One of my blessings is that the voice deep inside of me has always been quite loud. Many years ago, I chose to honour this spirited voice and cultivate its full expression in my life and my music. 

The early years of my musical career was marked by rejection, insults and job loss as I attempted to share my musical story on the dance floors. It seemed the world was always trying to set boundaries on me and my musical expression yet my inner nature was always to rebel.

I found some refuge in my late teens with my first radio show on 99.3fm in Sydney. It was a late night time slot and I was given the freedom to go as musically deep as I wished. Over time, my number one callers every week were other radio jockeys requesting a playlist, most of them being twice my age.  I seemed to have an appreciation of music beyond my years and was considered a pioneer by some.

Despite all the heartache and rejection from trying to be true to my deep self when performing at the clubs & bars, I continued to commit everything I had to developing a unique music career.

I emptied my bank account to travel to Tokyo, Japan where a friend had invited me to play at a bar. I arrived at the bar with my records, only to find that the turntables had no needles and that the bar had no interest in my deep sounds. 

I left the bar and that same night visited every bar and club in the Ropponghi area looking for work, record box in hand. At the end of an uneventful night, I stumbled upon a cool club bar called G Martinis. The manager, an American, immediately sat me down for a meeting. Soon after, he offered me a four night per week DJ residency.

My deep musical self finally found a home. The G Martini clubbers went mad for my deep journeys and for once, I was not plagued by silly music requests. My stint here led to a prime time set at Space Lab Yellow, Tokyo’s then #1 Club as well as guest appearances at Club Asia and the illustrious Club Air in Daikanyama. 

I started to believe more in my musical depth and uniqueness and importantly, trust the deep voice within me that had inspired this musical journey. My successful experience in Tokyo also represented an easier path for my musical message through Asia. 

On returning to Australia, I worked as a sales consultant for a year in my spare time, outside of music. After this, I had scraped enough money for a small deposit on an apartment. I was about to take the plunge when that deep voice inside suggested the crazy idea of using the money to subsidise myself as an artist until I could make a living purely from music. 

I listened. I bought more studio gear and a one way ticket to the UK. Soon after, I moved to Madrid and then Barcelona. My music creating skills went well with the release of a very unique debut EP called ‘Mini Disco’. As for DJ work though, it was quiet, despite having a music agent in Spain. 

I was on my last euro, questioning the voice I had listened to and wondering how to pay the week’s rent when I received an unexpected invitation via email to be resident DJ for an underground club in Mumbai.

I leapt at the chance and my 3 month contract with the club turned into a 10 year music blast where I played every top club and festival and importantly, was finally making a living in music. India, like Japan was special in that I was paid specifically to go deep wherever I went.

My inner soul had no limits musically and this enabled my to deliver multi dimensional music journeys suited to all kinds of clubs and festivals. This also translated into my music production with the release of ‘In Too Deep’, an EP on Berlin’s Lucidflow. The EP had 4 songs subtly fusing deep tech, deep house and melodic genres. It seemed music lovers loved the deep, the EP went on to reach #2 in the Beatport Deep Tech Charts.

This story is the journey of Johnny’s soul and how listening to your inner, deeper self can lead to great freedom and joy if you overcome the obstacles. 

As of now, I have presented 1000s of radio shows for nine different dance stations. In 2024, I have different deep genre releases on DirtyBird, Cafe de Anatolia, Plastic City, Deepwit & Lucidflow.

I also will launch Koaladeep & Bleep Funk soon where I will let the spirit within me, channel all things deep ,funk, pretty and unique!

My hope through my music and my story, is to inspire others to follow their heart, not the world, and reap the deep rewards!