Justin Meldal-Johnsen

Overview

Submitted by guitar-list on Tue, 2014-12-30 17:42

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photograph of Justin Meldal-Johnsen

Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born 1970 in Eugene, Oregon, USA) is a bassist, best known for his work with Grammy Award-winning artist Beck.

Meldal-Johnsen, aka JMJ, grew up listening to his parents' records and received his first bass guitar at the age of twelve.[citation needed] After high school, he worked the night shift as a janitor at Cherokee Recording Studios in Los Angeles, where he met Gene Simmons, Lou Reed and David Campbell, a prolific and successful string arranger. At 17, JMJ started working as Campbell's assistant and was introduced to his son, Beck. They formed a long-lasting career together—JMJ was the bassist and music director for Beck's band for almost a decade.

JMJ's has recorded bass for a diverse roster of acts: Air, Tori Amos, Garbage, the Dixie Chicks, among others. He co-wrote several songs with singer Macy Gray, and acted as music director for Gnarls Barkley, assembling their live band for their first US performances in 2006. JMJ is currently playing as the touring bassist for Nine Inch Nails. Read more about Justin Meldal-Johnsen on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.