Biography
There are at least three artists called Johan.
1. Johan is a Dutch indie rock band, established in 1990 in the town of Hoorn, The Netherlands, by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jacob de Greeuw, who initially named the group Visions Of Johanna (after the Bob Dylan song of the same name).
The name was changed into Johan in 1996. That same year the band put out their début album, Johan, to overwhelming acclaim from the Dutch music press. The band underwent several personnel changes. De Greeuw soon was the only permanent member. Johan recorded and released three more studio albums of melodic, crafty, Beatle-esque guitar pop with English lyrics that often touched on De Greeuw's personal life. The frontman suffered several bouts of serious clinical depression, the subject of many songs on the Dutch indie classic Pergola (2001) as well as THX JHN (2006). By 2006 De Greeuw had re-located to Amsterdam and formed an Amsterdam-based line-up of the band.
The album 4 (2009) would be thought to be Johan's swan song: the band - to the surprise of many fans - decided to call it a day after a sold-out 'farewell show' at Amsterdam's Paradiso in December 2009. In 2018 they released their 5th studio album Pull Up(2018) All five of Johan's albums (particularly the first three) are regarded as Dutch indie gems, but Johan never made a mark outside of The Netherlands, which is why they are regarded by many (in spite of their domestic success and 'gold' certification for Pergola) as criminally underrated.
Frontman Jacco (or Jacob) de Greeuw is the only permanent Johan member. The first Johan line-up (the 'Hoorn line-up' of 1996) was completed by Remco Krull, Niels de Wit and Wim Kwakman.
The 'Amsterdam line-up' line-up that called it a day in late 2009 consisted of De Greeuw, Maarten Kooijman (guitar, vocals), Diets Dijkstra (guitar, bass guitar, vocals) and Jeroen Kleijn (drums).
De Greeuw's decision to call it quits was perhaps more of a surprise than his decision to re-form the band in 2018 after nine years of absence. The comeback album, Pull Up was regarded by most critics as 'just as good as the first three'. A long string of Dutch festival shows and sold out club gigs followed. The current line-up of Johan is the 'Amsterdam line-up' of 2009, with the exception of guitarist Maarten Kooijman, who penned several songs on 2009's 4. Robin Berlijn (previously in Fatal Flowers, Moke and Kane, amongst others) replaced him.
2. Johan is an American singer and music producer who, until 2010, had never seriously listened to any kind of popular music–he was fully immersed in the world of classical, as an award-winning composer and self-taught pianist. But then Johan was introduced to Kanye West's symphonic 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, while on acid at a house party in the suburban Massachusetts town where he grew up. Captivated, he immediately began teaching himself how to sing and produce contemporary songs.
In 2016, Johan became the composer for Yeethoven–a concert featuring the music of Kanye West and Beethoven juxtaposed and combined by a 50-piece orchestra. Johan's work soon caught the attention of Mike Dean and No I.D., both of whom he's worked with extensively since then on albums for Travis Scott (Astroworld), Teyana Taylor, Nas, Kanye West, Vic Mensa and others. His contributions on these records range from writing & production, to composing & singing grandiose choral atmospheres to orchestrating symphonic interludes.
Now, Johan is releasing new music of his own, featuring the same vocal and orchestral textures he contributed to these artists. They appear not as background components in his work, but as a central compositional feature–something Kanye West personally encouraged him to consider when working on Teyana Taylor's album.
Johan's songs, which he produces largely himself, explore a feeling of suburban ennui and anxiety about growing up, often viewed through a darkly humorous, self-deprecating lens.
3. Johan is also a Dutch folk/pub singer. His full name is Johan Hengeveld, 'Jij hebt de hemel verdiend' (2009) his best known song.
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