Daniel was born in 1961 in Sacramento, California, the youngest of five children in a Christian fundamentalist household. He and his family soon moved to New Cumberland, West Virginia, where his father, an engineer and World War II fighter pilot, landed a job with Quaker State. Drawing for a long time before he took up music, Daniel grew to appreciate such artists John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Bob Dylan, David Bromberg, Queen, Neil Young, the Sex Pistols, and especially The Beatles. “When I was 19, I wanted to be The Beatles. I was disappointed when I found out I couldn’t sing.” That Liverpudlian quartet continues to inspire Daniel today, who sings, “My heart looked to art and I found The Beatles / Oh God I was and am a true disciple on Rock ‘n’ roll/EGA.”
While it would be years before Daniel committed his first songs to tape, he began composing at an early age. “When I was a kid, probably nine, I used to bang around on the piano, making up horror movie themes. When I got a bit older, I’d be mowing my lawn and I’d make up songs and sing them. No one could hear me ’cause of the lawn mower.” As a teenager, Daniel and his friends began to record their own tapes and trade them among themselves. After high school, he attended an art program at a branch of Kent State near his family’s home. This was a prolific period of his life. Unemployed, and attending classes sporadically, he began to spend most of his time in his family’s cellar, writing and recording. The tapes he made there included “Songs of Pain” and “More Songs of Pain,” which both centered around his unrequited love for a woman named Laurie who ended up marrying an undertaker.
The aspiring cartoonist — whose playful, symbol-heavy sketches have graced the covers of may of his releases, including “Fun” — moved to Texas in 1983. First he went to Houston, living with his brother and working at Astro World, while also recording the seminal tapes “Yip/Jump Music” and “Hi, How Are You?” on a $59.00 Sanyo mono boom box. These recordings featured such classics as “Speeding Motorcycle,” “Sorry Entertainer,” and odes to everyone from “Casper the Friendly Ghost” and “King Kong” to “The Beatles.” From there he moved to San Marcos, TX, and even joined a traveling carnival show for a spell, selling corndogs. “It was like a movie all the time. Everybody around me was a great story that never stopped, and for the first time, I realized how much freedom you have to do what you want.”
Throughout his career, Daniel’s songs and drawings have been informed to some degree by his ongoing struggle with manic depression — lending an added poignancy to his soul-searching times. His five-month stint with the carney left him in Austin, where he decided to stay. In the midst of that city’s mid-eighties music scene, Johnston was a definite iconoclast. While he continued to hand out his tapes for free, Austin record stores started selling them; in fact, the became best-selling local releases. Soon, a camera crew from MTV’s seminal “Cutting Edge” show came to town and all the Austin bands suggested they feature Daniel.
His appearance on the show made him a minor celebrity. Recognizing the quality of his songs and the purity of his vision, the American underground began to embrace Daniel. The Dead Milkmen recorded his song “Rocket Shop,” and Sonic Youth and noted Minutemen/FIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt made plans to record some of his material, as did The Butthole Surfers and other Austin bands. The music press both here and abroad began to weigh in with lofty pronouncements of Daniel’s artistry.
In the spring of 1992, the Lyon Opera Ballet commissioned a piece from New York-based choreographer Bill T. Jones. He delivered “Love Defined” – a 25-minute piece set to six songs from Johnston’s Yip/Jump Music. In October of that same year, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane combo performed “Love Defined” at New York’s Joyce Theatre. The reviews in the New York Times and the Village Voice each cited Johnston’s songs favorably. Over the years, Daniel’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited in Los Angeles, Zurich, and Berlin. The cover of a recent edition of music writer Richard Meltzer’s “The Aesthetics of Rock” was drawn by Johnston.
Hi, How Are You – Mural
The Hi, How Are You Mural is a public art installation located in Austin, Texas, that features a brightly colored frog-like creature with the words “Hi, How Are You?” written in bubble letters. The mural was created by artist Daniel Johnston in 1993 and has become an iconic part of the city’s cultural landscape.
The mural’s message is simple yet powerful: it is a friendly greeting that encourages people to connect with each other and check in on each other’s well-being. The mural’s whimsical design and bright colors make it instantly recognizable, and it has become a popular spot for tourists and locals alike to take photos and selfies.
In addition to its aesthetic appeal, the Hi, How Are You Mural has also become a symbol of mental health awareness and advocacy. Daniel Johnston, who struggled with mental health issues throughout his life, created the mural as a way to spread positivity and encourage people to be kind to one another. Moreover, Daniel Johnston spoke out above mental health awareness at a time when it was not common for people to do so.
After Johnston’s death in 2019, the mural became even more of a tribute to his life and legacy. Fans from all over the world have come to visit the mural and pay their respects to the artist.
Over the years, the Hi, How Are You Mural has inspired numerous other works of art and has become a symbol of Austin’s vibrant creative community. It has also been used as a logo for various music festivals and other events in the city.
Today, the mural stands as a testament to the power of art to inspire, connect, and uplift people, and serves as a reminder to always check in on the well-being.
Hi, How Are You – Short Film
“Hi, How Are You” is a short film directed by Gabriel Sunday that tells the story of iconic outsider musician and artist Daniel Johnston. The film is a combination of live action and animation, and it explores Johnston’s life, music, and struggles with mental illness.
The film is named after one of Johnston’s most famous works, a mural he painted on the side of a building in Austin, Texas that says “Hi, How Are You?” with a frog-like creature as the main subject. The mural became a local landmark and inspired the creation of a music festival in Johnston’s honor.
The film begins with Johnston’s childhood in West Virginia, where he developed a love of music and began writing his own songs. He later moved to Texas and gained a following in the underground music scene, eventually leading to a record deal with Atlantic Records.
Throughout the film, Johnston’s battle with mental illness is a recurring theme. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and has been hospitalized several times. The film explores the impact that his illness has had on his life and his music, and how it has shaped his unique and often eccentric worldview.
Johnston’s living room is a key element to Hi, How Are you Daniel Johnston?, as the film intends to bring the audience inside the artist’s schizophrenic head with that location acting as a cage-like home for his creative processes. In it, Johnston plays himself in modern time and carries on conversations with a 1983 version of himself played by Sunday, offering advice to his past self. Meanwhile, Soko stars as Johnston’s long-lost love, Laurie, a haunting spirit of unattainable inspiration. It’s both silly and somber, with Johnston’s smiling suggestion of soda and ice cream to help depression as well as the serious recommendation that his younger self choose light over the darkness to which he fell victim.
In addition to exploring Johnston’s personal struggles, the film also delves into his creative process and the influence of his music on other artists. Interviews with musicians such as Tom Waits and Beck reveal the deep admiration that many artists have for Johnston’s work.
Overall, “Hi, How Are You” is a moving and poignant portrait of a true artistic outsider. The film celebrates Daniel Johnston’s life and legacy, while also shining a light on the struggles that he faced as a result of his mental illness.
“Hi, How Are You” is a collaborative short film by a group of dedicated Daniel Johnston fans (creators of the film Archie’s Final Project) and Daniel himself. It’s a musical tale of an aging artist encountering psychedelic dreams, nightmares, and characters from his past. We began shooting with a simple outline: an intimate interview between Daniel and his younger self addressing his most prolific and maddening era. Our hope was to bring his stories, memories and art to life. What ensued during shooting was beyond anything our crew could have hoped for. Daniel not only opened up and told stories none of us had ever heard, but embraced and relished the idea of speaking with his younger self, gifting advice and warnings from the future. That became the backbone of our script. As shooting continued Daniel interacted with imaginary creatures from his cast of Spirit World characters like Jeremiah and Joe the Boxer. It was a truly unreal and moving experience. The result is something that will appeal not only to Daniel fans, but to any artist trying to find their way.
“What is this movie?” by Gabriel Sunday’s
Daniel Johnston is a prolific songwriter/artist who gained considerable notoriety in the last twenty years as an outsider, indie music genius, beginning with his fledgling self-promotion on the streets of Austin, Texas in the early eighties. Whether people were listening or not, however, Daniel continued to produce hundreds of songs and art pieces, compulsively expressing a frank, painful, and heart-rending account of love, life, and loss that strikes a chord in the heart of thousands who hear him. He has a remarkable following of fans, most notably the late Kurt Cobain who often wore Daniel’s “Hi, How Are You” T-Shirt in public, Matt Groening of “The Simpson’s”, David Bowie, and an ongoing list of key figures in the music and art world. Daniel has produced over twenty albums, as many singles, and his music is included on numerable compilations, movie sound tracks, and TV ads. He has appeared on MTV, traveled the globe performing, exhibited his art around the world, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art, had several documentaries made about him – one a Sundance winner – and several books recounting his legendary life. From nightmarish tales of madness in mental institutions and plane crashes to his fairy tale achievements on MTV, Daniel Johnston has spent the last 30 or so years exposing his heartrending tales of unrequited love, cosmic mishaps, and existential torment to an ever-growing international cult audience.
“Who is Daniel Johnston” by Gabriel Sunday
Music
“True Love Will Find You in the End” is a simple, yet powerful ballad, featuring Johnston’s distinctive high-pitched voice accompanied by a simple piano or guitar melody.
The lyrics of the song convey a message of hope and encouragement, with Johnston reassuring the listener that true love will eventually find them, even if it takes time and patience. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase “true love will find you in the end,” emphasizing the message of the song.
Despite its simple structure, “True Love Will Find You in the End” has resonated with audiences and has been covered by many artists, including Beck, M. Ward, and Wilco. The song’s message of hope and optimism has made it a favorite among fans of Johnston’s music, and it has become one of his most enduring and beloved songs.
Death
Daniel Johnston died on September 11, 2019. Daniel was released from a hospital the day before, where he had been treated for kidney issues. Dick Johnston said that Tuesday night, Daniel had seemed well, but he was found dead at his home in Waller, Texas, near Houston, Wednesday morning. He was 58 years old.
His sister, Margy Johnston, told the Austin Chronicle in 2018 that he had been physically unwell in recent years; in a 2017 profile, The New York Times reported that he had struggled with diabetes, a kidney infection and hydrocephalus.
References
“About – the Official Daniel Johnston Web Site – Hi, How Are You?” Www.hihowareyou.com, www.hihowareyou.com/about.
Beaumont-Thomas, Ben. “Daniel Johnston, Cult US Indie Songwriter, Dies Aged 58.” The Guardian, 11 Sept. 2019, www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/11/daniel-johnston-cult-us-indie-songwriter-dies-aged-58. Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
“Daniel Johnston, Acclaimed Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 58.” NPR.org, www.npr.org/2019/09/11/759904906/daniel-johnston-acclaimed-singer-songwriter-dies-at-58.
Hi, How Are You: A Short Film Starring Daniel Johnston. www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabesunday/hi-how-are-you-a-short-film-starring-daniel-johnst.
“Hi, How Are You? Daniel Johnston – Biography.” Www.hihowareyou.com, www.hihowareyou.com/web/bio.htm.
Stutz, Colin. “When Lana Del Rey Met Daniel Johnston: Inside “Hi, How Are You Daniel Johnston?” L.A. Premiere.” Billboard, 9 Nov. 2015, www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lana-del-rey-daniel-johnston-hi-how-are-you-daniel-johnston-short-film-premiere-6754166/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
webpubpro. “Daniel Johnston (1961-2019).” Texas Music Magazine, 6 Feb. 2020, txmusic.com/daniel-johnston-1961-2019/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2023.
