Freedy Johnston has put his time in. His new album, Neon Repairman, came out this year, a full 20 years after Rolling Stone deemed him their songwriter of the year in 1995 above Kurt Cobain. But looking back, the years leading to this point were not the easiest. “Success really knocked me down and knocked me out,” Johnston said in a recent interview with The Santa Barbara Independent.
Johnston recalled how, shortly after the surprise success of his album This Perfect World, he got swept up in agreements and contracts he couldn’t stick to, including broken record deals and a money pit of a failed marriage — but even that was just a requisite part of the journey, he said. “I did like my dad did, losing all my money to a pretty woman. But my friend John D Graham said, ‘Shut the hell up, Freedy. You couldn’t even be in my band unless it happened to you twice. Everybody’s been there, bud,’” he said. “I guess I did my time.”
Johnston does not regret the ups and downs of post-stardom, seeing them instead as the path toward a stronger sense of self and songwriting. “I don’t want to complain about it. I took this ride of my life, and lost my way. I feel like I couldn’t have gotten here without going through it,” he said.