reclinerland: The story so far...

Welcome! For a short take, check out the Reclinerland one sheet.

Reclinerland is the music of Michael Johnson, a singer/songwriter of Postmodern Pop, or Pop Art Music.

Started in 1997, Reclinerland has released seven albums and toured in Portland, London, all over the U.S., and around the world, sharing bills with many talented people, including The Red House Painters, Kristen Hirsh, Pete Krebs, Modern English, the cute guy from Tears For Fears, Komeda, Ivy, Michael Johnson (no relation), Brenda Kahn, Joseph Arthur, Dreams Come True (a Japanese Pop band), Audio Learning Center, Damien Rice, The Decemberists, Regina Spektor, Norfolk & Western, The Stratford 4, the Pale, and others. He has performed at notable venues such as Berbatti's Pan and the Roseland Theater in Portland, OR, the Moore Theater, the Crocodile, and the Sunset Tavern in Seattle, CBGB's and the Living Room in New York City, The Whisky A Go-Go in LA, the Garage and the 12-Bar Club in London, the Grog Shop in Cleveland, The Make Out Room in San Francisco, among others.

Reclinerland has performed at festivals such as CMJ, SxSW, MFNW, PDX Pop Now!, and Sasquatch.

In April 2000, Reclinerland appeared on national television on Jimmy & Doug’s Farm Club TV show on the USA network. 

Michael has also contributed to other projects, including composing string arrangements for the Decemberists' album Her Majesty, playing Fender Rhodes piano in Chad Crouch's band Blanket Music, and playing guitar in Scott Garett's band Super XX Man. Musicians who have contributed to Reclinerland's eclectic  sound include Anthony Georgis, Joe Ballman, Jason Hughes, Ron Guensche (Andiamo) Chris Streng (Stratford 4, Space Face, Mt. Whateverest), Colin Meloy (Decemberists), Jenny Conlee (Decemberists), Pat Gamble, Bob Martin, Chad Crouch (Blanket Music, Toothfairy), Morgan Grace, Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western), and a host of others.

Journalist-types have singled out certain influences when describing Reclinerland’s sound. Among them The Beatles, The Zombies, Galaxie 500, Nick Drake, Paul Simon, The Push Kings, and The Magnetic Fields. With the release of The Ideal Home Music Library series, of which currently there exist two volumes, Reclinerland adds Cole Porter, Franklin Bruno, Chet Baker, Burt Bacharach, and Rogers & Hammerstien to that list. 

Reclinerland puts out records digitally on his own label, George Recordings. As of now, the entire Reclinerland catalog is available worldwide on digital retail and streaming platforms. Reclinerland also enjoys a gentlemen’s agreement with Hush Records in Portland, OR. Other labels Reclinerland has done business with include the now defunct Expanding Brooklyn Records, Jealous Butcher, and Lelp Recordings.

Michael also writes musical theater. In 2014 Michael wrote a 10-minute musical vignette You Are Standing at the Mouth of a Cave, a musical game of D&D wherein two guys play D&D to compete for the affections of the same love interest. Shortly after, Michael completed 28 songs for a full-length romantic musical comedy set in a hospice and entitled Happy Valley, with book by Rich Rubin. In the near future, Micheal intends to totally rework the script, songs, and story of Happy Valley and submit it to new musical festivals.

Michael's own full-length musical Success!, about two feuding adoptive brothers, made the third round of selections at the National Music Theater Conference two years in a row and was a contender for the Fred Ebb award. A table reading performance of Success! occurred in 2015 at a private residence in Portland, OR, featuring a talented cast of local Portland actors. In 2020, Michael completed a webcomic “production” of Success! that you can access here. Michael continues to search for opportunities to get Success! produced for the stage. A print version of Success! was released on Michael’s own imprint in 2022. It’s available worldwide on the Blurb Bookstore and on Amazon.

In 2020, Reclinerland and Scott Garred (Super XX Man) began a collaboration album exploring the themes of religious belief and non-belief. The collaboration never materialized due to (cognitive dissonance…cough, cough)… Michael’s eagerness, given that Christians are taking away women’s rights in the U.S., and given the eternal religious conflict in the Middle East, to get his anti-religious message out into the world. George Recordings will release Michael’s contribution in the waning days of 2023 as Reclinerland’s Skydiving EP.

In 2020, Michael began work on an original musical play called Summerhaven, about a teacher's crisis of faith when his esoteric radical free school runs the risk of being shut down. In 2021 Summerhaven made the third round of selections at the O’Neil center’s National Music Theater Conference. As of 2022 Summerhaven is finished (to the extent that a musical play can be “finished”) and waiting to be developed.

Most recently, Michael worked with Finnish producer Jarkko Heiniö (Tigerbombs) on mixing his other pop band Parks & Recreation's newest album, Every Road I Travel, which was mastered by Ron Guensche and released on Michael’s George Recordings “label” in April, 2022. As of that date, the album is available on all digital streaming platforms and retailers.

In 2023, Michael took a break from reworking the musical play Happy Valley to earn a Graduate Diploma in Film and Video Game Scoring. All the while, he has been working with Jarkko Heiniö to mix and master the songs for The Ideal Home Music Library, Vol. 3: Songs for Orchestra, which will be out soon!

Future projects include the Skydiving EP, a graphic novel adaptation of Summerhaven, an album of songs for string quartet and voice called Q, and the Happy Valley rewrite. Far on the horizon is the musical play Atonement, a dystopian story about a woman struggling to liberate herself and a young boy from a Christian theocracy.

Stay tuned!