Will Johnson

Will Johnson (born March 23, 1971) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, author and painter who was the lead singer of the bands Centro-matic and South San Gabriel.

Called "one of the most prolific artists in American indie rock", Johnson has also released solo records, and is a member of the bands Monsters of Folk, New Multitudes and Overseas, and has also performed as part of the Undertow Orchestra.

He is currently a member of Jason Isbell's band, the 400 Unit.

Johnson was born in Kennett, Missouri.

When he was 11 years old, his mother remarried and the family moved to Killeen, Texas.

Johnson attended the University of North Texas, where he was involved in Denton's active music scene.

He double-majored in English and elementary education.

Johnson began playing drums, piano and sang in his church choir at an early age.

After moving to Killeen, Texas, from Kennett, Missouri, he was a founding member and drummer for the jangle-rock band The Benjamins.

They released two cassettes in 1988 and 1989 before Johnson left to attend the University of North Texas.

While there, Johnson played in bands such as Polyester, Salt Lick, The Dooms UK, and was a founding member of Baboon.

On Super Bowl Sunday 1991, Johnson joined Peter Schmidt and Clark Vogeler to form the band Melt, which changed its name to Funland in 1992.

Funland signed with Arista Records that year, releasing the EP Sweetness in March 1993.

The band toured regularly in the US and released its only full-length album, The Funland Band, on Steve Records in 1995.

Centro-matic began as a four-track cassette project when Johnson returned to college in May 1995.

It was the first time he had written and sung songs, and later that year saw the release of the cassette Non-Directional Jetpack Race.

After five and a half years, Funland disbanded in June 1996.

A handful of 7-inch releases followed, and Johnson began playing live under the Centro-matic moniker in March 1996 as a solo performance with electric guitar and vocals.

In December 1996, Johnson recorded the first Centro-matic full-length album, Redo The Stacks.

Johnson played all the instruments except violin (Scott Danbom) and cello (Lindsay Romig), with a longtime friend Matt Pence engineering the lo-fi record.

In February 1997, Johnson started performing full-band Centro-matic shows with Mark Hedman on bass guitar and Pence on drums.

Choosing to keep things informal, the band's first rehearsal was held after its second show.

In March 1997, Danbom joined the band on the piano, fiddle, bass guitar, and vocals.

Johnson first met Chestnutt in 1999 in Dallas.

Chesnutt was a fan of Eitzel's music, and the two were long-time friends.

With his Centro-matic bandmates, Johnson formed the band South San Gabriel in the spring of 2001.

It resulted from Centro-matic wanting to collaborate with and include other musicians while experimenting with a more spacious and atmospheric approach to writing and recording.

South San Gabriel has a fluid lineup, with the band performing with anywhere from 3–10 members.

South San Gabriel has released three full-length albums, plus EPs and singles.

They met by chance at the SXSW festival in Austin in 2003 or 2004.

They recorded the album over a week and a half in early 2008.

Johnson describes Molina as a "whirlwind of dedication and activity".

Johnson collaborated with songwriter Jason Molina for the joint album Molina and Johnson, released on the Secretly Canadian label in November 2009.

Another collaboration was discussed but it never came to fruition before Molina's death in 2013.

Johnson has performed as part of the Undertow Orchestra with David Bazan, Vic Chesnutt and Mark Eitzel.

Centro-matic continued to record and tour extensively in the United States and Europe under the same lineup until deciding to disband in 2014.

The band released ten albums and five EPs, plus several 7-inch recordings, cassettes, and compilation, and soundtrack appearances.

The band worked with Jeff Powell, Anders Parker and Scott Solter.

The full-lengths Navigational, B-sides compilation Static vs. The Strings Vol. 1 and All The Falsest Hearts Can Try was recorded at Jay Farrar's studio in Millstadt, Illinois.

The band subsequently recorded most of its material at The Echo Lab in Argyle, Texas.