"Johnson is able to capture the essence of heavy metal as teenage rock lust -- fast, furious, godlike, goofy, evil, and ultimately harmless.-Carly Carioli (The Boston Phoenix)   "... his frantic, lunatic, old-time punk personality was filled with acidic vitality and caustic enthusiasm. These were performance pieces, not poems. Duncan delivered his work with dynamic body language and vehement rage that most front men should take note of."-The Northeast Performer   "Think spoken word has to be about sensetivity and women's issues? Think again, Duncan Wilder Johnson is a spoken word artist and he's pretty metal."-San Francisco Weekly   "Who the fuck is Duncan Wilder Johnson and why is he yelling at me?" - Tim Catz (bass player in Roadsaw, guitar player in Antler, author of Hangover Palaces) SHORT VERSION: Duncan Wilder Johnson is a metal head with a punk rock heart. As a musician, a writer, a monologist, a photographer, a graphic designer, and a "dude who puts on shows", Duncan has been honing his workaholic tendencies since 1995. He has released 7 CDs and 5 book/zines to date: 2009 "How I Fell In Love With Punk Rock" - Book/Zine on Cabildo Press 2008 "Destruct-a-thon - The Aloha Jihad EP" on Thrashachusetts (Music) 2006 "Destruct-a-thon - Es Muerto (2001-2004)" on Thrashachusetts (Music) (Disc 1 on the Workaholica Box Set) "Kill It All Away" on Thrashachusetts (Music) (Disc 2 on the Workaholica Box Set) "Duncan Wilder Johnson has A Short Guy Complex - Spoken Word #4" on Thrashachusetts (Spoken Word) (Disc 3 on the Workaholica Box Set) 2001 "Duncan Wilder Johnson/Destruct-a-thon" split CD, aka The Orange CD on Wonderdrug Records/Red Backpack (Spoken Word and Music) 2000 "Heavy Metal Spoken Word" on Wonderdrug Records/Red Backpack (Spoken Word) 1999 "Raise My Hands To The Fiery Sky" - Book/Zine on Red Backpack Prod. 1998 "On Tour Without A Band: Spoken Word from Boston, MA" with Clay Fernald, Rich Mackin, and Antony Flacket (Spoken Word) "Gig" - Book/Zine on Red Backpack Prod. 1997 "Reach Out And Kill Someone" - Book/Zine on Red Backpack Prod. 1996 "Sleeping In Beds Of Broken Glass" - Book/Zine on Red Backpack Prod. As a spoken word performer, he toured around the US (Northeast, East Coast, California, Seattle, Texas, and The Midwest) as well as England, Scotland, and Ireland. He's opened for such notables as Jim Carroll (author of The Basketball Diaries), Jello Biafra (lead singer of The Dead Kennedys), Lydia Lunch, Angelo Moore (from Fishbone), Steve Blush (author of American Hardcore), Eugene S. Robinson (Oxbow, author of FIGHT), Eugene Mirman, Sam Black Church, Overcast, Scissorfight, and Tree. As a musician he toured the East Coast US with Destruct-a-thon and filled in on some UK dates with Garrison and Sunfactor. Destruct-a-thon opened for The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Bronx, Seemless, Tree, Cracktorch, and The Freeze. At the time of this writing, Duncan still performs as a spoken word artist. He's making photographs for a new project called "Hot Bitches", and occasionally DJs with Ken Cmar (Wonderdrug Records) as "Wondertwins Activate!" in the Boston area. He also completed work on a book of essays, journal entries, and stories titled "Dude, Your Band Sucks". Destruct-a-thon disbanded in the fall of 2009. When not working, Duncan listens to classic Motorhead on vinyl and samples the beers of the world.

LONG VERSION:

Duncan Wilder Johnson is a metal head with a punk rock heart. As a musician, a writer, a monologist, a photographer, a graphic designer, and a "dude who puts on shows", Duncan has been honing his workaholic tendencies since 1995.

After graduating high school in Central Massachusetts, Duncan began giving spoken word performances at The Espresso Bar in Worcester, MA. His then defunct band, After The Fact, played there a few times and Duncan hit the open mic that the venue hosted. Reading journal entries, bad teenage poems, and telling stories that hinged between stand-up comedy and rant-driven barks about pop culture, Duncan settled into this new monologue "thing" rather than start a new band.

In September of 1995 Duncan attended Massachusetts College of Art. There, he majored in Photography and The Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM). In SIM, he continued to deliver spoken word performances. He teamed up with Clay Fernald, Rich Mackin, and Antony Flackett and the 4 co-released a CD titled "On Tour Without a Band: Spoken Word from Boston, MA" in 1998. That same year they opened for legendary punk icon Jim Carroll (author of The Basketball Diaries).

In 1999, Rich, Clay, and Duncan embarked on a one-week trek from Boston to various towns in the Mid West, doing spoken word. After graduating that May, Duncan received a call to open for Jello Biafra's spoken word show (lead singer of The Dead Kennedy's) at The Vic Theater in Chicago.

In 2000, Duncan was signed to Boston based Wonderdrug Records. Wonderdrug had released some of Duncan's favorite music over the years: Sam Black Church, Scissorfight, Honkeyball, 6L6, and Stompbox to name a few. So, he was pretty psyched to be included in the roster. Wonderdrug released "Heavy Metal Spoken Word" that spring and Duncan and Rich Mackin did a two week tour of the East Coast and Mid-West.

Upon returning from a few shows in California in the summer of 2000, Duncan was officially hired by Wonderdrug to do promotion, web design, graphic design, band booking, and whatever the hell else needed to be done. He also had a new roommate, Nate Linehan. Nate and Duncan started playing music in the basement. At first, all the songs were joke-ish: "Nipplekabob", "Screaming Penis Eats The Corpse", and "Dude, Fuckin' War, Man..." They employed Nate's older brother Sean Linehan to play bass. This girl whom Nate grew up with, Michele Morgan, lived around the corner and Nate swore that she could play Metallica songs. So, Michele was asked to come down and fill out the sound. After seeing an advertisement for a weekend of Battlebots episodes on Comedy Central called "Destruct-a-thon", Nate and Duncan laughed their asses off, simultaneously pointed at the television screen and said, "That's it! That's what we're going to call this thing."

In 2001, Wonderdrug released "Duncan Wilder Johnson / Destruct-a-thon" (aka The Orange CD) to mixed reviews. While most people dug the spoken word, which was pretty tight and established at this point, most of the music was panned. However, the 4 enjoyed playing together and as time passed, they ceased to write comedy and began to write real metal with healthy nods to classic hardcore and stoner rock.

In 2001 and 2002, Duncan worked closely with Marky Ramone, drummer of the world famous punk band The Ramones. The two played a handful of spoken word events at colleges in the U.S. Around the same time he also opened up for Lydia Lunch, Angelo Moore from Fishbone, and another couple of shows with Jim Carroll.

From 2001 to 2004 Duncan continued to do spoken word and Destruct-a-thon played around New England, NYC, and even one show in Philly. The quartet was hailed as having one of the best live shows in the Northeast and opened for acts including The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Bronx, Tree, Seemless, and Cracktorch. The band wrote and recorded in two different sessions at New Alliance and rotated a cast of players including Eric O'Brien (drums), Eman Pacheco (drums), and Ed Bredenberg (bass).

In the fall of 2004, Destruct-a-thon broke up. Too many shitty shows, no pay, and little sleep left the band exhausted and the uphill battle took a cease-fire. While Duncan still gave speaking performances, he started a new music project with drummer Eman Pacheco. Heavy and brutal, but more intricate than Destruct-a-thon, the two called the band Kill It All Away. They played a hand-full of shows in New England and recorded a 5 song EP at New Alliance with Tim Waltner. Kill It All Away eventually ran out of steam.

In 2006, Duncan released "Workaholica", a 3 disc box set of 5 years worth of recordings. Disc 1 was Destruct-a-thon's full length "Es Muerto". Disc 2 was the Kill It All Away EP. Disc 3 was Duncan's 4th live speaking record, "Duncan Wilder Johnson Has A Short Guy Complex". With the release of "Workaholica", Destruct-a-thon reunited as Duncan on vocals, Michele Morgan on guitar, Ed Bredenberg on guitar, Sean Linehan on bass, and Eric "Jungblood" O'Brien on drums. At first, the quintet only planned on doing a few shows here and there to promote the newly released material. Yet, after seeing that more people were showing up to the shows, that the music was pretty damn good, and most importantly that they were having fun again, the band decided to "be a band" again.

In 2007, Duncan gave his first speaking/reading performances outside of the United States, playing 3 shows in England, 1 show in Scotland, and a final show in Dublin, Ireland.

In 2008, Duncan performed spoken word in the Chicago area, Austin, TX, and did a two week stint on The Altercation Punk Rock Stand-Up Comedy Tour with JT Habersaat, Ruby Collins, Richie Stratton, and Chris Cubas.

2008 also saw the release of the Destruct-a-thon "Aloha Jihad" EP and Destruct-a-thon's first real tour of the East Coast US.

At the time of this writing, Duncan still performs as a spoken word artist. He's making photographs for a new project called "Hot Bitches", and occasionally DJs with Ken Cmar (Wonderdrug Records) as "Wondertwins Activate!" in the Boston area. He also completed work on a book of essays, journal entries, and stories titled "Dude, Your Band Sucks".

Destruct-a-thon disbanded in the fall of 2009.

When not working, Duncan listens to classic Motorhead on vinyl and samples the beers of the world.