07:00

Screen print.

Shows you need to be at.

2011-04-20T00:12:00.000-07:00

In order:

Upcoming Great Falls show.

2011-04-06T02:26:00.001-07:00

My split with mamiffer is out on hydrahead now.

2011-04-02T01:16:00.001-07:00

I am very happy to announce this. I think it is almost sold out already though...

good luck.

Another show coming up but this time it's a...

2011-03-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

solo set. fantastic? yes.

Been Sketching.

2011-03-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting lately... Life has been getting away from me but I think things are starting to come together. Working on mastering the KTL boxset, just got done recording for a lathe, I have multiple releases out and coming out. It's intense. On top of it all I have been spending a lot more time with my daughter and it's awesome. She is amazing. I'm a dada.

Someone made a youtube video for a song I wrote with Mink Stolen.

2011-02-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

Pretty cool. Uses clips from La Luna. We have no idea who did this.

Show coming up!

2011-02-10T23:50:00.000-08:00

First we play the Josephine this saturday, then Duvall on the following Friday and then this one the next day! Come to all!

Rough Redux #1 & #2

2011-02-02T21:03:00.001-08:00

SS

2011-01-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

coming soon.

Small Doses shirt design.

2011-01-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

The label that brings you excellent solo work from Locrian and Horseback people along with that epic Pyramids 5xcs boxset(not to mention a million other great things) is making new shirts. You should buy one... Wait til you see them in color...

Great Falls & solo sets up coming.

2011-01-19T01:01:00.000-08:00

I did the two above flyers.

I cannot take credit for these other three flyers.

Coming soon on Debacle Records

2011-01-13T10:51:00.001-08:00

My collaborative cd with Mink Stolen*. It will be wacky.

*Due to some silliness Chris Negrete's band/project is now called Mink Stolen.

It's been far too long.

2011-01-11T22:20:00.001-08:00

Hemingway vinyl!

2010-12-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

From Dead Accents' page:

Holy shit. I thought this would never happen but here they are. One sided 12" of some of Hemingway's first studio recordings. Less noise but more in the rock, drone, noise, folk type vibe. Kinda hard to explain. Originally slated to be released on the now defunct Rome Plow Records this is now a split label release. Limited to 300 copies. Purchase this wonderful almost lost piece of weirdo history.

GET IT HERE!

Coupon code for Dead Accents! (and a doodle)

2010-12-03T20:53:00.001-08:00

"friend"

type that in when checking out of my online store and receive a discount on your order. I will try to get it to you before xmas if you order in the next two weeks. Good luck!

The drawing is a rough for something I am hoping to finish this month...

awesome.

Rook

2010-11-29T00:34:00.001-08:00

Eagle Sketch...

2010-11-13T22:07:00.000-08:00

Work in progress. Gotta think about this...

Hummingbirds

2010-11-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Dave Cooper and Mastodon

2010-11-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

My buddy Dave Cooper just did his first show poster and it's for a Mastodon show in Austin this weekend. Dave is an amazing painter and cartoonist. Check out his stuff as soon as possible.

Pete Graham, Dave Cooper (looking extra stoked), Mastodon and myself.

Great Falls Shows this month plus some.

2010-10-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

We have two shows in Seattle this month. We have been doing pretty awesome.

Here we are backing up Eugene Robinson for his reading of A Long Slow Screw. I wish it were a longer clip. It got real awesome.

Collaborative set with Dan LaRochelle in Ballard

2010-10-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

Just got this hammered out. Dan LaRochelle (Lesbian) will be doing an improv set with me. Come on out.

My new tape blog.

2010-10-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Reviews, Links and other nonsense related to the world's fastest dying format.

check it out here.

Bandcamp page & Great Falls shows

2010-09-24T01:09:00.001-07:00

First thing please check out my Bandcamp page. Links to lots of my out of print cassettes and cdrs. Please spread the word.

Look here!

Second, Great Falls is playing two shows with Eugene Robinson of Oxbow. He will be reading from his latest book and it looks as if we will be playing with him as he reads. crazy...

New cdr. almost sold out already...

2010-09-19T10:14:00.001-07:00

...but mainly because i did an edition of only 23 copies. I hope you get a chance to grab one. it's pretty grim.

Now onto Debacle Fest 2010

2010-09-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

I will be playing two of the three nights. First on saturday solo and on sunday with Great Falls. Check out the crazy lineup.

Success!

2010-09-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone that came to the Dead Accents showcases and made them a total success. Both night were fantastic and very diverse. I am glad everyone enjoyed their complimentary cassettes. We ended up with a few left at the end and those will be available at Dissonant Plane in Ballard until they close their doors at the end of this month. Come check them out as soon as you can and just ask at the counter. As for both nights i would like to thank those who went really helped me out. First of all The Josephine, Dan, Jason, Michelle, Stan, Greg and everyone else who was so kind to have us. Brian Cook, Dave Segal and the Stranger for the nice promotions and write ups. Eric, Randy and Tannoth for also spreading the word through Dissonant Plane. Andy for the flyer. Jesy, Chris, Lance and This Blinding Light, Kurt and Sparkle Girl, Ben Kennedy and Blouse(usa), Ajax Storm Wood, Noise-a-Tron, Dried Up Corpse for doing and excellent job. Especially MInk Stole for playing with me. Chris Negrete (Mink Stole) flew up from LA to make some wonderful noise for all of us and it was a total pleasure to have him. Excellent performer and an excellent friend. Speaking of those i should thank Shane and Phil for being there both nights and supporting myself and the bands. Even with cancellations, confusions and delays everything still went really well. Thanks again. Til Next year.

First Dead Accents showcase (UPDATED)

2010-08-14T12:47:00.001-07:00

(flyer image removed for legal reasons)

The first 30 people to show up each night get a free cassette! Each cassette features unreleased, rare or out of print tracks by artists from the Dead Accents catalog.

If you show up Friday the 3rd you get:

VOL 1. Shining Ones & Ardent Vein

And come in on Saturday the 4th you will receive:

VOL 2. Tiny Vipers, Crystal Hell Pool & Blouse (usa)

I will post the covers later on but you need to come and grab one.

Physical Demon/Al Qaeda Septet & Great Falls/Kenji Siratori covers

2010-08-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Physical Demon/Al Qaeda Septet split cd (cover)

Great Falls/Kenji Siratori collab cd (cover)

Both on Debacle Records.

And then it's a poster! (UPDATED)

2010-08-06T09:24:00.001-07:00

NOW AVAILABLE FOR SALE!

A little redesign and new coloring by andrew of Broken Press and...

...it's a poster!

Apologies to Morbid Angel and Al Columbia...

2010-07-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

...two wonderful influences.

I should be working and not doodling...

2010-07-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

...but here I am...

trying.

2010-06-30T23:46:00.001-07:00

In many ways.

Learning inDesign and it's still all Greek to me. I fucking love vuvuzelas. Best part of the World cup.

spill

2010-06-18T08:59:00.001-07:00

A message from back in time.

2010-06-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

This webzine put up a link to an old radio show in NJ that Undertow played in 1993. That was the first time i ever tried to drive the van and the last time as well.

good times.

Crow

2010-06-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

From my artwalk.

2010-05-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

drawing. flyers. sleepy.

2010-04-14T20:38:00.001-07:00

so tired. babies are crazy.

Ensemble

2010-04-02T23:13:00.001-07:00

April 10th at 6pm I will be performing a short set for my artwalk at Annie's Art & Frame

Inglourious Basterds, Tour, Being Sick, Dead Accents

2010-03-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

As i have posted before, I have a handful of solo shows this month. I will be in Seattle WA, Eugene OR and Portland OR in five days.

Here are the dates one more time

March 26th Seattle WA - Good Shepherd Chapel (In Wallingford)
March 27th Eugene OR - The Wandering Goat (with Al Qaeda, Tarahumara)
March 28th Portland OR - Ducketts Public House (with Al Qaeda, Mangled Bohemians)
March 30th Seattle WA - Rendezvous (with Al Qaeda, Mamiffer, Merdique)
March 31st Seattle WA - Josephine (with Al Qaeda, Mamiffer, Slates)

I will have some new merch for everyone to enjoy.

A new shirt designed by Andrew Crawshaw based on my They Of Guernica cs.
A tour only cdr limited to 23 copies with artwork and packaging by Christine Johnston
A split cassette with Al Qaeda

Plus a slew of Dead Accents releases. I may even have a Mamiffer/Oakeater cassette box with me.

I have been pretty ill this week. I thank my wife and spicy Thai soup for any relief I feel.

My buddy, Susan Martin, turned me on to these excellent Inglourious Basterds posters that i missed out on. If anyone owns one of these, you must give it to me immediately.

There are 20 of these shirts.

2010-03-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

Amazing.

More new work...

2010-03-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

I have so much work to get ready for my art show in April. It intense. I am really trying to get new pieces done but i have a lot of illustration work as well... Now i just have to try to make some money. I will be reposting my solo tour dates as they get closer.

Al Qaeda • Demian Johnston NW tour

2010-02-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

Should be a grand ole' time.

My first solo shows out of town.
I truly hope you can be there.

March 26th Seattle, WA @ The Good Shepherd Chapel Center (No AQ. SOMF Benefit.)
March 27th Eugene, OR @ The Wandering Goat w/Al Qaeda
March 28th Portland, OR @ Ducketts Public House w/Al Qaeda, Mangled Bohemians
March 30th Seattle, WA @ The Rendezvous Jewel Box Theatre w/Al Qaeda, Mamiffer, Merdique
March 31st Seattle, WA @ The Josephine w/Al Qaeda, Mamiffer, Shining Ones

Al Qaeda and I will be having a split cassette for the tour that will be limited to 40 copies. Aside from that there will be hours of music for you all. i should have my latest cassette and cdr plus a new cdr for the tour with packaging made by Chris Johnston. I will post flyers and more info as the dates get closer.

One flyer.

New Dead Accents releases

2010-02-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

I swear to god that the Mamiffer/Oakeater boxes and the Great Falls/A Death Cinematic releases will be pictured here as soon as possible.

Here is my new cassette. It's pretty heavy and super noisy. Like way overblown and totally fucked. Features drums by one Mr. Andrew Crawshaw as well. It's kinda a big deal. Only 100 of them in nice screenprinted packaging. Buy them so i can make more tapes...
$8.50 ppd in the USA

And speaking of Andrew Crawshaw, here is the new Shining Ones cassette. Their first show without myself as a vocalist (I have since left Shining Ones to focus more time on my family and Great Falls. It's sad.) Limited to 50 copies and going fast. In anti-static bags with nicely printed j cards. It is a gorgeous piece of music.
$6.50 ppd in the USA

And speaking of Shining Ones I also have the new blowupnihilist cdr available. (photo to follow shortly). Four tracks of ambient and harsh noise played by Andre Sanabria. Andre is also the bass player for Shining Ones. Includes a short bit of writing from Andre and artwork by myself. Limited to 100 copies and screenprinted by Broken Press. Get em.
$8.50 ppd in the USA

it's been awhile...

2010-02-07T21:22:00.000-08:00

...and i haven't much time to post but i will add more shortly. So much news. Not all of it good. In the meantime i give to you, the devil.

This is a work in progress but i thought i should share some a little artwork.

and some flyers. why not?

Upcoming.

2010-01-12T01:44:00.000-08:00

flyers by Chris Majerus

New in the air.

2009-12-27T21:04:00.000-08:00

Xmas is over and i feel a general sense of relief. It was stressful and not very jolly but it was nice seeing people in a better mood this year. I have a few new things to let you in on...

Dead Accents - A handful of new releases will be coming out all at once. Thanks to Andrew Crawshaw really. He is the fella that has been doing most of the printing for Dead Accents releases that are coming up. Check em out, I think most will be ready shortly after the new year one way or another:

-DA006 Mamiffer/Oakeater 2xcs boxes

-DA007 A Death Cinematic/Great Falls cdr

-DA013 Wooden Teeth/Demian Johnston cdr

-DA017 Shining Ones cs

-DA023 Blowupnihlist cdr

-DA026 This Blinding LIght cs

-DA028 Demian Johnston cs

-Plus the the long awaited Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death/Hemingway cs (on Broken Press/Dead Accents)

Once those are all done (plus a few others) Andrew and myself will be working on our first adventure into the world of vinyl pressing. We shall see how that goes.

Also check out Bill Koeb's blog. he is giving out copies of his 2000 art catalog full of drawings and paintings. All you need to do is pay him for shipping. I got one and i am a very happy man. Bill is a friend and an excellent painter/illustrator. He has illustrated tons of magazines, cds for Alan Moore, comics for D.C./Vertigo, all the paintings in that second crow movie with the really hot girl who painted. And Iggy Pop. Check it out.

Other good things:

-My awesome wife and child

-Inglourious Basterds prequel

-Mournful Congregation

-Winds Measure Recordings

-How I Met Your Mother

-Richard Stark's Parker "The Hunter"

-Korg ds10

-Great Falls playing with Our Love Will Destroy The World, The Network and The Rudimentary Peni tribute night hosted by the one and only Stan Reed

-Tiny Vipers LP

-Serge Gainsbourg

-My boss' cookies

Great Falls demo cassette available

2009-12-09T00:08:00.000-08:00

That's right in about a week we start shipping the Great Falls demo cassette to people. Now is that time to dive on one. Each cassette also contains a link to a digital download of all the songs.

$7.00 ppd

Thanks!
More info at www.myspace.com/greatfallsnoise

drip

2009-11-28T23:29:00.000-08:00

just been sketching. This may be for a tape i got coming up.

Hemingway = Great Falls

2009-11-23T01:24:00.001-08:00

Yup, Shane and I have decided to finally change the name of our band. We had Hemingway for a few years but due to a few varied reasons we have changed that name to Great Falls. We have recorded a new demo of eight surprisingly structured songs and have them for all to listen to. A couple things.

-The remaining unreleased hemingway projects will mostly have the name changed. Exceptions are the split cassette with Triumph of lethargyskinned alive to death, the track on Gnarled Forest's Bleak Village vol. 2, the cassette collaboration with Pyramids and the track on Deathsmile Records' new comp.

-You will still hear many strange bits of noise, drone, folk or whatever it was you heard before and liked.

-We will be playing shows in the new year as Great Falls (but we may be playing a show in the early part of 2010 as hemingway as part of a tribute to a friend)

Also in the news.

Two new Dead Accents releases.

DA019 Demian Johnston "forever" cdr (edition of 100 copies). An extended version of the very sold out cassette release with the same title. This has a extended version of the track "forever" plus a live track and a remix by Sparkle Girl. Similar packaging as the cassette complete with transparent papers and color scheme. Available from Dead Accents for $8 ppd

DA020 Halfdayroad "psychic" cdr (edition of 50 copies). A short collection of Shane Mehling's (hemingway, great falls, playing enemy) solo work. Very quirky pop songs with strange, strange moments. Simple minimal packaging. $5 ppd

Please check out www.deadaccents.com for more info.

August 19, 1980 - November 14, 2009

2009-11-15T00:41:00.000-08:00

Tonight a friend of mine passed away. Jared Sletager. The van he was driving was struck by a car that ran a stop sign at high speed late last month in Portland Oregon. He had just got done playing a show with his band, Pregnant, and was on his way home. The driver of that car ran from the scene but turned himself in the next morning. Jared spent the next few weeks unconscious. There were many moments where things seemed to get better and many moments where things got worse. Jared had some serious complications and in the end he was not going to wake up. We had all hoped for the best. Some of us ever hoped for a miracle. Personally I was left feeling angry and confused. This morning some of Jared's friends and family went to Portland to say their goodbyes. I was unable to make the trip. Instead I opened my phone and sent Jared a text message. I didn't know what else to do. I doubt anyone will ever read it. I just wanted to send something out. A short goodbye. A message just for Jared. Goodbye Jared. You will be missed.

I don't usually post videos...

2009-11-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

...but this is pretty interesting. Let me know what you think.

LUCIA from diluvio on Vimeo.

LUIS from diluvio on Vimeo.

Then go to Dead Accents and buy stuff from me. do it.

Last solo performance of 2009

2009-11-08T01:29:00.000-08:00

I will be playing in Ballard at Mr. Spot's Chai House along with Megabats and the great Blowupnihilist this month. We will be playing one of the nights there will not be a 9/11 truther's meeting or the ever popular open mic hippy funk explosion. I can't guarantee some idiot will not plunk away on the badly tuned piano they have in there though. It's actually a very fun night there when Abraham Moses puts on his Chickenhead Church. It's nice to freak out the freaks.

Top Secret.
This spring.

Tiny Vipers - On This Side - The funniest movie is here. Find it

Lethe is coming to your town...

2009-11-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

A heavy prog metal band from seattle is coming near you (relatively). Check em out... I did a little tour poster for them.

Direct links to the soul of it.

2009-10-29T02:08:00.000-07:00

If you look to the right of here you will find a little area titled "Hey, I made these...". I just added some direct links to the items on the Broken Press webstore that I had something to do with the artwork. I recommend checking them out right away or something terrible may happen.

Shows in Seattle and Baltimore.

2009-10-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

A couple new quick flyers. I gotta get back to drawing them but I have been enjoying the clip art thing. Kinda fun. Anyhow, I have some new stuff coming up. A new cdr and some new work. Anyone, looking to have me do any commission work before the holidays i would recommend getting in touch with me now. I will also be selling a ton of new and old artwork on Etsy pages here and here through the holidays. Going back to listening to Tyranny.

Nadja in Seattle! Part 2.

2009-10-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Tho e of you lucky few that made it to the Nadja show at the Josephine last Thursday were blown away by an incredible show. Nadja completely transformed the room with beautiful swells, drones and strangely rock riffs. Tecumseh as a four piece conjured one hell of a sound that almost held you up right. Pete Swanson completely ruled with both guitar and singing. Completely inspiring. I think i kinda dig that dude's work almost too much. Hemingway was pretty damn good as well, if I do say so myself. Nadja is now coming back around to Seattle this week. On Oct 18th there will be two destinations. At Dissonant Plane in Ballard, Aidan Baker will be doing a solo set at 4pm and that night at 9pm Nadja will be playing again with Thrones, Shining Ones and Pombagira. Get ready.

NADJA in Seattle! Be There.

2009-09-28T00:08:00.001-07:00

Flyer by Brokenpressdesign.com

New flyers. (UPDATED)

2009-09-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a lot of time to draw over my last two days off. I worked, hung out with my baby, played guitar and wrote that thing below. whew.

Not sure which one of the Lesbian flyer i like more...

I obviously love that font though. evil.

And another couple:

The crazy thing i wrote on facebook as a response to a friend from high school about healthcare...

2009-09-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

Healthcare is not a right, but it should be. What you are doing is looking at Healthcare as a commodity. Something who's value and cost goes up and down depending on how many people need it and want it. Something that is driven by profit and the bottom line. Something like pork bellies of frozen concentrated orange juice (do i alone blame the Dukes for this economic crisis?). What you are saying is that it is not only acceptable for someone with any sort of pre existing condition to be dropped, but it is necessary for the balance of this free market driven, profit centered commodity. (Read this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/17/insurance-company-must-pa_n_289841.html) This is an incredibly immoral stance. This is an actual evil thing to believe. (Don't believe me? Go out and rent the unedited version of motherfucking ROBOCOP and watch what a libertarian hell hole this country would be if the teabaggers got their way. Seriously.) In this country we need to grow as a people, we need to not think of ourselves a bunch of people with differing cultures, musical tastes (my personnel prejudice) or skin shades. We need to think of each other as Americans. One group that looks out for each other and takes care of each other. When my wife was pushed out of her job for being pregnant (another story), she lost her health insurance. I had to take a third job (on top of working in the frame shop and being a freelance illustrator. BTW: someone who hates paying taxes as much as anyone) to try to pay for her pregnancy. Luckily, we got her on Cobra after jumping through some insane hoops. Even with a child on the way and an 8 year old to take care of we still didn't qualify for any other government assistance of any kind. No food stamps, no nothing. I make WAY too much money framing pictures, drawings pictures and making mexican food. You have to be at the absolute BOTTOM with no way ever getting out in this country to get any help (again, another story all together). This has been hard. When I look at the other modern first world countries and see how well the people are doing in general i am inspired. I know there are problems with some of these socialized healthcare. Of course there is. There always will be. That is why we elect people to help with these kind of problems. I have been lucky enough to spend time all over Europe and the UK and I have been having discussions about healthcare long before Glenn Beck started mouth fucking the conservatives with his obvious lies. All these damn foreigners have better quality of life than any of us. They have all the same stupid shit (iPhones, PS3s, big gay 4x4 trucks, small gay vespas) as we do. They eat better. They are in better health. They also are laughing at us. All of them. We look like children over here. One side is too busy stoking the fires of hatred, prejudice, ignorance and greed while the other side is pussying out (no public option. dickheads.) because of fears that the cavemen that don't want to be better off will not vote for them next time around now that all their white guilt has been tossed into the garbage can along with their decency and their intelligence. I don't know why people do not follow the money. This healthcare debate is not about freedom. I love abstract thought as much as the next sentient being, but this is about money. Everything is about money. Fuck, freedom is money. Who is gonna lose money? For one, insurance companies, drug manufactures and other corporations that hate the people who vote for them (ENRON audio tapes anyone?) are going to lose money. They "pay" a lot in taxes already. But my sister is an actual bonafide billionaire. I know the rich pretty well. Some graciously pay their share. Some pay more, some pay less. in fact the ones that do it right get the luxury of spending their money in a way where they can see how it helps. Buy the hospital a new burn ward, donate to a charity, buy poor people cars... whatever you write it off in your taxes. You do the work the government should be doing (taking care of it's people. it's why the forefathers started this cluster fuck. to protect their children and their children's children.) and you don't have to pay the government that part. I know the government is going to get a lot more money in taxes for that. I know that will happen. I don't understand how this is a huge deal. Who is the government? Who is the small evil cabal that will be given the atm card to the "government's checking account" so they can buy stuff? I don't get it. My brother would tell me the illuminati. Yup, the same guys from that Tom Hanks movie preview i saw. but i think my brother can be a tiny bit silly when it come to his conspiracy theories. The government is actually beholden to us. Remember when Bill Clinton got a blow job and jesus wept and then the republican failure became the president? Remember when that Republican failure ass raped the constitution, got us involved in a totally pointless war, spent way way way too much money, tortured people, spied on americans, lied a bunch, and then caused the Republican party to lose their stranglehold on DC? Who knows, in a few years we may think the let down brown president who didn't do what he said he was going to do wasn't strong enough to stand up to stupid people and completely blew it so now Vice President Limbaugh is trying to reinstate Prima Nocte with ever American Thanksgiving dinner. It may happen. This whole Tea party thing is total theatre. If it wasn't why wouldn't Michael Steele be on the damn cover of US Today condemning some of these "protesters"? The shit that is written on these signs is the way more fucked up than anything on any WTO protesters' signs. You can just looked through the pictures. "Save the butterflies" does not equal "there is a african lion at the zoo and a lyin african in the white house". And that is the tamest i had seen (that was spelled correctly).
Then again. I could be wrong. Just my opinion. Sorry about the rant.

New Broken Press stuff that i drew all over...

2009-09-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hey, so Flatstock in Seattle is over for the year and you will now have the opportunity to pick up some items that only those willing to pay $50 admission to Bumbershoot had. Andrew at Broken Press did a bunch of new pieces over the last few months that i bet you haven't seen yet. There is, of course, the Sunn T-shirt/Poster package (only a few of those left) and there is also a Broken Press T-shirt that i illustrated. I recommend picking them both up. Hell, the sooner you buy these things the sooner some Dead Accents items will be out...

Also! Now is the time to order Husk print sets from Broken Press as well. I am serious. Deadly serious.

Click Here.

Click Here.

and Click Here.

New Hemingway disc from Debacle Records coming soon...

2009-09-04T14:04:00.001-07:00

I tell you. I could just post pictures of my new daughter on here all day long. I am resisting though. I guess that is what Facebook will be for. We have a new cdep from Debacle Records coming out very very soon. I did a nice simple layout for it that is pretty cool, in my opinion. We figured we haven't had a Hemingway release in about a month so we better get on it. The "drums" for our new full length are all done. Shane is working on the bass and we should be moving forward very soon. It's gonna be different.

New drawings...

2009-08-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

Harper Clementine Johnston

2009-08-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

My baby girl showed up on 8/28. It's a really amazing experience and I still have barely processed it. It's crushing how cute and sweet she is. She can barely see and her arms are constantly whacking herself in the face. It floors me every time I hear her whimper and coo. So it begins...

Al Qaeda, Dried Up Corpse and Hemingway live...

2009-08-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

...here is a few minutes of the set with Al Qaeda i did in Seattle at the Josephine. Filmed by the man or aural antithesis. I am the bald guy on the left. Kevin Yuen is in the middle and Scott Miller, the man behind Al Qaeda, is on the right. So awesome playing with those guys. Killer sounds, killer times. Andrew Crawshaw did a recording of it so i should be able to get you guys a bit of that pretty soon.

and of course. the mighty Dried Up Corpse. i fucking love stan.

Holy crap. and a crazy Hemingway set. Shane's voice rules.

New work.

2009-08-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

I have a couple awesome projects with Andrew Crawshaw of Broken Press fame coming. I will wait for him to do the finishing touches though before I post images. i will give you a hint though. There is a garuda and a rorschach involved... Here is a poster for Black Elk. I guess someone in Austin is making little 11x17 screen prints of this. I know less than anyone...

Yuen, Miller & Johnston cdr out on the 24th!

2009-08-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Holy crap! Dead Accents is doing a split label release (DA 15.5) with Viralsonic and it's a super limited. Kevin Yuen (FERMENTÆ), Scott Miller (AL QAEDA) and myself did a 28 minute collaborative track called "...in Antiquity" that will be available at the show on the 24th. See previous post. Be sure to pick up one of the 25 copies. crazy.

UPDATE: You can pick one up at Dissonant Plane is Seattle. Get it.

A show you should be at.

2009-08-12T00:24:00.001-07:00

UPDATE:

In this week's Stranger they have a short write up about this show:

Al Qaeda, Dried Up Corpse, Wickt, Demian Johnston

(Josephine) The experimental-music crowd tends to elevate the effect pedal from its status as a supplemental tool to heralding it as the primary instrument. The Bay Area's Al Qaeda are a perfect demonstration of the phenomenon. While the band employ guitars to generate their tones, the real magic is in the endless chain of stomp boxes that sculpt and manipulate rudimentary foundations into sprawling dynamic soundtracks. Local pedal wizard Demian Johnston opens the show by building pretty and ethereal guitar loops and decimating them with blasts of Masonna-like dissonance. Johnston will also lend his modulation expertise and his arsenal of delays, distortions, and filters to a one-off collaboration with Al Qaeda tonight. Congrats, Demian. You're now on the CIA watch list. BRIAN COOK

Sunn 0))) in Seattle. The best of the shows.

2009-07-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The shows ruled (even though a few bands had some technical difficulties). you are bummed for not being there. There is a handful of the T-shirt/Poster combos left in each size (s-xl). Andrew will be selling them through his site today. They will be $40 for the combo in the numbered tube and $25 for just the poster. Jump on these!

Seriously. You should come out to these shows for many reasons but two good ones are the show poster and T shirt that will be available at this show. The skull was drawn by yours truly and designed by Andrew Crawshaw. They will be crazy limited and available at these two shows alone. You will be able to buy the poster or a special tube that has the poster and a t shirt. You should feel bad about not being there.

rock.

Mamiffer & Hemingway NW Tour.

2009-07-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

It is super fucking hot in Seattle this week. Crushing really. We live here so we don't have to walk around in 105 degree weather all day. I know people in Tucson will roll their eyes at 105 degrees but no one in Seattle has air conditioning. Crushing. Really.

So unlike most tours i didn't do any documentation of these shows. I don't totally mind though as there was three moments of technical difficulties for me at the four shows. I will do a short breakdown.

Day 1 (July 16th @ The Josephine, Seattle) Today was the kick off for the tour. We had a show in Seattle at The Josephine which is becoming my home away from home. I really love that place. The show started off with issues from the PA which boggled everyone's mind until Eric from Dissonant Plane walked up and flip a button and suddenly saved the day. Slates began the set with a huge wave of wonderful noise. Absolutely painted the room with a warm heavy sound that he seemed to be making with strange contraption built from two boxes of push pins connected to a contact mic and being played with a toothbrush. He (Josh) only uses a few pedals and i have no idea how he gets the sounds that he does but it is well worth seeing. Next Mamiffer played and everyone was floored. Faith Coloccia's beautiful and complex piano lines accompanied by Travis Rommereim who almost works as a foley artist. Playing a floor tom at times, dragging chains over bottles at times. He adds wonderful texture to all of Faith's work. They make an incredible duo (Aaron Turner, who plays guitar with Mamiffer was on tour with Isis at the time and was unable to play these shows). After that we were treated to Sokai Stilhed. Very excellent work. It was a treat to hear her vocal loops and small horn make some complex evolving waves of sound. She is a very special talent and I recommend picking up her two self released cdrs as soon as you can (check Dissonant Plane). Blowupnihilist played after her. It was so nice to see Andre' play. it had been a long time. He played some excellent grind, hardcore, noise, whatever you want to call it... It was great. There will be a Blowupnihilist cdr on Dead Accents this fall and I really hope he plays more sets like this when it comes out. I will make dozens of dollars! heh. ugh. After Andre' Hemingway played for the few people that had stayed. It was chaos. It only lasted about ten minutes and in that time people were knocked down, equipment broke and shane cut a huge gash into his face. Check out the tagged photos on myspace. Nuts. Time to go to bed.

Day 2 (July 17th Abyssal Behemoth, Portland) Shane and I wanted to get to Portland around 6-7:00pm so we decided to leave at 2:00pm. The drive takes about three hours if you don't hit a lot of traffic so we figured leaving at 2:00pm would be perfect. We got there at almost 9:00pm. We sat in traffic through the city of Tacoma for about four and a half hours. Bumper to bumper through the entire city. Amazing. The fact this region doesn't have serious public transportation is disgusting. The car we were driving down broke down twice but we made it. We arrived at the Abyssal Behemoth in Portland and got to hang with our buddy Gordon. He is the subtle genius behind Oscillating Innards and Concern as well as a new band i have yet to hear called Knelt Rote. The club is really the basement of Gordon's house but it was amazing place to play. The show began with Saltorchard. A duo from the PDX area that are very strange. A boy sits and plays a snare drum with brushes or plays this beautiful iron bell. A girl stands and does really abstract vocals all over the place. It's definitely unique. The compositions they play seem to be less improvised and more or actual written songs. It's hard to explain but they may be playing a few more shows with Mamiffer this summer so you may be able to check them out. Next Hemingway played and after about 3 minutes of our dueling guitar noise, my marshall broke. The high sensitivity input broke inside and shorted out the head. I got this strange ground sound the whole rest of our set that i basically just "played" that. I was pretty disappointed but shane kinda held it together. Mamiffer played again and it was great. They really are an important band workign right now. Probably my favorite thing that hydrahead is doing these days. good work. Gordon played a rare Oscillating Innards set afterwards. Devastating. He has such control over what he is doing. I can't believe he doesn't do that project more. It was a real honor to play with him. Damn technical problems. That night we stayed at his friend Jenna's house and drank beer and smoked a bit. A great time. I passed out while Shane and I watch Old School on a gigantic television.

Day 3 (July 18th Epic Space, Eugene) Shane and I got up at a decent hour and hit the road. Today we were getting tattooed. We drove to Eugene first thing and got to the venue. The venue, Epic Space, is actually a garage attached to our good friend Abe's tattoo shop by the same name. Abe is a killer guy and he has a pretty awesome shop full of talented people. Shane and i both got Winsor McCay images tattooed. The show started with I Died. Chris, who is I Died, did an excellent job making harsh soundscapes. I was transfixed by the little bowl of water with a bubbler in it he was making sounds with. Great work and got some killer cassettes from him. One was a split with a Russian noise act called OBOZDOR. Interesting stuff. I guess Russia has a growing noise scene. We will have to get over there soon. Scrolls played next. It is so weird to watch them. It is basically this dude scott with Rye Wolves as his backing band. Scott is a strange guy. Obviously a savant of some sort. Really interesting fellow. I really recommend checking them out live sometime. the music is heavy and dark with pretty minimal dynamics. They also played with their shirts off. Hemingway played next and right off the bat there was something wrong with my pedal board. The power kept dying and resetting everything. i got furious as i had just fixed my marshall so i unplugged the pedals and plugged straight in. I can make a ton of different sounds with tube feedback, my playing and my 8 bit synth that i have installed in my Les Paul so i was fine with out all the toys but it made it harder to do somethings. Again, Shane held it down and kept it real scary. He is my rock. Mamiffer played after us. There was no reverb on the pa for Travis' mics so we connected my delay pedal to it. I had to adjust the mix on the pedal for a couple parts but they were amazing that night. The best i have ever seen them. it really blew everyone away. The whole room was in shock. It was something very special to see. Travis needs a delay pedal too. After Mamiffer was Brown. Jeremy is one of my favorite new people and he is doing some pretty amazing drone work. Tonight was loud. He played through four halfstacks and his SG. Using some pedals and tuning forks he created some epic tones in that room. I hope to work with Brown in the future, there has been some talk of a Brown cassette on Dead Accents. I would be very proud to see that happen. After the show we went to Burrito Boy and gorged ourselves. I love that place so much. I ate too mcuh and thought i was going to die until i finally passed out.

Day 4 (Ash St Saloon, Portland) This day was kinda a bummer. It was hot and Shane and I got to Portland early. We walked around for awhile which was nice. Got to eat at Roccos pizza, go to Powell's, get yelled at by a stripper at Mary's, drink at Magic Gardens, play video games and then eat and drink at Tube until it was time to go to Ash Street. Mamiffer played first and they sounded really great in that club but there was really no one there. Josh Hydeman and Jeremy brought a fw bodies bet i think unless you are in a large rock band this is not the best venue. It was a cool place though. Brown played next and did a straight up drone set without a guitar. The tonesalmost lulled me to sleep in their heavy beauty. Jeremy is like Gordon from Oscillating Innards in the way he has great control over making the tones. josh Hydeman played next and he was awesome as well. i had never seen him before except for on youtube. He started off with some nice drones and about halfway through turned it into a heavey sreaming mess of noise and texture. Crushing sounds and a good performer. Our set was last. My Marshall blew a fuse and i had to use my Sunn which put us out a head. Kinda bummed me out but we got on that tall stage and just let the few people there have it. Josh Hydeman was loving it, screaming back at Shane and jumping around. After we had let it wind down and turned off our stuff we got off stage and sat down. Faith came up and said my favorite thing, "I get it. You guys are a good band and i get it now." I liked that. Nice to hear after three days of technical difficulties. We drove home that night. A much nicer drive than the way down was. As we pulled into Seattle and unloaded I really got a handle on how tired I was. I had to sleep because i had four hours until i had to be at work. I got home and fell asleep next to my pregnant wife. It was a good tour all in all.

We have tour posters left over. You can pick one up from broken press.

Mamiffer & Hemingway mini tour flyers.

2009-07-09T02:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a few flyers made up for the Mamiffer/Hemingway NW Expedition next week. There will be an infinitely cooler poster designed and printed by Andrew Crawshaw with artwork by both Faith and myself. I will post that as soon as i have an image. You will need three.

Verellen Amplifiers.

2009-07-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

I spent some time today in the Verellen Amplifiers workshop and I have to say that I am in awe. I am chomping at the bit to purchase one of these amazingly beautiful amps as soon as possible. Everyone from Torche and Young Widows to Minus the Bear and Randall Dunn (soon Sunn will be changing their name to VERELLEN) have bought or commissioned amplifiers from Ben Verellen (Bassist and Singer of the legendary Harkonen and the current guitarist and vocalist from Helms Alee). Every amp is numbered by Ben and they all sound amazing. They are not inexpensive but they are absolutely worth every penny. Handmade and beautiful. Really kinda blows my mind.

Now he has developed his first stomp box, "Big Spider". It sounds heavy and the little tone sweep on it makes it that much more fucked. Sounds amazing for bass. I might even have Shane get one for Hemingway and trade in the Bluebeard. I am kinda still high from playing around with these amps today. I recommend picking one up now, in a few years you will be able to trade it for a house in the south of France.

Guess what is coming.

2009-07-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

You will not be prepared. well, you probably will be. it's just going to be really cool.

check it.

KTL shirts!

2009-06-27T19:08:00.001-07:00

This kid from Italy has a clothing company called Serimal and he made a couple awesome KTL shirts with my drawings. I am wearing one right now and they are awesome. I recommend getting in touch with Michele and picking up two of these killer jerkins. They are super limited so jump on 'em now.

Just a thought...

2009-06-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

We shall see... This was the original drawing for the D.D.T.T.N.B. 12 that i did the artwork for but there was a mix up and they screened the cover skull on the 12". I still really want these boys to use this drawing.

Hemingway Tour Merch part 2.

2009-06-26T19:30:00.001-07:00

New Cassette Available!

2009-06-19T11:45:00.001-07:00

Get over the deadaccents.com and read all about it... Then buy all about it.

Hemingway Tour Merch

2009-06-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

A tour cdr and a cassette is coming up for our dates with Mamiffer as well as a new Mamiffer cassette. Be there!

The Penguin.

2009-06-11T01:29:00.000-07:00

As promised on The Daily Death Head...

You will find this little fellow at the base of the Space Needle this Friday in downtown Seattle along with about 60 other penguins in honor of the new penguin exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo. Thanks to the Greenwood Collective for organizing this project.

Mini Tour, New work, Releases...

2009-06-07T02:20:00.000-07:00

...it's going to be great.

-This July Mamiffer and Hemingway are doing a short tour around the NW in their respective cars. The dates are as follows:

July 15th Bellingham, WA (this one is TBA but i am still hoping that it will happen...)
July 16th Seattle, WA @ The Josephine w/Blowupnihilist, Slates and Sokai Stilhed
July 17th Portland, OR @ Abyssal Behemoth (5245 NE 15th ave.)
July 18th Eugene, OR @ Epic Space w/Brown, Scrolls and I Died
July 19th Portland, OR @ Ash Street Saloon w/Brown

Flyers and or a tour poster, images of tour releases and details coming soon...

-New work huh? Well, I am going to post some of my more recent illustrations on my illustration blog. And i assume you have been checking The Daily Death Head blog to check on my skull progress...

-Releases. Well if all goes well (and it really should) I should have the Mamiffer/Oakeater 2xcs box done by the time we go on this tour (Preorders shortly. waiting on something...). Plus the Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive To Death/Hemingway split cs. It has been a real long time coming but it looks as if their is a light at the end of the tunnel. There will also be a Hemingway tour cassette and possibly a cdr for this little tour. I am sure whatever doesn't sell on the tour will be available at the Dead Accents shop. Keep an eye peeled.

Turns out Chase is the devil.

2009-06-03T00:36:00.001-07:00

If you are like me and banked with the failed WaMu and stayed on when Chase took over, get out while you can. They are horrible. Truly a shit bank. Craziest fees, rules, and ethics. Do not wait for them to fuck you. Find a small local credit union or bank and go with them. Nowadays, who needs these giant fucking monster banks anyway? It's a nightmare.

**update** thanks to my awesome friend kevin for this link. Short and sweet but it pretty much says it all. They also charge you $6 of a so a month for your savings account. no wonder they didn't fail, they were busy nickel and dime-ing everyone that banks with them. I would recommend to take your business elsewhere.

I will have a list but i am thinking about either Wells Fargo or Sterling Savings. Maybe Boeing Employees' Credit Union... I used to make airplanes.

***update 2*** Turns out there is a BECU opening on Market Street in Ballard in a few weeks! Awesome. Thank god. Fuck you Chase! Get Swine Flu and die. Anyhow, thanks to my buddy Tom Dougherty for the lead on the cool Hellboy pic i stole from his blog. He hasn't updated it in a bit due to being pissed that some pear painting guy was being a douche bag.... long story. But anyway, you should always check out his blog for all things funny.

skull a day 2 updated

2009-05-31T18:03:00.001-07:00

***Update*** Thanks to my buddy, Tom Dougherty, he forwarded me a very cool blog entitled "Skull A Day". The person who wrote this did arts and craft versions of skulls everyday and they rule. It's weird i never came across this in my death obsessed internet searches. I thought it was just way too similar to seem anything other than derivitive so i changed the name and the url. www.skulladay.blogspot.com is super cool. way cooler than what i am doing but very different other than the subject. I am glad to have found this blog though. I sort love this person. Here is my new url www.thedailydeathhead.blogspot.com please make a note of it. thanks!!!

Okay fuck it. Check this out for your daily skull fix. www.askulladay.blogspot.com

I decided they needed their own home. I will be putting together small booklets of these after a short time. Most likely seasonally. thanks!

check out www.deadaccents.com for some news this week. The skull drawing on the prior post is going to be on my new solo release, "Still". It should be done in the next couple weeks. Mamiffer/Oakeater preorders should also be announced this week. awesome....

A Skull A Day

2009-05-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

I am going to start posting drawings everyday. I don't know if i will be able to keep up with it and i don't like the idea of moving some of these important posts too far down the page, but i am going to try. They will mostly be skull drawings as those are the most fun thing to draw while warming up the old drawing muscles. I may not always post them on demianjohnston.com, they may end up on deadaccents.com, my myspace or facebook pages. They will eventually end up in one spot. most likely a little zine. But maybe you will want to use one for your project. Maybe they will have been used already. It's all possible.

I will do my best to keep it going.
I have a to do list that is truly daunting.

1. prepare for the coming baby
2. a death cinematic/hemingway cdrs
3. mamiffer/oakeater boxes
4. passage between artwork
5. finish psycho koala drawing
6. shining ones lyrics
7. finish new solo cassette, collaboration with al qaeda, scotch tapes release...
8. learn to use a CMC
9. come up with new band name
10. continue recording hemingway full length
11. draw golf poster
12. continue booking mamiffer/hemingway july 2009 tour
13. try not to freak out

But you have a TO DO list as well. Here goes:

Go to brokenpressdesign.com and read the important news.

Buy a Husk print set.

Read my interview on Hammersmashedjazz.

Look at this page and buy some cheap original artwork. Including the cover art for this release.

Rent and watch Hamlet 2.

You should probably go see UP. I haven't but i bet it is good.

Keep watching this page for skulls.