From being a core member of Stick Figure to producing countless musicians, Johnny Cosmic is a reggae superstar
Photo courtesy of Ineffable Music. Photo credit: In The Barrel Photo.
Daily Reggae had the chance to interview reggae superstar, Johnny Cosmic about the singer-songwriter / producer’s amazing new song, “Georgia Rain” featuring The Elovaters, getting creative in Great Stone Studios, and the incredible energy of touring with Stick Figure!
Johnny - First of all, thanks so much for recently showing us around Great Stone Studios!
It was an honor to meet you and to be in the building where Stick Figure records and produces music. What makes the studio so special to you and what are some of your favorite songs that you’ve produced from there?
Great Stone was previously Green Day's place. That definitely makes it special right away. Dookie was one of the first CDs I bought back in the day.
Billy Joe was the reason my main guitar for many years was a green fender. It feels cool to be a part of their history.
A lot of great music has been made here, definitely hard to pick favorites. So many experiences come to mind. One would be recording a cover of the Jimmy Buffett tune, Pirate Looks at 40. It was TJ, Stick, Bong, Tommy, Alific, Todd Smith and I hanging in the studio, just having fun.
We tracked 95% of the music live, playing together. and then took turns laying down the vocals. We recorded some group vocals as well each singing each others part. You can feel the vibe and the life inside that track. It's embedded in there. All of us making some magic together. My soul smiles every time I hear it.
You are an incredibly productive musician - between being a full time Stick Figure band member, producing countless hits and albums across the reggae scene, teaming with KBong to tour nationwide and releasing your own solo music. How do you stay balanced and what are the fun aspects of getting creative and managing all these amazing musical endeavors in your life?
Definitely always a challenge to stay balanced. I try to do what I can to keep walking, step by step, across the high wire. Like any of us, I dont really know what I’m doing. But I’m trying my best to put my heart in the right place. So I hope that counts for something.
Being creative is an amazing experience. It's beyond just fun. It's more like transcendental or supernatural. It's the ultimate form of being in my opinion. And it opens the door to relate to existence in a deep way. A bridge to a higher realm.
It's nice to have multiple projects going. Keeps things interesting, keeps me on my toes, keeps me working hard, helps me to continue to learn new things and have new experiences. With each artist or project there's an opportunity to learn. To see things from a perspective you wouldn't have had otherwise. So much of my style is a reflection of all the amazing people i've had the chance to work with. A bit of their soul imprints onto mine. It keeps me growing towards the light.
Shout out to Slatetrain, KnowledgeBorn07, P.Tugz, Frank Clayton, Funky Boo Nutz, Hubblequest, Christian Rogala & Notebook Noise to name a few.
When we met in the studio, I could have sworn you mentioned that you used to release hip hop music. Did I hear that right? Can you share that part of your story, and how did your journey lead you to Stick Figure and reggae? Are there any similarities between the genres (i.e. songwriting and producing)?
I've had the chance to make all kinds of music. Many different genres and flavors. Thousands of songs.
Reggae has been close to my heart since high school. It's just a style of music that makes me feel good. That's what I love about it. It has a certain positive momentum and I really needed that in my life. Coming from Chicago it was hard to find people who wanted to play reggae music. I honestly thought for many years that I would never get the chance to be part of the scene. Really was a pleasant surprise to find my way to Stick Figure and this community.
We are absolutely vibing to your new single, “Georgia Rain” featuring The Elovaters! This is another reggae, rock and pop filled track that reggae fans will love and fans still finding their way to reggae will immediately connect with! How did this track come to fruition and what makes Jackson Wetherbee stand out as a musician to you?
Jackson is incredible. One of the best singers I've ever met. First saw him play in Stick's parents backyard for an after party one year. I remember being completely blown away. Was like this dude has got to be heard! So glad to see him and The Elovaters crew find their way to success and to find a great audience who appreciates them. They deserve every bit of love.
Georgia Rain feels like one of those tracks that's from above. Certain tracks just seem to exist in the ether and you happen to be lucky enough to find it.
Didn't take more than like 10-15 minutes to get the main bulk of the song written.
It all started with the song title. Jackson and I were talking on the bus after a show. He was telling me this story about his childhood and he said one of his favorite things in the world was the sound of the rain hitting the tin roof of his father's house. He was like 'maaaan. that georgia rain..' Both me and Brian, one of The Elovaters crew guys, looked at each other and were like 'Bro!! that'd be an awesome song'.
And every couple of weeks after that, it would randomly float into my mind again. ...Georgia Rain.. after like the third or fourth time of this idea tugging at the ribbon on my finger, I decided fuck it. I'm gonna write this song. So I sat down, grabbed a guitar and started playing the hook right away.
Couple weeks after that, Bong and I were playing a show in Mammoth CA. We were all chilling after the show, Vana and her crew were there too. We were having a great time passing around the guitar singing songs and freestyling. When the guitar came to me I decided to try playing Georgia Rain in public for the first time. When I finished our friend Barry couldn't believe I had written the tune. He thought it had to have been some old cover tune he'd never heard before. He was really impressed that it was an original song. That's when I knew that the tune was special.
(Side memory from that night - The keyboard player Andrew 'premium price' Maloney did an epic 30 min freestyle that had the whole place crying from laughing so hard. Classic moment. And Alific basically did like a 30 min stand up comedy set for all of us. Lots of laughs that evening).
What are some of your proudest accomplishments as a musician and how do you continue to challenge yourself to build new skills, connections, and sounds? When you’re touring nationally with Stick Figure - from Alaska, New York to Chicago - does that time on the road give you a new musical perspective that you can then harness at the studio in Oakland?
My proudest accomplishments are helping other musicians bring the best out of themselves and their art. Assisting in any way to help another person be what they were put on the earth to be.
It is a beautiful thing to be a part of.
