‘This Is The Road’ marks a new chapter in Johnny’s illustrious career. The project delves into themes of religion, fatherhood, politics, abuse, addiction, grief, environmental collapse and visually represents the album’s introspective and emotionally charged content. The songs draw on Johnny’s influences from REM, Richard Thompson, Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith, and Lou Reed.
Johnny explains the lead track ‘A Magpie Came Today’ was “my attempt to rationalise my brother’s pain after his son’s sudden death and to make some sense of the randomness of an all too common tragedy”.
Described by David Quantick as having an “Orson Welles-like, mono-creator attitude”, Johnny Daukes has spent a lifetime making music and film. ‘This Is The Road’ is his fifth
solo album, showcasing his extraordinary ability to weave together powerful narratives and evocative melodies.
Johnny began his artistic journey at sixteen, playing guitar and writing music. After moving to London, he built a successful career in film editing, working on music videos, documentaries, and graphics for MTV. His versatile talents extended to voice work, most notably voicing Channel 4’s Eurotrash for 16 series.
In the early 1990s, Johnny shifted focus to music, forming bands who’s releases were featured in Melody Maker’s Single of the Week and BBC Radio 1.
Johnny’s career took another turn when he won the BBC Greenlight award for new comedy writing, leading to his own sketch show on BBC2. His work in comedy continued with the critically acclaimed Radio9 for BBC Radio 4 and The Message on BBC3. Despite a serious illness, he also wrote and released the universally praised solo album ‘Promise’, which was the Sunday Times Album of the Week.
His creative journey did not stop there. Johnny wrote the feature film Acts of Godfrey, starring Simon Callow, Harry Enfield, and Celia Imrie, which premiered at Raindance and was nominated for a British Independent Film Award.
The new album is released on Johnny’s own independent label Document Of Interest and is one of the first commercial releases from the ‘vinyl-on-demand’ platform Elastic Stage. ‘This Is The Road’ is set to make some major waves across the music and film industry and will be available on all streaming platforms from Friday 31st May 2024.
