Jesse Johnson (keyboardist)

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Jesse Mack Johnson

Background information
Birth name	Jesse Mack Johnson
Born	June 3, 1977 (1977-06-03) (age 31)
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genre(s)	Pop punk Indie rock
Years active	2002–present
Label(s)	Epitaph Records

Jesse Mack Johnson, born June 3, 1977, plays the synthesizer for the band Motion City Soundtrack. Jesse, who was a co-worker of guitarist Joshua Cain at Pizza Lucé in Minneapolis^[1], joined the band in January 2002 to relieve lead singer and guitarist Justin Pierre from his Synthesizer duties^[2]. Jesse is most noted for his high level of energy on stage. During the songs "My Favorite Accident" and "Boombox Generation" he has been known to do handstands on his synthesizer (a move dubbed "moogstand" by Motion City Soundtrack fans). When Jesse originally joined the band, he had no experience playing the synthesizer. He began playing synthesizer just three weeks before the band recorded their first full length I Am the Movie and had played bass since age 14 for every other band he had been in ^[3].

Jesse enjoys playing poker, video games, and collecting vinyl records. He wears glasses made by the company "Kirk Originals". He also has several tattoos on his legs, arms, and shoulders. Some of these tattoos depict his interest in skull art associated with the Day of the Dead holiday and celebrating the life of his dead brother. Jesse and his best friend, Brian Diaz, have matching tattoos of a Guinness glass that says "always having a laugh." Many of his other tattoos have to do with being away from home and always being on tour^[4]. He also has the same party dog tattoo as Fall Out Boy's Joe Trohman and Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara.

[edit] Equipment

Johnson uses a Realistic Concertmate MG-1, a Radio Shack-branded synthesizer created by Moog Music^[5]. For his piano sound he uses an Alesis Micron with a NanoPiano module.

[edit] Previous Projects

Johnson previously played the bass guitar in the bands Johnny Angel, Champagne Kiss, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Plain, Convulsion Betty, and Makeshift.

In the mid 90's, Jesse also ran a record label called Ordinary Records. He released a split 7" between Jimmy Eat World and Emery in 1995. There is also a thank you nod to Jesse in Jimmy Eat World's liner notes for the album Static Prevails (1996).^{[citation needed]}