Chords for Daniel Johnston Interview with Public Access

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_ _ _ _ [N] So, I mean, it's obvious to you, but you have a really, quite a strong cult following.
Well, a cult, you mean like the occult, like the devil worshippers?
No, you have a, like honestly a lot of really very talented positive people that are-
I keep getting these letters and ever since the movie came out, I get four or five letters
a week and it says, Hi Daniel, I love your music, I too am a-mendally ill.
Oh really? _ _
Have you been writing back and forth with these folks at all?
No, not very often, no. _ _
_ I'll keep pictures and drawings they send me and hang them up on my wall, but I don't
answer letters very good.
I wish I got more mail than I do.
I wish I had my address to tell you now, but-
You folks hear that?
For all the fans?
Yeah, write me letters.
Start sending them letters.
Send me money.
Money is what I need.
Best things in life are free, but give me money.
That's what I need, that's what John Lennon said.
Speaking of that film, and I guess you said you've been receiving a lot of letters as
a result of it, how did you like the documentary yourself?
Did you find it accurate?
Well, has anybody seen that movie, the TV show called Hard Copy?
Yes, I do remember that.
It was a lot like hard copy to me.
He went to jail.
Airplane crash.
There wasn't that much about the music at all.
I thought that's why it was famous, but I think it is kind of funny.
I can see it has a sense of humor.
_ Definitely.
It was great enough of a documentary.
Laughs on me, though.
It was great enough of a documentary that it did end up being so unworthy.
It did pretty well.
They put it all together.
They filmed forever.
More than 100% of what they filmed they didn't even use.
There were a lot of folks from your past that were interviewed.
Out of curiosity, did you make any contact with those folks after the fact?
Well, the people that made the film got all those people on the show.
I told them who were my friends.
Also, _ a girlfriend from the past came to see me at the premiere of the show.
It was really cool to see her again.
It was really cool.
I liked her a lot.
Not only are you a musical artist, but you do a lot of hand-drawn art yourself that's
featured in a lot of galleries.
It's my understanding that a lot of it was inspired by comic books.
That's right.
I got about $500 worth of comic books today.
I love going on tour.
That's the main reason I like to go on tour is because I get to buy a lot of things.
My brother takes me shopping.
I call him Sergeant Pepper because he has a Sergeant Pepper mustache.
You'll see him if you see him.
He's my good brother and we really have a lot of fun.
My friend Brett is playing guitar.
We're always joking around and have a good time.
Good.
_ Speaking of the comic books that you're into these days, that you're checking out when
you're on tour, are there any artists?
Jack Kirby is my favorite comic book artist.
_ _ I'm always buying.
I could buy comic books for the rest of my life and not really complete all the Jack
Kirby collections there are to have.
He drew that many comic books.
I'm excited about getting more comic books that I've never seen.
Are there any themes in the art that you make or just like reoccurring ideas?
I was in love with this girl that married an undertaker.
I had a lot of funeral home references and stuff like that for many years.
I was really out of my brain.
I was thinking the only way I could see her again is if I died and went to the funeral.
You _ seem to be also really close with your family, which is so important and great.
Are you working a lot with your brother and having him tour with you a lot?
Are your parents still involved?
My parents are very supportive.
Last year, my dad designed a house and had it built right next door.
I've got my own house now.
I'm so happy.
I'm a half a millionaire.
Isn't that great?
I never felt better.
I used to work at McDonald's for about two years.
I got an MTV when I was working at McDonald's.
I've become a long way baby.
You know what I mean?
No, you haven't.
What was it like being somebody working at McDonald's and then suddenly transitioning to the MTV?
It was so cool.
All my friends were on too.
It was a show called The Cutting Edge.
I don't know if you remember that show.
They came to Austin and they had all these favorite bands and all the different bands.
I said, hey, you ought to get Daniel Johnson on.
I showed up at a party and then I was on the show.
It was great.
How did you get discovered?
What I did was I self-promoted myself.
When I moved to Austin, I'd give tapes to everybody on the street, especially pretty girls
or whoever looked even a little bit interested in music, right?
All types.
When I did my first show, the house was packed and they were all there to see me.
They were screaming and I loved it.
It was great.
I had finally made it somehow.
I guess that goes to say that really-
It was Glass Eye.
Have you heard of that band?
They're the ones that I opened up for with my first gig and everything.
The girl in the band was my girlfriend for a year or two.
It was a lot of fun.
We did a lot of shows with them.
One of your last recordings was in 2006 and maybe something even more recent, Lost and Found.
Is there a certain sound that comes across or themes in that record?
_ Yeah, there's some basic themes like true love will find you in the end and _ stuff like [G] that.
Is there anything that you want to say maybe to folks who are listening?
I'd just like to [E] tell you, thank you all for listening and _ don't forget to have a good time.
Thanks.
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