19 Facts About Johnny Jewel

Johnny Jewel was born on John David Padgett; May 31,1974 and is an American musician, record producer, composer, and visual artist.

Johnny Jewel is a multi-instrumentalist who is known for using all-analog equipment.

In 2006, Johnny Jewel founded the independent Portland-based record label Italians Do It Better, which features an array of artists and groups that produce similar disco, electronic, and synth-based music.

Additionally, between 2014 and 2018, Johnny Jewel released three solo albums, largely consisting of instrumental material.

Johnny Jewel was born John David Padgett in 1974 in Houston, Texas, where he was raised.

Johnny Jewel's father was partially deaf, and Jewel learned sign language to help communicate with him.

At age 17, Johnny Jewel was the victim of a kidnapping, which he stated marked a pivotal moment in his life.

Johnny Jewel was a prospective student at Rice University, but ultimately decided to forgo attending college.

In 1996, while working at a Fred Meyer grocery store in Portland, Johnny Jewel met Ida No, a local from Vancouver, Washington, who worked in the store.

At the time, Johnny Jewel was in the midst of a breakup, and was being kicked out of his apartment.

In 2006, Johnny Jewel formed his own record label, Italians Do It Better, based out of Portland, along with Mike Simonetti.

In 2008, Johnny Jewel made his debut as a film score composer, writing and performing the score for Nicolas Winding Refn's film Bronson.

Johnny Jewel was hired by Refn to compose the score for his subsequent film, Drive.

Johnny Jewel subsequently scored the feature film Lost River, the directorial debut of Ryan Gosling.

Johnny Jewel then composed the score for Fien Troch's film Home, for which he won the Georges Delerue Award.

In 2017, Johnny Jewel appeared with Chromatics in David Lynch's series Twin Peaks: The Return, a revival of the original 1990 series, in which the band performs in a bar.

Also in 2017, Johnny Jewel released another solo record, Windswept, followed by Digital Rain in 2018.

The release of Chromatics' Dear Tommy was delayed several times, and in 2017, Johnny Jewel purportedly destroyed every copy of the record following a near-death experience in which he almost drowned while swimming in Hawaii.

In 2023, Johnny Jewel again collaborated with Fien Troch, composing the score for her film Holly, which was scheduled to be screened at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.