THE story of indie songwriter Daniel Johnston's struggle with manic depression has been the subject of many press articles, a feature-length documentary and is currently being developed for a biopic. But the man himself says it most idiosyncratically on a track from his new album, Is And Always Was, called I Had Lost My Mind:
"I was sitting in the basement when I first realised it was gone. Got in my car, went right over to the lost and found. I said, 'Pardon me, but I seem to have lost my mind'. She said, 'Well, can you identify it please?' I said, 'Why sure, it's a cute
little bugger, about yay big, a little warped from the rain'. She said, 'Well then sir, this must be your brain'. I said, 'Thank you ma'am, I'm always losing that damn thing'."
The lyric is one of a handful of droll, articulate reflections on his decades of mental illness, the grim, obsessional extent of which was investigated in Jeff Feuerzeig's 2005's film, The Devil And Daniel Johnston – a difficult but rewarding watch, which also celebrated Johnston's distinctive music and art, and boosted his cult profile.
Johnston's response to the film is ambivalent. "I didn't know what to think about it because it was such exploitation," he says, "but I finally surrendered and just decided that it's kind of humorous." So did he feel exploited? "Not at the time when they were filming," he says. "It didn't seem like it until the movie was finished. Even the title was a surprise – man, that's pretty radical."
Johnston tackles the diabolical his way on another new album, The Death Of Satan, slated for future download release, which he describes as "basic rock'n'roll and scary-type songs. There's a lot of talk about different scary things. You'll realise what I mean if you get the record."
In interview, Johnston is a man of relatively few words, several pregnant pauses and occasional unexpected tangents. A change of medication in the past decade has afforded him much greater equilibrium, not to mention productivity. "I'm not going as crazy, so I'm a lot happier," he says, adding that "music is good therapy for me".
Johnston first started writing his naïve, childlike songs when he was at junior high in West Virginia, citing The Beatles as his chief musical inspiration. On leaving school, he spent time working in a travelling carnival, before getting off the merry-go-round in Austin, Texas at a time when the city's grassroots music scene was flourishing. Johnston became something of a local celebrity, distributing cassette copies of his lo-fi home-recorded albums Songs Of Pain and More Songs Of Pain, which were adorned with his own cartoon illustrations. Featured on an MTV profile of the city, he eventually came to the attention of such luminaries as Sonic Youth and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who was regularly photographed wearing his Daniel Johnston "Hi, How Are You?" T-shirt.
"I was just making tapes for my friends, but I took it real serious," Johnston recalls. "I used to have a little bit more control over it. But I do love the new record and I recommend it for everybody that likes music because the sound is improved 100 per cent."
Is And Always Was reflects Johnston's recent years of touring with a band. Its fuller sound and richer, rocking arrangements were recorded by sometime Beck and Air collaborator Jason Falkner, who has also worked with Johnston's musical hero, Paul McCartney. "I was thinking he (McCartney] might be there," says Johnston optimistically. "He (Falkner] had a letter that was framed on the wall. That was about it."
These are high-profile times for Johnston, who is managed by his father Bill and, latterly, his brother Dick. In addition to the two new albums, there have been recent reissues of three of his earlier albums. To date, two – count 'em – rock operas, Speeding Motorcycle and Life Is Happy And Sad, based on his music have been staged in the US. His music and artwork have also inspired the new iPhone game, Hi, How Are You? and Jeremiah the Innocent, the cartoon frog cover star of Hi, How Are You? has been marketed as a figurine, with other Johnston characters to follow suit.
There is even a biopic in the works, with rising star Gabriel Sunday, shortly to be seen in the acclaimed indie film My Suicide, already on board to play the central role. Johnston approves: "He's really cool."
"I've got something to live for," sums up Johnston in his matter-of-fact way, "because I always wanted to be an artist, I always wanted to be famous. I work very hard on my songs and I'm making a living now. I've even paid for a new house that my father designed. Things are going very, very well."
• Daniel Johnston plays the Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, tomorrow
