Johnny Jewel, Lynch, and the Art of Not Belonging

April 06, 2026

Lisbon was collapsing under heavy rain when I met Desire and Johnny Jewel, the kind of slow, cinematic downpour that turns the city into a blur of reflections and shadows. We slipped through it and disappeared into an old apartment, somewhere between a set and a memory, where Desire took control of the space with quiet precision, guiding the photo session like a choreography. Inside, time didn’t move forward, it folded in on itself. Heavy air, dim light, objects that felt like they had absorbed too many lives. It made sense. Jewel has built a career in that exact in-between, somewhere between dream and decay, signal and silence. For decades, he’s shaped a universe that feels less like music and more like atmosphere, stretching across Chromatics, Desire, Glass Candy, and the Italians Do It Better catalogue, into film scores that don’t just accompany images but haunt them. There’s a discipline to it, almost monastic. Isolation as method. Analog as language. Emotion as raw current.

Talking to him feels less like a conversation and more like tuning into a frequency. You don’t get clean answers, you get textures, instincts, fragments that reveal how he thinks in sound before anything else. Not melody, not structure, but temperature. Density. Space. What emerges is a portrait of an artist who never really entered the system to begin with. Still operating like an outsider, still chasing something just out of reach. Not nostalgia, not reinvention, just a continuous signal, stretching from the late 80s to now, always forward, never back.

Interview and photography by Andriy Zozulya
Eclipse' artwork by Darina Smolkina

Andriy Zozulya: You started out in the underground and never aimed to be a pop star. Given you now compose for films, run a label, and shape scenes, do you still feel like the same Johnny who began in 1990s Portland?

Johnny Jewel: I've approached writing & recording the exact same way since I began in the late 1980's in Houston. I permanently feel like an outsider regardless of how many people are listening. I need deep isolation in order to hit that flow state. My process is the same for creating. After years of anonymity & working in private, what continues to evolve is how I navigate the stage where my work becomes public.

Your work has been described as “visual sound”, you say you don’t read music, you imagine compositions like abstract paintings. When a director hands you a script, what’s the first mental image or colour you hear before you even touch a keyboard?

Often, it's elemental. My initial response with a script will be more along the lines of texture than color. For example, is it going to feel metallic, is it going to be organic, or is it going to be windy, cold, warm etc. This train of thought immediately informs instrumentation choices like bells, woodwinds, strings, or synthesizers. I immediately have an instinct for octave regions for each sound. Impressions of color come after the tonality of the texture is explored & melody comes last.

With your bands like Desire, Chromatics, Glass Candy, and through your label Italians Do It Better, you’ve spanned genres from Italo-disco to noir synth to ambient soundtracks. Is there a unifying philosophy or emotion behind all these shifts?

As the writer & producer of these projects, I'm the common thread at the center of all the records. I never set out to achieve any specific goal other than making the very best record that I can. I allow the music to dictate what needs to happen. I use my life and my experiences as emotional conductors for electricity. The better I can tune in to those raw emotions, the more accurately I can translate the essence of those ideas into realities for the audience. Art is a reflection of what we already know to be true. A lot of times, that understanding lies in the subconscious. The job of the artist is to magnify these frequencies & get out of the way. The perception of music is all about the listener's personal relationship to the language of sound.

You recently scored Holly, a haunting drama about isolation and possible clairvoyance. How does your approach differ when you compose for a film with delicate horror-strands rather than a psychological, neon-lit crime drama?

I loved working on Holly. This type of film allows for more supernatural elements. That's the main difference between the thriller crime genre & something that leans more towards horror. I keep more footing in reality while working on thrillers. Horror films can be more metaphysical or fantasy based. This informs the sound of the project & the choices I make. For example, in Holly, there are no practical or visual effects to illustrate her clairvoyance. The closest visual indication we see is wind, & even that is very subtle in the film. It's in her hair occasionally, or in the trees in the distance. In this case, all supernatural feeling had to come from the music. As a composer, it's important to understand where to amplify the scene & where to hold back. Ultimately, you are there to reinforce the director's vision, so you need to have a clear understanding of where to place musical energy in order to elevate that narrative.

You insist on using analog gear, embracing “negative space”, silence becomes tone. How important is the choice of tools in conveying emptiness, memory, or dread? And does digital ever creep in your workflow?

I make music that I love. I love the sound of it. I love the feel of it. That usually involves a lot of equipment that is half a century old, but I love new technology as well. Tools are very important in terms of getting the right textures, but I also believe that all of my pieces need to be able to perform on the acoustic piano. I keep a piano in a separate room from the studio for the sole purpose of writing with no electricity involved. No flashing lights or visual stimuli. This is where I work out lyrics, chord progressions, arrangements, & harmonic branches. It's tempting to be seduced by production during the writing process which can cloud your perception of the music in its purest form. If a composition survives the piano, I'll take it next door to the studio. In the studio I'll have direct access to 30-40 hardware synthesizers. I will use digital synthesizers for orchestral sounds in tandem with monophonic synthesizers, acoustic instruments, sound modules, & FM synthesis. I actually prefer digital strings. For low end, I exclusively use pure analog. The same goes for rhythms. All this being said, I have yet to use VSTs. That's not currently part of my personal work flow, but I'm open to the possibility of those worlds. Several artists I work with use soft synthesizers in their bedroom studios so I do have some exposure to how those perform. I appreciate that digital technology has levelled the playing field & made music production accessible to everyone on Earth

You’ve worked across multiple mediums, bands, solo instrumental work, film scores, live A/V shows. If you were asked to score a silent film from the 1920s today, what aesthetic would you choose: dreamy noir? Hypnagogic disco? Something else entirely?

Futurism.

"Extreme experiences in life give us the chance to view things with new eyes... there's landmarks along the way that present an opportunity to contemplate the past, present, or future."

Given your past: near-death, reinvention, do you see your oeuvre as one continuous self, or a series of alter-egos walking parallel paths?

Ideas I'm fleshing out in 2026 can be traced back to building blocks that I began forming in the late 1980's. At some point in my creative life, I cast a very large imaginary stone into a lake. The ripples from that initial impact are still echoing outward. My output is a continuous line directly related to everything that came before it. Extreme experiences in life give us the chance to view things with new eyes...there's landmarks along the way that present an opportunity to contemplate the past, present, or future. But for me personally, the path remains the same. Always forward, never back.

For those discovering your work now, what entry point would you recommend: a band album (Desire/Chromatics/Glass Candy), a solo instrumental (like Windswept), or a film score? What defines the “purest” version of what you do?

Digital Rain is one of my favorite albums released on Italians Do It Better. It's mostly improvised stereo recordings & a great introduction into my solo synthesizer work. Windswept is good entry point for my film work. The album features compositions I wrote for David Lynch's Twin Peaks: The Return. If you want to check out my more beat driven & lyrically oriented work, the After Dark series is the perfect place to dig in. Volumes I, II, III, & IV are out now featuring my groups Desire, Glass Candy, Farah, Chromatics & Mirage. This compilation series also features incredible artists I produce for like Orion, Double Mixte, & more. It's tan ideal introduction to our universe. From there you can explore each planet in our solar system & discover their albums one by one. Volume V is coming soon to a theater near you.

Your recent tour blended live performance with a film-reel of your cinematic universe, from cult classics to deep-cut noir. Which three films are your favorites, and what does each one unlock in your music when projected onstage?

I absolutely love the scenes from Abel Ferrara's Ms .45, David Lynch's Fire Walk With Me, & Jaromil Jireš's Valerie & Her Week Of Wonders. All three films are centered around a female hero. This powerful energy is a great counter balance to the sonic sculpture I'm creating on stage. The same way I might have a vocalist whisper quietly over a very loud track, these films offer an ethereal polarity to the musical decisions I'm making live.

Looking ahead, where do you want to take sound next, a full-on horror score? A modular synth concept album? Visual–audio installation? Or something we haven’t imagined yet?

My original score for the new Karl Lagerfeld documentary is coming out soon via Italians Do It Better. The soundtrack also features songs from my groups Desire, Chromatics, & more. Currently, I'm in post-production on a psychedelic horror feature length film. I'm doing the score as well as writing a few pop songs with the lead actors. There's a lot of fantasy & visual effects on this project which is always great to work with as a composer. I'm writing a fourth album with Desire & wrapping up the first installment of my Kaleidoscope series out later this year. In terms of new frontiers, I'm designing an interchangeable sonic alphabet for a live performance. It's an aleatoric concept piece dealing with themes of origin, deconstruction & reconstruction. Birth. Death. Afterlife.

Finally, if your favourite piece of jewellery were a film, which one would it be?

My silver ankh necklace. I designed the dimensions, geometry and had it custom made in the desert. L 'Amulette De La Vie. As a film, it would have to be 1976's science fiction thriller, Logan's Run. Desire is my Jessica 6, & I'm a runner searching for sanctuary. I'm desperately trying to escape carousel as the life clock crystal in my left palm is critically flashing crimson.

Culture

10 Years of office

April 30, 2026

A monumental coffee-table book documenting the first decade of office magazine. Spanning 368 pages, this large-format volume (380 × 280 mm) fully archives Issues 1–21, meticulously scanned and reproduced to preserve the raw energy, visual experimentation, and unfiltered spirit that define office.

More than a retrospective, the book is a record of a creative community: fashion, art, and culture seen through original personalities, unconventional lives, and instinctive expression. From early DIY moments to fully realized editorial worlds, each issue reflects Office’s commitment to risk, individuality, and visual impact.

Printed in Europe and art directed by Ole Lund, this limited-run edition is designed as an object, bold, tactile, and unapologetic, intended to live on a table, not a shelf.

A definitive archive of office magazine’s first ten years.

The book is on display May 1st through May 3rd, 10am - 3pm daily at WSA, 161 Water St, 6th floor.

The archival book is available for purchase here. Free black office tote bag with every purchase.

Culture

Stephen Jones: In-focus

How do you see the evolution of how people see and wear hats throughout your career?

SJ: It’s very different, hats used to be very much occasion wear and now they have polarised it to be fantasy or totally functional as a beanie on a Monday morning.

Tell us about your design process. Where do you start? How do you think about the hat and the body?

SJ: I live my life and put it into a hat, so I never really stop designing in my head it’s just occasionally those ideas are put down on paper and become hats. I always think about the hat with the body because a hat is not a separate object it needs to become a part of the person

Tell us about your ability to bring other designers' vision to life. How are you able to be so creatively adaptable through your numerous collaborations and long-spanning relationships?

SJ: It’s really about bringing their imagination to life, it’s what we create together. That’s the key they couldn’t do it themselves and I couldn’t do it myself, it’s something we do together. I have to get inside their mind which is very unusual for an outsider.

" I live my life and put it into a hat. "

Tell us about your mentorship with Shirley Hex. How do you see the importance of learning the rules before you break them?

SJ: My time with Shirley Hex was extraordinary and she taught me the main principals of millinery, however after a couple of years she forced me out the nest and encouraged me to develop my own style in my own way.

How does British, London, and/or Paris culture influence your work?

SJ: Completely; British culture is a weird dichotomy of something that is very aristocratic or something that is very punk, but Paris brings something which is coquettish and mannered.

" It’s really about bringing their imagination to life, it’s what we create together. "

You've experimented with so many unconventional materials, how do you decide a material is meaningful to transform into a hat?

SJ: Well it has to serve the purpose of what the hat is trying to be, but also when you are making it, the hat serves the purpose of the fabric.

The Palais Galliera devoted a full retrospective to your work, what was it like seeing your work in this presentation? What do you want your legacy to be?

SJ: Number 1 it is an extraordinary honour to be included there. I could see my work, almost in the 3rd person, I didn’t see it as being uniquely personal but saw it as it being presented to others and I could analyse it quite dryly. My legacy to be that the pursuit of dressing can be a wonderful extension either of your character or who you want to be.

What do you think is a misconception about hats and the process of creating them?

SJ: That they are quick and easy, it’s very laborious because they are 3d objects.

Do you feel your design process is more learned or instinctual?

SJ: I think it’s a conversation of the two. I love learning about a particular subject and trying to transform that into a hat, but at the same time spontaneous expression is important because it looks fresh.

What other mediums of art inspire your hats the most?

SJ: I would probably say the most is architecture but nature as well as painting and sculpture, but the form of everything and everything, whether it’s an Opera or an apple, they tell a specific story.

SJ: Is there a hat you would never wear?

I would try everything, but not wear things which I didn’t feel were convincing i.e. a cowboy hat

What made the environment and culture of The Blitz a fertile ground for creativity?

SJ: Because it filled the vacuum that had been left by punk.

Do you have any favorite young milliners?

SJ: As the Chairman of the British Hat Guild, I am not allowed to say whether I do have or not

Where do you think people's fear around wearing hats comes from?

SJ: Sometimes it’s the fear of standing out too much and therefore assuming a greater importance than they feel they should have but often you can hide underneath hats too and hats can be the conversation for you.

Is there a hat that got away? An idea you've wanted to create but haven't yet actualized?

SJ: Yes I am always looking for that hat around the corner.

Culture

Secret Teahouse Serves High-Frequencies on Brutalist Penthouse

April 27, 2026

Inside the Terre Velasca’s 25th floor hides the CROMO’s Secret Teahouse. The reflective tent, designed by Bogdan Martoiu, is based on the Vietnamese Rong House, a ceremonial space for cultural gatherings. Inside the temporary teahouse, a tea tasting session guides the guest experience of CROMO’s Cyborg Beauty, a Moroccan Mint Tea. Outside, a mini matcha bar served the event’s exclusive Double Tea - a mix of jasmine, matcha, and Oatly. The pop-up event is Milan’s first of many, leading up to the permanent opening later this year. The space was supported through the private membership club Madison House, also home to Terre Velasca in late 2026. Together, the immersive and thoughtful concept reshapes how tea can be integrated into contemporary markets, design, and culture.

CROMO values the ritual and intention behind tea, recognizing it as the ultimate wellness elixir. Tea attributes the radical notion of slowing down in lieu of the modern hustle culture, regulating a previously tense nervous system. The collection of nine high frequency teas are designed to heighten the physical and mental state. Ethically sourced from China, Japan, Kenya and made with low-impact methods, tea takes its purest form here, uniting craft and character across continents. The nomadic teahouse and all who were involved celebrate the present moment by elevating ancient tools for cultivating connection with the self, each other, and nature.