the beginning
Johnny High Ground was born on a rainy May afternoon in the year 2000, in a nondescript suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in front of a decrepit old computer in a drafty basement studio apartment.
Which all sounds a great deal more noble and romantic than it actually was. In truth, Johnny High Ground is what happens when you put guns in the hands of children—"guns" in this case being cheap and powerful computer-driven music tools and "children" being singer/songwriter Joe Rybicki. (Also: lyricist, guitarist, bassist, percussionist, loop arranger, PR manager, recording engineer, producer, roadie, and web designer and editor—i.e., me. Hi there!)
Originally intended as a quick and dirty outlet to deliver music to distant friends and family, JHG was really little more than a pressure vent: when the songs built up inside, JHG was a way to let them out. But when "Paralyzed" started showing up on college radio playlists and charting on (the then-booming) MP3.com, things started getting serious.
going live
It soon became clear that steps would need to be taken to bring the music to the masses, so in 2001 Johnny High Ground became a power trio. Amps were purchased, basements were emptied, toilet paper was stuffed into ears, and JHG—now featuring Mark Manzo on drums and Mike Shin on bass—spent months testing out songs in preparation for a recording project.
In June of 2002 it all finally came together in one glorious marathon session of recording at the indescribably cheap (in every sense of the word) Copymaster Video in Villa Park, Illinois. Emotionally exhausted and over one hundred dollars poorer, the band exited the studio triumphantly with the three-song Cheaper Than Skydiving EP in hand. Popular indie music critic John Scalzi said of the EP, "It's like stuffing my ears with jagged candy!"
er, nevermind
Of course, the next logical step was that I break up the band to move to San Francisco. (It was a work thing.) But I circulated Cheaper Than Skydiving to friends, family, and terrified passers-by, which resulted in two songs ("Bad Girl" and "Landslide") being chosen for a segment on the popular Canadian extreme-sports TV show Hardcore Candy.
A few attempts to get a band together in the somewhat daunting Bay area music scene made it clear that my musical mission was best served in a solo capacity. So I went back to the studio (i.e., the two hundred and sixteen cubic feet in front of my computer) and pounded out "Trigger-Happy Texan." This politically charged little number made a grand entrance at JHG's new home, Dmusic.com (chosen after MP3.com vaporized along with most of the other websites whose business plan involved giving away free money). It knocked The Ataris out of the number one spot in punk in its first appearance (sorry, guys) and racked up literally thousands of listens within the first week. As of this writing, the song is still in the top five, and keeps cropping up in the most unlikely of places.
The future, and beyond
So what comes next? A full-length CD, for one: I'm in the process of recording new songs (and re-recording a few old ones) for an album called Unaffiliated, which, as you might guess from the title, I will be releasing entirely on my own. There is no firm release date yet—that's one of the downsides to doing everything yourself, you know—but I'm planning to have it ready by June 2005 at the very latest.
Plus, now that I have a Real Live Website to send interested parties to, I'll be making the rounds of Bay area clubs, coffee houses, and bar mitzvahs. Watch this site for a list of upcoming shows and special events.
After that? Hey man, don't look at me. I'm making this up as I go along.
The JHG faq: WTF?
» Do you really do all this yourself?
Yep, pretty much. The notable exceptions are the songs "Bad Girl," "End of the Line," and "Landslide," which were recorded with a Real Live Band consisting of Mike Shin on bass and backing vocals, Mark Manzo on drums, and me on guitar and vocals. I also had the help of Brian Hegedus in writing the lyrics for "End of the Line," and of Lee Pugsley in writing the main verse riff for "Happily Ever After."
» That's unpossible!
It's not unpossible, it's technology!
» Okay, then how exactly do you do it?
I start off with a creamy foundation of drum loops and/or samples. (Layman's definition: snippet-length recordings of live humans playing live drum kits, designed to be used with music sequencing software such as Acid, Reason, Garageband, etc.) After painstakingly arranging, cutting, shoehorning and otherwise molesting these loops to fashion a reasonable approximation of a live drummer, I then add juicy layers of bass, guitar, and vocals in a manner not dissimilar to a standard studio. Except I do it all on a standard (slightly outdated, even!) PC using a single ribbon mic and these fantastic guitar and bass processors called PODs, which offer fair facsimiles of live-room rigs. I then coat the entire thing in a layer of sweet, sweet nougat. Hey, you're the one who asked.
» There's got to be more than that.
Not really. I use a standard sound card, Acid mixing software, and, um, that's about it. All very off-the-shelf. I do plan to upgrade to something a little more serious one of these days, but it's more for convenience than anything else.
» Wouldn't forming a live band be easier?
Maybe. But my work schedule is such that I don't get a lot of free time, so something where I can take it entirely at my own pace is really ideal. Plus I've been doing it this way for years now; it's sort of become my "thing."
» Do you ever play live shows?
Not right now, but that's not to say I don't plan to. That is, it's not some kind of moral stance against playing shows or anything—I just haven't really had the time to start exploring the Bay area music scene. It'll happen sooner or later, so stay tuned to this site for details.
» Do you have CDs for sale?
Yep. Right now you can buy an anthology release of Schroedinger's Cat, Cheaper Than Skydiving, and some bonus tracks. It's called Early Output: 1999-2002, and it's available right now at the JHG store. I'm also slowly putting songs together for my first full-length CD, currently called Unaffiliated, which I intend to record and release entirely myself. If all goes well it'll be out by Smarch of 200X.
Well, mainly because I haven't been looking for one. That's not to say I wouldn't consider it if one came my way—again, it's not some kind of moral imperative—but if I can do it myself, why wouldn't I? Of course, that may change once I get deeper into a.) the production process, and/or b.) debt.
» Why can't I download more of your songs?
You can now download them all. Just click on the song title and right-click the "download" link.
» Were you ever in a live band?
Yep. From around 1990 to 1995 I sang and played bass for a Cleveland punk band called "whatever...".
» That's a stupid name.
It sure is.
» Tell me more.
Well, we enjoyed some moderate success in Cleveland; for awhile we were the go-to band for opening punk shows, which let us open up for kickass bands like Jawbox, Rancid, Pennywise, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Samiam. In '95 we released an album called Jabberwocky, which was released on CD by Italy's Runt Records and on vinyl by California's Dead Beat Records. We toured the eastern U.S. that summer, but by the time we got back I had gotten pretty tired of the whole thing. We played one more sold-out show in Cleveland and then I split. The band went on to release a couple seven-inches and a full-length CD on Dr. Strange Records, then called it quits a couple years later. You can buy a modified version of Jabberwocky on CD and LP from Dead Beat Records to this day, if you're interested. It's very punk rawk. I've also recently unearthed the band's first two releases—you can download them here.
I wouldn't, if at all possible. But if you forced me, I'd call it "mercurial rock." That is, I write whatever strikes my fancy. This is one of the major benefits of being a one-man band.
» Who would you say your influences are?
Too many to list. I'm a musical slut; I'll listen to anything that moves me. Among the most influential, though, are Roger Clyne's bands, J. Robbins' bands, and a British outfit called New Model Army. That's not to say my music sounds anything like any of these bands, though; I have absolutely no idea who or what I sound like. Maybe you have some suggestions?
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