NATHAN JOHNSON is a composer, producer, art director, and songwriter. His innovative film scores and mixed-media performances have consistently blurred lines between stage, screen, music, and narrative. He favors modified, organic instrumentation combined with unique approaches to recording and performing.
For the critically acclaimed score of his first film, Brick, he combined such unconventional sources as filing cabinets, cheese graters, and radiators with bolted-and-tacked pianos and tuned wine glasses. Comparably eclectic mixes led to the back-porch sounds accompanying The Brothers Bloom and then to the industrial detritus scoring Looper; the latter was achieved by gathering field recordings of industrial fans and tuned treadmills into a playable, hybrid found-sound orchestra. All three films were written and directed by his cousin Rian, whom he had previously worked with on homemade family movies.
He collaborated with writer/director Joseph Gordon-Levitt and composed the music for Don Jon, working with a team of musicians to create a synth-pop score that slowly dissolves into traditional orchestrations before finally settling in the realm of solo electric guitar. He recently composed the score for writer/director Jake Paltrow's dystopian sci-fi film Young Ones, starring Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning, on which he is also executive producer. His Kill the Messenger compositions incorporate electronics, drums, and bowed guitars wrangled into a pulsing score.
A veteran writer and performer, Nathan Johnson continues to front The Cinematic Underground, a sprawling artistic collective known for mixing visual art with performance and found-sounds. He is also part of the atmospheric pop band Faux Fix; and has produced a variety of artists while acting as concert developer and live show consultant for a number of bands. When he is not creating music, he works as an art director with The Made Shop, a boutique design firm that specializes in graphic and architectural projects.
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