MINI INTERVIEW: JOHAN LENOX
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
1.17.22 / @jonasbaker & @johanlenox
This ubiquitous line of questioning encompasses all junctures in our life, but none more than our adolescence. From the wide-eyed naivety of your first passion to the corroding reality of adulthood, the idea of yearning for greener pastures is at the epicenter of American Culture. That said, long gone are the days of the picket fence dreams of yesteryear.
Meet Johan Lenox - a multi-faceted artist, composer, pop star, and human. For the premiere of this Substack, I sat down with Lenox to discuss his recent releases leading up to his upcoming album, WDYWTBWYGU. The intricate acronym asks one of life’s most pivotal yet mindfuck of questions and is the central theme of Lenox’s life and project.
Lenox released the 3rd single, “No One Gets Me,” off the upcoming album this past Friday the 14th. Check out the video and our conversation below!
Where did the concept of challenging the societal norms of American Adulthood spurn from? Was there a moment in the past few years that encapsulates that feeling for you?
JL: I think it's just been the result of me kinda being on Twitter and TikTok and stuff for a few years and just soaking in what people are talking about. A lot of the album is this personal thing about me trying to figure out what growing up looks like for me, given my fairly unorthodox lifestyle, but then I tried to put that in context of what it feels like trying to grow up in America right now, no matter who you are. The feelings of uncertainty and directionlessness that people seem to be feeling, I relate to them a lot but also am aware that for me some of these things are kinda self-imposed by having chosen the life of a musician.
You mention your Peter Pan idealistic look on adulthood, have you found this to be a positive/productive outlook within the industry?
JL: I kinda think it's the only way to be an artist, at least in pop music. I can't say for sure if I had a more normal job if by now I would've settled into a more steady adult lifestyle than I have. But being a musician definitely forces one to kinda accept chaos and instability and tends to keep your peer group really young and reckless even. Putting the music industry aside though I do feel resistance to certain "boring" tendencies I notice with older people, like having dinner parties instead of like backyard ragers or something. I don't think I'm ever gonna be a dinner party person.
All irony aside, what did YOU want to be when you grew up?
JL: In elementary school and middle school the answer was probably like a roller coaster designer haha. Then it kinda shifted to wanting to be the next John Williams for a while. Then maybe Leonard Bernstein who was more of a classical composer but who also did a lot of Broadway stuff.
From the videos and snippets you have released, it appears that the detail and production have been cinematic in nature. How important are these visual representations for the upcoming album? Will every track have a corresponding video?
JL: All of the singles have videos and if you're following my Instagram and Twitter I've also been releasing little short videos that accompany some of the transition tracks which feature voice memos from my GF talking about life. The videos each have a slightly different aesthetic but they all share common elements, most importantly the fiery skies behind us, and the young and old versions of me. The fiery skies represent the incoming doom of climate change and other anxieties people have about the future. The older and younger versions of me represent just me looking at my whole life and trying to both stay in this nostalgic feeling for being a kid and my fears of getting old and not having lived the life I want or of living in a world that's worse than the one we currently live in. The album cover (spoiler!) depicts a kid sitting on the front lawn of a "typical" suburban house, playing with toys while the sky burns behind him. It represents what the title of the album is asking, this cute question about growing up that we ask kids, but with the caveat that we have no idea what the world is even going to look like once we are grown up.
The features on the album include a recurring cast of characters you work incredibly well with. Are there any artists who you wanted on the album that didn’t pan out?
JL: Great question haha. Yes, definitely. The biggest one was Big Sean. I know him a bit and he's always been really supportive and at one point said he was even down to do one, but I wasn't ultimately able to pin him down to actually record on the song. I'm cool with it though, I think it will still happen down the line when I get bigger and it'll be worth the wait. Another one was Saint Jhn, who would've been a perfect fit musically, but I think since his song got so huge he's been focusing mainly on his own work, which I totally get. The last one would be Kaycyy who I've started working with recently. He's fantastic and I definitely want to get him on something eventually but this album is done and turned in so it will have to wait for now...
Follow Lenox on social media @JohanLenox, and check out his latest release, “No One Gets Me” feat RMR below!