Meet Durrell Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Durrell Johnson.

Durrell, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a stand-up comedian and a professional DJ/Music Composer. I started on my venture in comedy in 2009 when a friend signed me up for an open mic at a local bar in downtown Phoenix. Since then, I have worked on my craft by performing at various open mics around the Valley. In 2010, I was given the opportunity to host my own shows in Glendale at Stingers Bar. I ran a bi-weekly open mic for five years learning to hone my comedic skills as a host while also building rapport with other new comedians I would book for shows. Along with this I also began performing at venues outside of the Valley in Prescott, Tucson and out of state gigs in California, New Orleans and Detroit. In my nine years, I’ve had the honor to open for comics such as Iliza Schlesinger, Dan Soder, Steve Mazan and Jill Kimmel. My journey in music also began in 2009 when I began working towards my undergraduate degree in Music and Arts at ASU. As a pianist, I was already well versed in the process of music theory and composition and began creating my own music with aspirations to be a music composer. In 2012, I scored a film documentary called When Cancer Returns 8x: The Mary Schnack Story. The film went on to premiere at the Sedona Film Festival and won an award for best original documentary. Since then, I have taken on various projects from commercials to short films and currently work for an entertainment company that allows me to score and perform live music for projects on behalf of their clients.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has been a bit rough along the way. Some of the struggles I dealt with early on with comedy was what most comedians deal with and that’s getting booked. I made sure to go to as many open mics as I could and introduce myself to promoters and bookers to build that rapport. In time the scene began to grow and I was able to get on other shows. For music, it was just staying focused and constantly working to stand out among everyone else. When I first began scoring film projects, I would market my services towards film majors at community colleges for credits to add to my resume then I’d begin searching in and out of state music composer jobs.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
My company allows me to do contracted work for client businesses. This can be anything from me DJing a live event or creating original music for background videos, podcasts and seminars. I also get contracted to run sound for local film festivals as well as concert events.

What were you like growing up?
I was a big nerd growing up, I still am. I was into everything comic book and video game-related, I have always had an ear for music. I would constantly listen to film scores on cassette from the original Star Wars trilogy and Batman movies. My other interests were drawing and skateboarding with friends.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dfilmcomp.wixsite.com/djcomposer
• Email: dfilmcomp@live.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/durrell_johnsoncomposercomic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djcomposer/

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