Nathan Johnson (musician)

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Nathan Tyler Johnson (born August 4, 1976) is an American film composer, director, and producer. He was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Colorado, and later lived in England before settling on the East Coast. He is the cousin of director Rian Johnson.

Johnson started The Cinematic Underground, a live art and music project, after moving back to the U.S. from England. His first film score was for Brick (2005), a neo-noir directed by his cousin Rian Johnson. The score uses traditional instruments like piano, trumpet, and violin, plus unusual sounds and homemade instruments such as a wine-o-phone. It was recorded in a small studio in Littlehampton with a single microphone, and it earned praise from The Chicago Tribune and a Satellite Award nomination for Best Original Score.

He went on to score The Brothers Bloom (2008), expanding the sound with strings and woodwinds to create a “back porch orchestra” feel. The Cinematic Underground members helped with many of Johnson’s scores, and he also produced albums for several projects.

In 2012, Johnson scored Rian Johnson’s film Looper, using found sounds recorded on location in New Orleans along with a traditional orchestra. This innovative approach earned him the IFMCA Breakthrough Composer award. He later worked with Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Don Jon (2013), Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut.

Johnson continued scoring for Rian Johnson with Knives Out (2019) and its sequel Glass Onion (2022). He also wrote the score for Young Ones (2014) and served as an executive producer on the film. His music work includes contributions to the video game Infamous Second Son and its DLC.

Beyond film, Johnson has directed music videos. In 2015 he made Son Lux’s Change Is Everything, a stop-motion video using pins and thread that won a UK Music Video Award for Best Alternative Video – Budget. NPR called it mind-blowing, and it has been showcased at festivals and at TED. He also directed videos for Tatiana Maslany and Noah Segan, and for the band Lucius, using striking visual effects.

Johnson founded The Made Shop, a design studio that did album artwork for The Fray and other projects. He is a founding member of The Echo Society, a Los Angeles group that blends large orchestras with electronic music and visual design. He and his collaborators have created numerous performances and projects across music and media.