Daily Inspiration: Meet Nicholas Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Johnson.

Nicholas, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My path into the world of music began fairly early on. Growing up in a small farm town in southern Kentucky, it served as an escape from perpetual boredom and eventually became a creative outlet. It started with playing drums in middle and high school band – marching band, pep band, concert band, etc. Then in college, I switched to guitar and began playing in coffee shops and bars. The idea of pursuing music in some way took root there, but it seemed like a pipe dream.

After college, I took a job where I traveled 100% of the time and all across the country. The job was pretty intense and a lot of manual labor. I would work from 6 am to 4 or 5 pm. Then I would either hit up an open mic or play a gig – usually from 10pm to 2am. It was a hard time but I was gaining confidence and experience.

When I was placed on a job in Indianapolis, the idea of a music career began to re-emerge and take form. I was playing nearly every night around town and became plugged into the scene. On the very next job in upstate New York, I eventually quit the day job and focused solely on music. I found the more time and energy I spent on creating and writing the better the songs were. And on the business side, I focused on administrative tasks: like networking, booking, and promotion. It began to pay off – bigger shows, sponsorships from national brands like GAP, festivals in Northeast and New York City, and recorded my first album, “Upstate”.

I eventually moved to Ohio in the Dayton area and started working on the scene here and going to shows and I found my tribe. I fell in love with the amount of talent and the unique sound of the bands of Southwest Ohio cultivated by bands such as Heartless Bastards, The Breeders, Guided by Voices, Buffalo Killers, etc. A seed of an idea began to form about exporting this one of a kind sound to the rest of the world. I had no clue how to accomplish this.

A few years passed where I had starts and stops with music. I got a “real” job. I was clean-shaved and wore a tie. I thought I was outgrowing a childish dream, but what I was actually doing was heading in the wrong direction and walking away from the hard work I had invested.

The turning point came with an incredible opportunity to move abroad to Milan, Italy. Upon my arrival, the only way I could make money without speaking the language was by giving English lessons or playing music. I began scouting spots Milan for live music and began asking pubs, bars, and clubs for a chance to play. Sometimes in a combination of broken English from them and elementary Italian on my part. Other times through an interpreter.

I had my first show at Palo Alto Cafe (thanks to a very good friend Andrea Zambianchi) in city center and that led to another gig, and so on, and so on. Eventually, one evening I was playing at a place called Ostello Bello and I met my future collaborator and one of my best friends.: Andrea Rock. He is a radio personality for Virgin Radio Italia – one of two national stations in Italy.

He is also a very talented songwriter and musician. And what began as a mutual admiration for each other’s music turned into a creative and business partnership. The majority of what I learned about the inner workings of the music business came from either hard lessons or Andrea Rock. Things began taking off from there and I finally realized a full-fledged music career: in a country where I barely spoke the language. I toured Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, and the UK and began songwriting collaborations and other projects with other international artists, record labels, and publishers.

Circumstances brought me back to Cincinnati, Ohio in February of 2020. We all know what happened the next month: the COVID bomb dropped. Though my residence had changed I still had tour plans back overseas for the late summer and fall: Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia. And like everyone else, my plans were squashed.

During COVID, making plans was useless, so I began to write and create. I also started to reevaluate my relationship with business side of my career in music. I realized that approaching the business exclusively as an artist, I’m leaving a large chunk of income on the table. From an administrative standpoint, I do all the work that a record label and publisher does: booking, physical and digital distribution, promotion, design, recording, etc. “Why am I giving half of my income away?” I asked myself.

The rights to my two most successful singles belonged to someone else. So I decided that going forward if I was going to put all my eggs in one basket, it’s going to be my f***ing basket. And Ninja Jam Records was born and our first release is coming out in late October, “Back Upstate”.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Playing music for a living has brought me the best moments of my life, but also the hardest lessons. You have to have tough skin. Being good is the bare minimum. You’re going to be rejected 1000 times, so you have to take full advantage of the opportunities that are in front of you. Sometimes you’ll drive 3 hours to a show and play to the bartender for $25 and a bottle of beer. Will and humility have to carry you from gig to gig.

Learning the business and administrative also side comes with hard lessons and pitfalls. At the end of the day it’s a job. When you decide to turn a hobby into a career the script flips completely. It’s not just about hopping on stage to play. That becomes the easy part. The hard part is the part no one sees or appreciates. The hours and hours of work put into the administrative side: emails (upon emails), communicating with bookers, tour planning, promotion, social media, etc. You WILL mess up one of these items and it lose you gigs or put you in a bad situation. It’s easy to give up when you mess up but you have to shake it off and move on.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a musician and I run a label, Ninja Jam Records based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. We are just kicking off Ninja Jam but what sets us apart from other independent labels is the means to give local artists from the southwest Ohio scene an international voice. Our goal is to export that unique sound and amazing talent in the area to a national and international audience.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
As a kid, I was a ball of ADHD-riddled energy. Like I mentioned earlier, when you have that amount of energy in a super small town it leads to either mischief or creativity. I believe I found a healthy mixture of the two. Most neurotypical people don’t realize that the flip side of ADHD is a superpower known as hyperfocus – when you really get into something and it almost becomes obsessive. So I REALLY got into things I was interested in music, sports, movies, writing, books, and comics. Anything that really could transport me and keep my attention.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@nicholasjohnsonmusic.com
• Website: www.nicholasjohnsonmusic.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/nicholasjohnsonmusic
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/nicholasjohnsonmusic
• Twitter: www.Twitter.com/drumsandaguitar
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC49nx3PY17RE27ppQY0jZTQ
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2sxWpIGwXEMOPk1HIvrQEh?si=p82aFRFzScer1cSFWMlG1w&dl_branch=1