Alain Johannes

Alain Johannes
Background information
Birth name	Alain Johannes Mociulski
Born	(1962-05-02) May 2, 1962 (age 59) Santiago, Chile
Genres	Alternative rock, blues rock, experimental rock, hard rock, electronic, indie
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, producer, recording engineer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Years active	1980s–present
Labels	MCA, Interscope, Rekords Rekords, Sire, Ipecac
Associated acts	Eleven, Queens of the Stone Age, Desert Sessions, Anthym, What Is This?, Them Crooked Vultures, Eagles of Death Metal, Chris Cornell, Arctic Monkeys, Firekind, PJ Harvey, Sound City Players
Website	www.alainjohannes.com

Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, whose primary instruments are guitar and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the alternative rock group Eleven, and has been involved with acts such as hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, PJ Harvey, Chris Cornell, Arctic Monkeys, Mark Lanegan and The Desert Sessions, both as a musician and as a producer.

Alain Johannes is nephew of Chilean nueva ola musician Peter Rock.^[1] He was born in Santiago de Chile.^[2] He was married to Natasha Shneider from 1987 until her death in 2008.

Career[]

In his teen years, Johannes formed the band Chain Reaction (later Anthym) with Hillel Slovak, Todd Strassman, and Jack Irons.^[3] This band was later renamed What Is This. Todd Strassman was replaced by Flea, who was replaced, upon leaving the band, by Chris Hutchinson.

In 1987, Johannes and Natasha Shneider released the album Walk the Moon under the MCA label. Reportedly, Chris Hutchinson and Jack Irons played on some of its tracks.

Eleven was formed in 1990 and released their debut album Awake in a Dream in 1991, which included the pop based singles "Rainbows End" and "All Together". They followed this with regular releases Eleven in 1993, Thunk! in 1995, Avantgardedog in 2000, and Howling Book in 2003.

Johannes was the only other contributor on the 1996 debut album by Jason Falkner, Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown. He was also a significant contributor to Chris Cornell's 1999 solo album, Euphoria Morning as a guitarist, writer and producer. He also toured as part of Chris Cornell's band in support of this album. He mixed and played on Jack Irons' first solo record, Attention Dimension, released in 2004, and he co-wrote on Danish stoner rock outfit The Royal Highness.^[4]

In 2005, he joined Queens of the Stone Age to play guitar as well as bass on Lullabies to Paralyze. He had previously guested on Lullabies' predecessor, Songs for the Deaf, having also co-written the track "Hanging Tree" during one of The Desert Sessions. He would participate in the tour for the album and appears on the live DVD, Over the Years and Through the Woods in the main concert. Johannes once again contributed a main role to Lullabies' follow up, Era Vulgaris, but he opted to concentrate on Eleven with Natasha Shneider, and the pair bowed out of touring before the album's promotion started.

In 2007, Johannes became a part of Brody Dalle's post-Distillers effort, Spinnerette.^[5]

In August 2009, he joined Them Crooked Vultures, with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme and former Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones. Johannes contributed guitar, bass, keyboards, and backing vocals on their 2009–2010 tour, often playing his own solo guitar section during the set.

In late 2008, a song he co-wrote with Shneider, Time for Miracles, was recorded by Adam Lambert and used in the movie 2012.

On October 5, 2010, he released his solo debut album Spark, a tribute to the late Natasha Shneider.

On September 5, 2012, Jimmy Eat World announced that he would be a producer/engineer on their 8th studio album.^[6]

In 2013, he became a player in Dave Grohl's Sound City Players project, writing and recording a song for the album, and playing a major role in the live performances.

On November 11, 2014, he released his second solo album, Fragments and Wholes Vol. 1, drawing inspiration from the death of his parents as well as that of Natasha Shneider.^[7]

Johannes began working with PJ Harvey in 2014. From 2016 to 2017, Johannes was a part of PJ Harvey's touring ensemble for her world tour in support of her album The Hope Six Demolition Project. He also played on the album itself.

In 2015, he was the producer of K's Choice album The Phantom Cowboy, ^[8] and Edith Crash's .^[9]

In 2016, he composed and performed the soundtrack for the Ubisoft game, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands.^[10]

In 2020, the record "Hum" was released on Ipecac Records

Musical equipment[]

Guitars and basses^[11][12][13]

• 1962 Fender Jazzmaster - Johannes' main guitar for the majority of his career. He bought his Jazzmaster secondhand in 1978. By happenstance the guitar's neck date is May 2, 1962, his own date of birth. It has been repainted and modified several times through the years, notably equipped with Seymour Duncan humbuckers.
• MotorAve BelAire #1 - Johannes walked into luthier Mark Fuqua's shop one day to have an old Maton repaired and spotted the prototype of what would become the BelAire, fitted with Gretsch Filtertron pickups and a Bigsby. He bought it straight away. Bandmate Josh Homme ordered one for himself and has since made them his most used guitars.
• 1968 Gibson SG
• Gibson Les Paul Florentine Prototype - Likely a Gibson prototype of the mid-90s' semi-hollow Florentine Les Pauls, Johannes' guitar features unique characteristics not found on later production models, such as a Florentine cutaway and an ES 175 style bridge in addition to its distinctive F-holes.
• Cigar box guitar - Johannes' luthier friend Matty Baratto has built numerous four- and eight-string cigar box guitars since the early 2000s, many of which have gone through Johannes to friends like Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, Brody Dalle, PJ Harvey, and John Paul Jones. Paul McCartney used one in the song "Cut Me Some Slack" with the former members of Nirvana. Johannes' guitars are wired with LR Baggs mandolin pickups.
• Yamaha SA-70 bass custom - Co-opted with Queens bandmate Troy Van Leeuwen for songs in C tuning on the Lullabies to Paralyze tour.
• Epiphone Jack Casady bass - Used for songs in E tuning on the Lullabies to Paralyze tour.
• Airline bass
• Rogue VB-100 bass

Effect pedals^[12]

Amplifiers^[12]

Selected discography[]

Throughout his career Johannes has worked with a wide range of artists and bands in various genres as a musician, record engineer and producer.^[14]

References[]

External links[]

• Johannes' MySpace page
• In-depth retrospective interview on Jekyll and Hyde, 106FM Jerusalem