About Christian
Christian Johnson is a professional drummer and drum educator in the greater Los Angeles area. As the touring drummer for the 80’s band Bow Wow Wow, Johnson brings his classically-trained understanding of music to the band’s signature Burundi Beat-inspired rock, punk and pop; on full display in their 1982 hit, “I Want Candy”.
Johnson grew up in a musical family and started playing drums at age 14. He would quickly excel to be selected 1st snare drum in the regional concert band a little over a year later. As a lover of video games, he taught himself MIDI programming to be able to put his own music to his favorite games.
From 1997 to 2003, Christian volunteered as a drum tech at the Modern Drummer Festival, exposing him to the top-of-the-top drumming talent of the time. Meanwhile, he honed his chops in the internationally known Clifton High School Mustang Marching Band, and would eventually become the Drumline Instructor for the marching band at Mahwah High School.
Beginning in 2000, Christian attended William Paterson University on a full-tuition scholarship, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Music in Music Management (music business). Enrolled as a classical percussion student, Johnson was taught by pre-eminent forces in the modern classical percussion world - Raymond Des Roches, Peter Jarvis, Tom Kolor, John Ferrari and Gary Van Dyke.
Upon college graduation (actually, as he stood in line for his diploma at his commencement) Christian was hired at EMI Records in New York City. By the end of his 12-year tenure with the company, Johnson would grow to become a staff producer in the A&R department, where he oversaw the planning and release of hundreds of albums on the EMI Records and Universal Music Group labels, including releases by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Justin Bieber, and Megadeth, as well as a massive, 120-album re-release campaign for Blue Note Records.
In the midst of working at record labels, Christian maintained his love of drumming through personal instruction by Tommy Igoe, author of the best-selling Groove Essentials 1.0 and 2.0. He played in multiple bands through the years and continued fostering his love of teaching by visiting middle school students in the L.A. Unified School District to talk about careers in music.
It was in 2012 however, when Christian was hired to play drums for Melody Thornton of The Pussycat Dolls, that he had his first taste of what it was like to be on the other side of the record deal. In that same year, he was asked to provide “military sounding drums” - for a Katy Perry music video. He also auditioned for LA-based rock band Glowbird, and remains their drummer to this day.
In 2018, Christian became a full-time drummer in the L.A. music scene, playing and recording with Venice Beach-based Little Galaxies and writing music with Glowbird. Seeking the guidance of drumming greats Dom Famularo and Joe Bergamini in 2019, Johnson put together a team of mentors to help him achieve his next-level career goals.
Within 6 months, Christian was called to audition for Bow Wow Wow. The band embarked on a 2020 winter tour with When in Rome and The Motels.
Christian Johnson currently teaches private lessons online, where he focuses on giving students a well-rounded musical education. At the foundation is music appreciation: learning to listen to, interpret, and communicate through different styles of music. Johnson continues to write music using programs like Ableton Live and encourages students to use modern technology to write their own play-along tracks, giving them a level of immersion they’ve never experienced before. Christian ensures students become great drummers by teaching them the fundamentals, like technique and reading, while reinforcing their role in creating music.
