John William Feldmann (born June 29, 1967) is an American musician and record producer. He serves as the lead singer/guitarist of the punk rock band
Goldfinger.
Early life
Feldmann grew up in
Saratoga, California.
He started writing songs around the age of 12. Around that time, he met the band
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. It consists of Mike Ness (vocals, guitar), Jonny Wickersham (guitar), Brent Harding (bass), David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards).
Emerg ...
, and was inspired to be like them.
Career
Feldmann's first band was Saratoga-based Family Crisis.
In 1988, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed the band
Electric Love Hogs and met future Goldfinger bassist
Kelly LeMieux.
The Electric Love Hogs (which also included Dave Kushner of
Velvet Revolver and Bobby Hewitt of
Orgy) put out one album, their self-titled 1992 debut, which was co-produced by
Tommy Lee
Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects.
Early ...
.
Feldmann formed Goldfinger in Los Angeles in 1994
after meeting original Goldfinger bassist
Simon Williams in a shoe store where they were both working. Goldfinger played 385 shows in 1996, breaking the
Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
for the most concerts in one year for a touring band. In 1999, Goldfinger's song "Superman" was featured in the ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'' video game.
Starting with their
self-titled debut album in 1996, Goldfinger has released eight studio albums, including ''
Never Look Back'', which was released on
Big Noise on December 4, 2020.
In 1998, Feldmann began producing for other bands, starting with
Showoff, producing their self-titled debut album, followed by
Mest
Mest is an American Rock music, rock band originally formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Tony Lovato, bassist Matt Lovato, drummer Nick Gigler, and guitarist Jeremiah Rangel. They broke up in 2006 after eleven years, but temporarily reformed ...
and
The Used
The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah, formed in 2000. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. Former members include Quinn Allman, Branden Steinec ...
.
He produced
Story of the Year's 2003 debut album ''
Page Avenue'', which was certified Gold by the RIAA and peaked at number 51 on the
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...
, and included the hits "
Anthem of Our Dying Day" and "
Until the Day I Die". He produced and co-wrote
Blink-182
Blink-182 is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Its current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though its so ...
's 2016 album ''
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
'', which reached number 1 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sever ...
.
He co-wrote and co-produced "
Made An America" by
The Fever 333, which was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance. He has also co-written and produced for
All Time Low
All Time Low is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Towson, Maryland, in 2003. Consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist/backing vocalist Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson ...
,
5 Seconds of Summer,
Good Charlotte,
Panic! at the Disco,
Beartooth,
Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish Rock music, rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, composed of Simon Neil (lead vocals, guitar) and twin brothers James Johnston (Scottish musician), James (bass, backing vocals) and Ben Johnston (Scottish musician), Be ...
,
Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...
,
311,
Black Veil Brides,
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
,
Ashlee Simpson,
Ashley Tisdale
Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles on-screen and in theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatric ...
,
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...
,
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her 1999 debut single "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot ...
, and
Papa Roach
Papa Roach is an American Rock music, rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, drummer Dave Buckner, guitarist Jerry Horton, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luth ...
.
The albums Feldmann has worked on have grossed more than 34 million sales worldwide.
Starting in 1997, Feldmann has worked as an A&R executive at
Warner Bros. Records, scouting talent and overseeing artist development. Feldmann is a former A&R consultant for
Red Bull Records. In 2016, he became the Vice President of A&R at
BMG. He currently works with artists to produce albums released under the record label Big Noise, which he founded alongside
Nick Gross and Jon Cohen in 2017.
Feldmann,
Travis Barker, and John Reese started Back to the Beach Festival at Huntington State Beach in 2018. The two-day ska and punk festival featured
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones,
311, and
Sublime With Rome its first year, and was headlined by Blink-182 in 2019, but has not returned after that.
Feldmann is published by Big Noise and managed by Lucas Keller and Nic Warner at Milk & Honey.
Personal life
Feldmann is a vocal activist for
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
.
Awards
Selected production discography
See also
*
Animal rights and punk subculture
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feldmann, John
Goldfinger (band) members
1967 births
American animal rights activists
American male singers
Record producers from California
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American rock singers
Living people
Punk rock record producers
Guitarists from Los Angeles
Electric Love Hogs members
20th-century American guitarists