You've got a friend in him

Surfer music is on the rise with the success of Jack Johnson, whose talents include filmmaking, surfing and playing the guitar

By MASON POOLE
Contributing Writer

And the winner isŠJack Johnson," the supermodel announces. Johnson eases his way up to the Universal Amphitheater stage to accept the ESPN Action Sports Award for "Best Surf Music." The applause is noticeably softer compared to the night's previous winners. "It's OK, none of you really know of me, except for a few surfers, but thank you very much," Johnson explains.
Try telling that to the blushing 13-year-old girls surrounding him outside Rhino Records in Claremont, Calif. One of the girls asks, "Jack, are we friends, you and me?" Without hesitating, Johnson smiles, "yes." After talking with him for a few minutes, you realize that he means it. He is your friend.
Johnson has been making a lot of friends lately. Currently on tour with Ben Harper, Johnson has watched his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales, collect a growing and devoted group of fans. "It's crazy to actually play a show where you are headlining and people actually come out and pack a place," he said about his sold-out show in Solana Beach. "It's a really good feeling because the music I try to play is positive and it's nice to know that people are into positive music."
He finds time to talk with fans because he enjoys it. "Playing music is always something you do if you love music, deciding whether or not you play it live depends on how the response is," he said. "The response has been great, and I love meeting and talking with cool people, so that keeps me really enthusiastic to be out playing my music."
Playing music is nothing new to Johnson. He first picked up the guitar as a toddler, living on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Johnson grew up as most North Shore kidssurfing the world-class breaks in their own back yard. It only seemed natural for North Shore teenagers to pursue a career in pro-surfing. However, with one brother at UCLA, and another at USC, Johnson decided to leave it all behind to start out on his own at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"That choice was something I was always planning on doing," he said. "I knew I didn't want surfing as a profession. When I was a senior in high school, I already had a pro contract. In surfing, like anything, anytime you decide to make something completely public it is like it's not yours anymore, and surfing was always something I wanted to keep mine. Nobody else has their hands in it."
It was at UCSB where Johnson met two loves of his life, his wife Kim and filmmaking. After changing his major from math to film, Johnson discovered a hidden talent. He used that talent to film his friends surfing, which grew into two revolutionary surf films, "Thicker Than Water," and "The September Sessions." The films earned Johnson immediate respect as a filmmaker, and ended up serving as an outlet for Johnson's musical talents.
The decision to pursue his dreams after college was easy for Johnson. "I have always tried to let it flow," he said. "It sounds cheesy or overly-Zen, but I always tried to go along with whatever happened naturally. Music came about so naturally from doing my films and soundtrack work. I received such a great response that is seemed like the right thing to do."
The chain of events that lead to Johnson's solo album began when he started getting requests from friends on boat trips in Indonesia. Bootleg copies of Johnson's melodies circulated the surf community when collaborations with G Love and Special Sauce and Ben Harper launched him into performances and recordings on his own.
The influence of collaborators G Love and Special Sauce and Ben Harper is apparent in Johnson's music. Brushfire Fairytales is a mixture of Johnson's soothing acoustic guitar and flowing poetic prose. Friends Adam Topol and Merlo add to Johnson's own talents, with Topol playing often funk-inspired beats and percussion, and Merlo giving the trio a hip-hop flavored bass.
The album has been selling extremely well according to his record label, Enjoy-Records. Despite the controversy in the music industry surrounding Napster and music sharing, Johnson is grateful for the demand in his music. "Speaking for myself, and not my record label or anyone else, I am totally down with it (music sharing)," he said. "For me, none of this would have happened if it weren't for bootlegging or any of this. This all started because of sharing music, so it is like a new style of grass-rootsŠWith folk music, the kind of music we put out, it's all about sharing. Sitting around my house singing the songs to myself would be silly."
Johnson will continue his musical tour with Ben Harper throughout the summer, but he still manages to schedule time for his films and surfing. "This summer we are taking a trip to some [surf] spots for a movie, but we are trying to keep those spots a real secret," he said.
As for new music, Johnson will be providing tracks for a new skate movie produced by friend Scott Sowens and Hurley, as well as new music for another Moonshine Conspiracy film with partners Chris and Emmett Malloy.
With all of his recent success, it is obvious that Johnson's movies and music will take him far. However, the thing about Johnson is that he will never get wrapped up in the fame, he is simply too humble. He will continue to treat everyone like a good friend, and he is always willing to share a tune. He may be willing to share his music with the fans, but go out and buy the CD. You will be rewarded with music that will make you feel good, and a new friend.
Jack Johnson will be performing at the House of Blues on Friday, April 20 with Poi Dog Pondering. He will also be performing with Ben Harper in San Diego and Santa Barbara in May. His album, Brushfire Fairytales, is available at major record stores. For more information, visit www.jackjohnsonmusic.com.

Copyright 2001 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 142, No. 59 (Monday, April 16, 2001), beginning on page 7 and ending on page 11.