Oh He Dead Will See YOU in Portland

By Julz Levesque | Arts & Culture Editor

The DC-based indie soul band Oh He Dead is making its way toward Portland Maine for their upcoming show on October 20th at 7 pm for audiences twenty-one and over at the Portland House of Music. They’re a close-knit five-member group made up of powerful songbird CJ Bowlin’ Johnson, Alex Salsar as lead guitarist, John Daise as bassist, Adam Ashforth as drummer, and ViRG as the keyboardist. Together they create funky, groovy, and soulful rhythms that combine perfectly with their intimate and melodic lyrics. They have three albums out so far with their debut “Oh He Dead”, followed by “Pretty” and their newest “Ugly”. In 2015 the band was founded by Johnson and Andy Valenti and since then the band has stirred up quite the attention, garnering articles and interviews from media outlets such as NPR and Washington Post.

I found out about the band when I was sitting in one of my Free Press staff meetings and the story was offered up. It piqued my interest immediately and there I was researching the band and reading what others had to say online. Soon enough I began streaming their newest album “Ugly” and the first track “John Song” had me hooked. The easy-going strumming of the guitar and Johnson’s voice seeped into my head like honey. Johnson’s voice is so raw and bursting with emotion I found it incredible how effortlessly she sang on the track. The next song on the album “Tell Me” is full of energy. She projects her lively voice over snap-fast drums, sultry horns, and hypnotizing guitars. It’s a stark difference from “John Song” but that’s what’s so great about this album, there’s a new sound in every song and it’s collaged together in this wonderfully dizzying compilation of bright-sounding instruments and a voice that fills me with nostalgia, happiness, and comfort. Even the songs that aren’t as upbeat such as “Two Days” and “Every Last Trail” have so much intensity that each of the songs can speak to the audience. The album is composed of so many creative minds from the band who have gone in and written songs personal to them but that still speak to a larger audience.

It was a surprise to me when I found out that I’d be interviewing the frontwoman, none other than herself CJ Johnson. There I was in my dorm room on a Wednesday at 6 pm anxiously waiting to ring her number. It started out as a mess, she picked up and as I was introducing myself our recycling bin tipped over and suddenly there was a crash and a bang. We were both silent for a beat before I muttered an embarrassed apology and went on with the interview. Thankfully I got to know her and the band a little more as she gave me insights into her world.

The inspiration behind their band name was illustrated by Johnson, “The name came from a song we haven’t recorded yet but hopefully, we’ll get around to,” she starts. “In the song I find my boyfriend cheating on me and I shoot him,” she says, chuckling as she recalls. “At one point we would joke around – ‘CJ whatever happened to that guy that you wrote about in that one song?’ and I would just go ‘Oh he dead’ and it just became an inside joke and then it became the name of the band.” She responds.

CJ goes more in-depth on how the band manager is her old charter school teacher and brought her bandmates together. She reminisces on her relationship with music and how her teacher was a main force when finding and establishing her voice outside a school setting, “She just really saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself and I couldn’t understand it,” CJ recalls about her teacher and now manager Claire. “She was really set on getting me to sing” Johnson talked about how she felt discouraged when she didn’t get into Duke Ellington, a high school geared towards the arts in DC.

Johnson shared some of her favorite artists with me such as the Kings of Leon, Sade, and Fleetwood Mac. We then shared our current interests in ’70s yacht rock and how we often find inspiration in music to get us going throughout the day.

When asked about challenges she thought for a moment before mentioning how being on the road can be challenging especially when being a mom to a four-year-old, “That’s an interesting challenge to manage what’s the most important.” She adds “The actual challenge is trying to puzzle together how everything will work, so like playing sudoku. You just kind of have to strategize.”

We shifted gears as we talked more about the future of the tour and what she was excited about. She happily says that venues like Mercury Lounge are selling out. She’s most excited about “reaching new fans, to make some new fans” and that she’s excited about it all.

I was so lucky and appreciative that we both had some time to speak to each other and I can’t wait to see them live this month and the Portland House of Music. Oh He Dead is Playing in Portland on October 20th and you can get tickets on their website at: https://ffm.live/ohhedeadshows