Jeris Johnson: The 10 songs that changed my life
– Jeris Johnson –
Jeris Johnson, a TikTok star, has musical tastes ranging from AC/DC to Ashnikko. Apart from karaoke…
He’s remixed Bring Me The Horizon and reworked Papa Roach, and now TikTok star Jeris Johnson is preparing to release I WANT BLOOD / I WANT LOVE, his debut album of original material. The musician’s futuristic aspirations stem from years of loving the genre, as he tells us in these 10 mini trips down memory lane – even if the first gig he ever went to smelled of dying onions…
The first song I ever remember hearing
Papa Roach – Last Resort
“I have no recollection of the first song I recall hearing, but when I think back to the first song that made an impression on me, it is 100% Last Resort.” I was warming up for my first football game when I was like seven or something, and one of the dads came by and parked his truck right next to us, cranked up the stereo, and for the first time, I heard Last Resort and rock/metal music in general.”
The song that properly got me into music
Green Day – Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
“I remember watching Green Day on TV and seeing them perform that song in a stadium. Something about hearing 100,000 people sing that song flipped a switch in my brain, and I remember lying in bed that night thinking about how badly I wanted it. I had no idea why either.”
The song that reminds me of my first gig
Something by Lamb Of God…
“Lamb Of God was the first proper show I ever saw.” I believe I was 14 at the time. I recall the smell. What the fuck is this? Dying onions rotting in a dumpster sludge graveyard To this day, the worst-smelling concert I’ve ever attended. But it was so much fun. I can’t remember the song, but we did a wall of death, which I had no idea existed. It was fantastic. I also recall this guy climbing to the top of one of the venue’s beams. “He’s a nice guy.”
The song that inspired me to be a musician
AC/DC – Back In Black
“It was the first song I learned on guitar when I was young, and it was so difficult that I gave up after about two months.” I returned to it and decided I wasn’t going to give up, no matter how long it took. I think getting over that first hurdle inspired me to keep going to the next thing, and the next thing, and the next…”
The song I love to sing at karaoke
Um. Nothing…
“Karaoke is for the elderly.” “What exactly is that?”
The song that always picks me up when I’m down
Sematary – God’s Light Burns Upon My Flesh
“It’s so fucking ridiculous and groundbreaking that it makes me smile every time I hear it.”
The song that I can’t listen to anymore
Jeris Johnson – Anything from before 2020
“Any of my songs prior to 2020.” It was excruciating. Obviously, this is ultimately a good thing because if you don’t dislike your old music, you’re not progressing or pushing anything forward. And that is the meaning of life.”
The song that I’m most proud of
Jeris Johnson – I WANT BLOOD / I want love
“It’s the title track and the first song on my album.” And it’s as if I time traveled into the future, arrived there, and then brought it back with me. It appears that I smoked crack with my AI girlfriend. It also serves as a prelude to the album’s overall message, as well as the two sides of my sound and personality.”
The song that I wish I’d written
Ashnikko – Daisy
“Goddamn, I love that song.” So catchy, so sonically interesting, and cool. Melodically dark, yet incredibly catchy. It just tickles all the right buttons in my brain, and the first time I heard it, I literally thought to myself, ‘I wish this was my song.'”
The song I want played at my funeral
Jeris Johnson – Whatever my biggest song is…
“Whatever my most popular song is, everyone has to mosh, even if it’s acoustic.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Jeris Johnson
(For the record, Johnson first went viral on TikTok in 2019 for performing an acoustic cover duet of Blueface’s “Thotiana” with his mother.)
Jeris Johnson is a Eugene, Oregon-based artist. Johnson, formerly of the band Audio Phobia, began uploading songs under the name Jeris in 2015.
Jeris Johnson of Oregon teamed up with Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger for his single “Damn!” in 2020, after bringing his own energy and attitude to songs by Nirvana and Papa Roach.
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