by Jack Johnson
J: Wait, what about the time with that girl at the lunch table?
G: Oh yeah. I’m changing that to my most embarrassing moment—though I covered pretty well.
J: You did.
G: My buddy Nate needed a seat, and there was this girl who always tried to sit with us and was really annoying. So I’m like, “Nate, sit here so she doesn’t sit next to me! Help me out!” And I turn around and she is sitting next to me on the other side. I had no idea.
J: She heard it all. You looked at her and said, “Hah! Got you! You should have seen the look on your face!” As if you knew all the time she was right there.
G: Which I didn’t. I think my face turned bright red, and that was the most embarrassing part: the look on my face when I realized what an idiot I was.
J: Yeah, that was pretty memorable. Worse than losing your pants for sure.
AskJacks
DID YOU GUYS EVER GO ALONG WITH THE CROWD—OR HAVE YOU ALWAYS MARCHED TO YOUR OWN DRUMMER?
J: There was probably a point in sophomore year of high school where I was listening to music that wasn’t necessarily my taste, because all the jocks and coolest kids in the school were listening to it. I think it was humoring them more than trying to fit in.
G: Sometimes you do that for your homies. They all want to do something, and it might not be your thing but you do it—and I’m not saying bad stuff like drinking or drugs, I’m saying people wanna go to a party or a movie and you’re not really up for it, but you do it anyway to be social.
J: I think you know who you are. You don’t let people change that. That’s just it at its simplest. You don’t have to protest and be against everything everyone else does for the sake of being contrary. Be true to yourself in the most important ways, and be a team player in the others. I think that’s fair, don’t you?
G: Yeah, totally. Friends are important, and you want to have friends. You can be yourself without being a loner. You can be an individual and still hang with a crowd.
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH “NERD VANDALS”?
G: “Nerd Vandals” was Jack J’s idea. We would brainstorm every day, and I was kind of iffy on it for a month. He left for camp, and when he came back we sat down and put more effort into it. Then it just clicked and came together.
DO YOU GO AROUND SHARPIEING PEOPLE’S CARS LIKE THE NERD VANDALS?
J: To be honest, there are a few people we would have loved to . . . but no.
G: We Sharpied my car and just for the video.
WHEN WAS “THE MOMENT” YOU REALIZED YOU HAD ARRIVED? WHEN YOU WENT FROM BEING TWO NORMAL KIDS TO STARS?
J: Our first fan meet-up event in November 2013 in Dallas. It was the first time we saw our fans in person—and we saw how many of you there were. We were like, “Whoa!”
G: They picked us up in a limo at the airport. That was pretty dope. Then there were thousands of girls at the event, and a thousand girls who couldn’t even get in the door. When we got back to school, people had seen the videos of fans screaming for us on the internet. Everyone was like, “Okay, this is for real.” And it sunk in for us as well.
DO YOU NEED TO WEAR DISGUISES SO YOU CAN WALK AROUND WITHOUT PEOPLE RECOGNIZING YOU?
G: Ya know, we kind of just walk around normally. We don’t wear any crazy sunglasses or hats . . .
J: Yesterday, I wore a Mexican poncho that a fan gave me. With a bottle of tequila!
G: But that wasn’t a disguise. It was your idea of being fashion forward.
J: True, true.
G: We don’t mind being recognized. It’s pretty cool, actually. Especially because we’re just these two guys from Nebraska.
J: If we’re in a big city, like New York, yeah, fans might stop us on the street and recognize us, ask for a photo or an autograph, and that’s really great. We love it. But if we’re in a smaller town, we can fly under the radar.
G: Just recently, really, it’s getting a little harder to just walk into a store or the airport.
J: Yeah, but no complaints on our end. If you see a dude walkin’ around in a Mexican poncho, it’s me. Come say hi.
HOW TO DRESS LIKE A NERD VANDAL AND OWN IT
1. THE BOW TIE. Polka dot, plaid, paisley. Something with a pattern that clashes with everything else you’re wearing.
2. A PAIR OF GLASSES. Preferably with tape across the bridge of the nose. ’Cause you broke them tripping over your own two feet, and who has time to get new ones? Think what a librarian would wear. No fashionable shades.
3. POCKET PROTECTOR OR FAKE ASTHMA INHALER. The keys to Nerd Vandal accessorizing! Don’t leave home without ’em. A pocket hanky or some Kleenex stuffed in the cuff of your sleeve would also be nerdlike. A nerd is always prepared if something’s “snot” right.
4. SHIRT BUTTONED TO THE TOP. A basic white or blue button-down works, but a crazy, loud plaid is also a nice option—maybe something in a check? If it looks like a tablecloth, you’re in the ballpark. Make sure the sleeves are too long.
5. BELT OR SUSPENDERS. Both. ’Cause a nerd needs to make sure he’s not caught with his pants down, you know?
6. SHORTS WORN HIGH ON THE WAIST. The higher to God, the better. Seriously, if you can yank ’em up to the armpits, you’re lookin’ nerd chic.
7. TALL WHITE SOCKS WITH SANDALS. No logos or Nike swooshes. Just plain white knee socks. You could rock a pair of Vans with them, but sandals and socks are the gold standard.
8. THE HAIR. Combed or uncombed, it just sticks out in all the wrong directions or is shaped into a dome or combed over.
9. THE ’TUDE. It says, “I’m a nerd and I’m proud of it.” A nerd never apologizes. He holds his head up high (almost as high as his IQ). He sees life through his four eyes and knows that he is not alone: the nerds are slated for world domination!
HOLLYWOOD, HERE WE COME!
J: WE LEFT OMAHA TO GO TO L.A. SIMPLY BECAUSE THERE WERE JUST MORE PEOPLE HERE TO WORK WITH ON OUR MUSICAL PURSUITS. L.A. HAS THE BEST PRODUCERS AND CREATIVE TYPES, NO QUESTION ABOUT IT.
G: We were like, “Yo! We gotta get out to L.A. and take it to the next level.” A few of our friends that we came up with had already moved out here. Everyone would tell us, “It’s a great spot, you can’t beat the weather, there are endless people doing what you wanna do.” So that was it. We said, “Let’s get out there ASAP!”
J: We knew if we were taking the year off before going to college, we had to be as productive as possible. The move was pretty cool. Our first week in L.A. was the most fun week of my life, just because it was all new.
G: Here, everyone is working toward something. Everyone has aspirations in the entertainment world. People have big goals, big dreams. The sky’s the limit.
AskJacks
TOP FIVE THINGS WE’RE GOOD AT
1. Entertaining. Making people laugh. Getting them on their feet.
2. Putting together recreational basketball games. Calling twelve homies and saying, “Okay, we’re rendezvousing here.” We make it happen.
3. Making breakfast food. Eggs, bacon, toast. When we get together, we can whip up a mean morning feast.
4. Being nice. It’s easy to be a jerk, but we’re actually good at being kind and considerate to people. We make it our mission.
5. Answering questions. Which is prob why we started #AskJacks in the first place. We’re pretty open about our lives, our likes, our screw-ups. We’re really comfortable talking about ourselves, and we want our fans to feel free to ask us anything they’re curious about.
J: I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone in L.A. who has an actual desk job. Everybody out here is working on their own hours, honing their craft, doing their art. The creative energy is at an all-time high.
G: We loved it from day one. It was a pretty easy transition, once we figured out the freeway and parking situations.
J: I don’t know why, but I expected the food to be bad. Maybe because L.A. is so big and you hear about the smog and pollution. I thought it would be dirty.
G:
Dirty food? Seriously?
J: But it’s actually amazing. Great restaurants, great food. In particular, some great steakhouses and Chinese places.
G: We heard the traffic situation was awful—and that’s no lie.
J: It takes twenty minutes to go a mile. In Omaha, that same distance would take you a minute, no matter what time of day. Even at rush hour.
G: There are so many aggressive drivers. Little old ladies behind the wheel will cut you off! But that’s okay; I was like the only aggressive driver who lived in Omaha.
J: Overall, I would say L.A. is exactly what we expected. It’s what we came here for, and I think we linked up with the right people from the jump and started making music.
G: We also weren’t alone—like we said, we had a lot of friends out here who started out with us on the internet. Now they’re our best, best friends—as close as our Omaha homies. They helped us and introduced us to a lot of like-minded people who keep us motivated.
AskJacks
TOP FIVE THINGS WE SUCK AT
1. Being on time. We are at least fifteen minutes late to everything. L.A. runs on “studio time” and everyone is kinda chill with it, but honestly, we gotta work on our punctuality. It’s embarrassing. If it’s Ellen, though, we’ll be on time . . .
2. Being concise. We can’t answer a question in a few sentences, much less a few words. We love to ramble; we love to rant. We should probably stop ourselves there . . . or we won’t shut up.
3. Cooking. We are both lacking in this department. We can maybe make a few random things, but in general, the takeout menu is our best friend.
4. Working out on a regular basis. The intentions are there, but we just can’t seem to get on a schedule of going to the gym or exercising. It’s really bad, we know. We always say we’ll do it. It’s not that we’re lazy, it’s just that other stuff gets in the way.
5. Getting enough sleep. Same as with working out, we mean to catch enough Zs, but there’s too much to do and too few hours in the day. Also, traveling to different time zones kills us.
NO DOUBTS
J: Of course, along the way, there have been people who tried to discourage us. Haters who said, “Coming from Vine takes no talent. You might as well give up now.”
G: I remember we were at our high school graduation parties and all these adults were going around asking kids, “So where you goin’ next year?” It was the same story: this college, that college. But me and Jack were like, “We’re movin’ to L.A.” Dead silence.
J: Crickets. Or “What do you mean? Why would you do that? You gotta get an education!” L.A. is an education. Working in the entertainment industry is an education—a hands-on one.
G: That was discouraging. Because there were a lot of people who just didn’t believe we could do this.
J: But we proved ’em wrong.
G: Oh yeah. But our dreams seemed so farfetched to them.
J: How many times did we hear, “You might as well go to college and take the safe route in life”?
G: Safe is boring. Maybe it’s guaranteed, but it’s boring.
J: Take a risk or two. If you don’t do it now, the opportunity might not be there down the road.
G: You may hit traffic, but keep driving down that freeway!
J: Nice metaphor!
G: Did you catch that?
J: But seriously, on the flip side, the majority of people in our lives were positive and gave us great support. So the negative ones . . . they didn’t distract us in any way, shape, or form. We knew we were gonna follow our dreams out here.
G: No doubt.
OUR BIGGEST FANS
G: Teachers, coaches, family. These were the people that believed in us the most. Mrs. Schau and Ms. Harmon, and Ms. Kleppinger, our entrepreneurship teacher. They really wanted us to go for it, to build it. Right in the beginning of senior year of high school when we started to get this following—maybe ten thousand followers—she was our biz teacher and she really encouraged us.
J: She saw the vision. She said, “You gotta take this and run with it.”
G: By May and the end of her class, we had millions of followers. She said, “This is just the beginning. Follow your dream, make a lotta money.”
J: Sometimes it takes just one person to tell you, “Hey, it’s possible.” You think your dream is crazy, and then someone comes along and says, “You’re not nuts. This is real. This is possible. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg if you are willing to give it all you’ve got.”
PUT DOWN THE PHONE
J: Social media is both a good and bad thing. From our perspective it’s a great thing; it’s our life. We wouldn’t be here without it, and it allows us to connect with our fans all over the world. But on the flip side, if it invades your life and you lose touch with the real world, it’s a negative. If you’re not interacting with people through anything but electronic devices, that’s not good. We know kids who sleep with their phones.
G: I’m not pointing a finger, but . . .
J: I don’t sleep with it. Maybe it’s on the nightstand next to my bed.
G: Social media should be used to your advantage, but it shouldn’t be your priority. Not even top five. I’m on it maybe fifteen minutes a day max. When I’m bored . . .
J: When you’re in the bathroom.
G: Yeah, not sure I wanted to share that—thanks, man.
J: No problem.
G: I’m not great at posting. I do it when I need to, but I don’t want to get sucked into it. I’ve been there before, and I don’t want to be there now. I’ve got too much going on.
J: You also have to be careful what you say or the Twittersphere will jump all over you. It’s not just public personalities or celebrities that have to be careful about what they put out there, we all do. Watch your words. Words have power and they can hurt, even unintentionally. It’s great to express yourself, but social media makes those words go far and fast. Think before you post.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PUT YOUR FOOT IN YOUR MOUTH?
G: Physically? I’m not sure my legs are that long.
J: When I was a kid, I used to put my foot in my mouth all the time. I bit my toenails. Once I was in sixth grade, my mom was like, “Jack, you gotta stop biting your toenails. That’s just weird.”
G: Okay, that’s foul. I need to erase that image from my mind.
J: It’s true. I mean, I bite my nails today all the time. Why are toenails any different?
G: ’Cause they’re on your feet, dude!
J: Okay, but I think this question is asking in the figurative sense. In that case, I put my foot in my mouth weekly. Maybe daily. I’ll see something that’s negative about us online and I’ll just wanna go in on them. Or sometimes, I’ll see a topic that I have a strong opinion on, and I need to say something.
G: Then you regret it.
J: Sometimes. Not always. But I’m quick to the pull that trigger, you know? If it goes against what I think and believe, I can’t keep quiet.
G: I hear ya.
CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?
G: Me, yeah. I can keep my lips zipped. Johnson . . . never. What’s in his head is on his Twitter.
J: That is not true. Not entirely. Okay, maybe a little true.
G: I see you right now. You’re typing, “I cannot keep a secret! #looselips.”
J: Next question.
DO YOU HAVE ANY BAD HABITS?
G: Jack bites his nails. He’s chowing down on them right now.
J: Jack is just perfect. He has no bad habits. It’s really annoying.
G: Can I have one of yours?
J: Sure, help yourself.
DO YOU EVER EAT UNHEALTHY?
J: He eats way too many bacon cheeseburgers.
G: It’s got the dairy, the protein, the carbs from the bread. I see nothing wrong with that.
J: If you say so, man.
TUNING IN
J: When we first started recording music, there were these two kids who went to a local high s
chool, Turner and Travis Eakins. They were brothers, and they helped jump-start our entire musical career. They said, “Hey, we do these beats—why don’t you guys come by sometime, check them out, and do some original songs.” We didn’t even know we could do that—write our own music?
G: That email sat in our inbox for months before we even did anything about it and met with them. We never thought we could do this. Big shout-out to the Eakinses for reaching out to us.
J: Then we went to Travis’s house, and we recorded our first four songs out of this makeshift recording studio in his closet. He and Turner produced the beats, and that gave us the momentum. We sold enough copies and got some buzz going, and that gave us the marketing power to go out to L.A. It opened doors with bigger record producers.
G: It’s pretty crazy. Last night we met with the guy who did “Starships” for Nicki Minaj. And the day before, a guy who worked with Ariana Grande. Who would have thought we’d ever be meeting with these hitmakers?
J: Not us. Or we would have answered Travis’s email a lot sooner.
G: We work in some really cool studios now, but it started in a closet. Just sayin’.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
G: Vine was our ticket, clearly. We started on Vine in July 2013 right before senior year. Before that, we were messing around on YouTube in third and fourth grade, but our friends busted on us about it, so we dropped it. Jack told me about Vine—I didn’t know about it.
J: We were in Lincoln, Nebraska, at this big high school convention, and all the kids there were talking about Vine, and I jumped on it. I had my own account.
G: He convinced me to do a Vine with him, and it had like sixty followers under “Jack Johnson.” We said, “If we get to two hundred followers, should we change it to Jack & Jack?” And we did . . . and we did! By the time school started in August, we were grinding them out, and we had maybe twenty-five thousand followers. Our “Nerd Vandals” Vine brought us from thirty thousand to two hundred thousand in a week. We had a million by our second semester senior year. We posted every day, and a few went viral. We were addicted to watching the numbers grow. Vine was the passion at first.
