Hobo Johnson made a huge impression online earlier this 2018 with a recording of his performance of “Peach Scone” with his band The Lovemakers, for submission into the NPR Tiny Desk Contest. The live video accumulated over 14.6 million views on Facebook and YouTube, growing his follower count from 10,000 total to well over one million followers in a short period of time. Their fervent new fans boosted the band’s album, The Rise of Hobo Johnson(2017) to #8 on the iTunes Hip-Hop chart and #11 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. Born in San Jose, CA as Frank Lopes, Hobo Johnson grew up in Sacramento, CA and immersed himself into the local music scene after making a life change while going to community college and working at a pizza parlor. He had been kicked out of his house at 19 years old by his father and wound up living out of his 1994 Toyota Corolla while producing out of the library and laundromat, while showering at a local fitness center. It was during his period of homelessness did he adopt the nickname Hobo Johnson as his musical persona while creating songs about love, relationships and the day-to-day highs and lows of life.
B-Sides met up with Hobo Johnson at Outside Lands 2018 to talk about his festival appearance, his growing popularity and plans for the future. Check out the interview:
