Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

and

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, whose primary instruments are

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

group Eleven, and has been involved with acts such as

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line- ...

Them Crooked Vultures Them Crooked Vultures is an English-American alternative rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 by Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss) on lead vocals and guitar, John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin) on bass and keyboards, and ...

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave ...

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...

, Mark Lanegan and

The Desert Sessions The Desert Sessions are a musical collective series, founded by Josh Homme in 1997. Artists such as Brant Bjork, PJ Harvey, Twiggy Ramirez, Dave Catching, Nick Oliveri, Mark Lanegan, John McBain, Ben Shepherd, Josh Freese, Chris Goss, Alain ...

, both as a musician and as a producer. Alain Johannes is nephew of Chilean musician Peter Rock. He was born in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. He was married to

Natasha Shneider Natasha Shneider (May 22, 1956 – July 2, 2008), born Natalia Mikhailovna Schneiderman (russian: Наталья Михайловна Шнайдерман, ), was a Latvian-born Russian-American musician and actress. She was most notably the keyb ...

from 1987 until her death in 2008.

Career

In his teen years, Johannes formed the band Chain Reaction (later Anthym) with

Hillel Slovak Hillel Slovak ( he, הלל סלובק; April 13, 1962 – June 25, 1988) was an Israeli-American musician best known as the founding guitarist of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he recorded two albums. His guitar wor ...

, Todd Strassman, and

Jack Irons Jack Steven Irons (born July 18, 1962) is an American drummer. He is the founding drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and is a former member of Pearl Jam and Eleven. Alongside his work with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, Irons ...

. This band was later renamed

What Is This What Is This (known prior to 1980 as Anthym) was an American rock band that originated in Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California. Formed by guitarist Hillel Slovak, drummer Jack Irons, vocalist Alain Johannes, and bassist Todd Strassm ...

. Todd Strassman was replaced by

Flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

, who was replaced, upon leaving the band, by Chris Hutchinson. In 1987, Johannes and

released the album ''Walk the Moon'' under the MCA label. Reportedly, Chris Hutchinson and Jack Irons played on some of its tracks. Eleven was formed in 1990 and released their debut album ''Awake in a Dream'' in 1991, which included the pop based singles "Rainbows End" and "All Together". They followed this with regular releases ''Eleven'' in 1993, ''Thunk!'' in 1995, ''Avantgardedog'' in 2000, and ''Howling Book'' in 2003. Johannes was the only other contributor on the 1996 debut album by

Jason Falkner Jason Falkner (born June 2, 1968) is an American songwriter, musician, and guitarist who was a member of the bands Jellyfish (band), Jellyfish, the Three O'Clock, and the Grays (band), the Grays. Since 1996, he has released six solo albums, start ...

, ''Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown''. He was also a significant contributor to

's 1999 solo album, ''

Euphoria Morning ''Euphoria Mourning'' (originally titled ''Euphoria Morning'') is the first solo studio album by American musician Chris Cornell. It was released through Interscope Records on September 21, 1999, and Cornell embarked on a tour in support of the a ...

'' as a guitarist, writer and producer. He also toured as part of Chris Cornell's band in support of this album. He mixed and played on

' first solo record, '' Attention Dimension'', released in 2004, and he co-wrote on Danish

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep. ...

outfit The Royal Highness.
In 2005, he joined

to play Electric guitar, guitar as well as bass on ''

Lullabies to Paralyze ''Lullabies to Paralyze'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on March 22, 2005. The album debuted at #5 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and sold 97,000 copies in America during its first week of release, ...

''. He had previously guested on ''Lullabies predecessor, ''

Songs for the Deaf ''Songs for the Deaf'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on August 27, 2002 by Interscope Records. It features guest musicians including drummer Dave Grohl, and was the last Queens of the Stone ...

'', having also co-written the track "Hanging Tree" during one of

. He would participate in the tour for the album and appears on the live DVD, ''

Over the Years and Through the Woods ''Over the Years and Through the Woods'' is the title of a live album and video by Queens of the Stone Age. The release features material on audio CD as well as video DVD—both recorded at London's Brixton Academy on Monday August 22, 2005 and ...

'' in the main concert. Johannes once again contributed a main role to ''Lullabies' '' follow up, '' Era Vulgaris'', but he opted to concentrate on Eleven with Natasha Shneider, and the pair bowed out of touring before the album's promotion started. In 2007, Johannes became a part of

Brody Dalle Brody Dalle (born Bree Joanna Alice Robinson; 1 January 1979) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. She began playing music in her adolescence and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18, where she founded the punk rock band The D ...

's post- Distillers effort,

Spinnerette Spinnerette was an alternative rock band formed in 2007. The band was a vehicle for the solo career of Brody Dalle following the breakup of her previous band, The Distillers, in 2006. The band featured Tony Bevilacqua (also from The Distillers) ...

. In August 2009, he joined

, with

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...

frontman

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

frontman Josh Homme and former

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

bass player

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

. Johannes contributed guitar, bass, keyboards, and backing vocals on their 2009–2010 tour, often playing his own solo guitar section during the set. In late 2008, a song he co-wrote with Shneider, Time for Miracles, was recorded by

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

and used in the movie

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. On October 5, 2010, he released his solo debut album ''Spark'', a tribute to the late Natasha Shneider. On September 5, 2012, Jimmy Eat World announced that he would be a producer/engineer on their 8th studio album. In 2013, he became a player in Dave Grohl's

Sound City Players The Sound City Players were a supergroup formed by ex-Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters guitarist and lead-singer Dave Grohl. They consisted in a collaboration of Grohl with Krist Novoselic ex-Nirvana, Stone Sour's and Slipknot's Corey Taylor ...

project, writing and recording a song for the album, and playing a major role in the live performances. On November 11, 2014, he released his second solo album, ''Fragments and Wholes Vol. 1'', drawing inspiration from the death of his parents as well as that of Natasha Shneider. Johannes began working with

in 2014. From 2016 to 2017, Johannes was a part of PJ Harvey's touring ensemble for her world tour in support of her album ''

The Hope Six Demolition Project ''The Hope Six Demolition Project'' is the ninth studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 15 April 2016 on Island Records. The album is Harvey's first since her acclaimed Mercury Prize-winning album ''Let Eng ...

''. He also played on the album itself. In 2015, he was the producer of

K's Choice K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are brothers Sam Bettens (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). They are joined by Bart Van Lierde (bass), Tom Lodewyc ...

album ''

The Phantom Cowboy ''The Phantom Cowboy'' is a 1935 American western film directed by Robert J. Horner and starring Ted Wells, George Chesebro and Jimmy Aubrey. Plot Cast *Ted Wells as Bill Collins / Jim Russell (The Phantom Rider) * Doris Brook as Ruth Roge ...

'', and Edith Crash's '' Partir''. In 2016, he composed and performed the soundtrack for the

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

game, ''

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands ''Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands'' is a third-person tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris in collaboration with Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Belgra ...

''. In 2020, his third solo record ''Hum'' was released on

Ipecac Records Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles, ex-lead singer of DUH, ex-employee of Mercury Records) and Mike Patton (Faith No ...

to favorable critical reviews On September 3, 2022,

reunited for a performance at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in honour of

' late drummer

Taylor Hawkins Oliver Taylor Hawkins (February 17, 1972 – March 25, 2022) was an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters, with whom he recorded eight studio albums between 1999 and 2021. Before joining the band in 1997, he ...

and again on September 27, 2022 at the KIA Forum for the second tribute show.

Selected discography

Throughout his career Johannes has worked with a wide range of artists and bands in various genres as a musician, record engineer and producer.

References

External links

Johannes' MySpace pageIn-depth retrospective interview on Jekyll and Hyde, 106FM Jerusalem
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johannes, Alain 1962 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists American alternative rock musicians American people of Chilean descent Queens of the Stone Age members Spinnerette members What Is This? members Fairfax High School (Los Angeles) alumni People from Santiago Ipecac Recordings artists 20th-century American guitarists Them Crooked Vultures members Eleven (band) members