Shytown
Shytown is an American band formed in Los Angeles. They’re best known for their fun, upbeat guitar-based hooks and witty raps. Combining Pop, Reggae, rock and more, they take pride in not fitting cleanly into a genre box.
Prior to the band, frontmen Eric “EJ” Johnson and Danny Jay met in Chicago via a local radio station. EJ worked with singer Sean Kingston on a prior stint in LA and released collaboration single, “Shorty Got Back.” Over time, it became a sleeper hit on YouTube, amassing over 2 million views. He had garnered his own following from this and the two quickly teamed up and headed for the coast in pursuit of the dream. Shortly after arriving they were selected to be on infamous rap mogul, Suge Knight’s TV show, “Unfinished Business.” They filmed the pilot episode but the show was subsequently canceled due to Knight’s ongoing legal battles.
Unfazed, the duo street-performed weekly on the world-famous Santa Monica Pier where they quickly grew crowds and made enough money to pay their rent. It was there they were discovered by Leopold Management (Maroon 5, Melissa Etheridge). After signing their first contract, Ej and Danny were then signed to APA as well and toured with the late Glee star, Corey Monteith. They also landed a headlining spot at Universal Studios’ 5 Towers stage with the third largest crowd after only Cee-Lo and Justin Bieber. Shytown next hit the studio and recorded their debut EP “Single Again,” inspired by Eric’s recent break up. The EP was produced and recorded by Kelly Clarkson’s producer and guitarist, Aben Eubanks. It landed on the iTunes Pop homepage and got the attention of multi-platinum producers David Kahne (Lana Del Ray, Sublime, Sugar Ray) and JR Rotem (Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Fall Out Boy). They paired up with Rotem and worked on next single “Good Times” ft Francisco, which landed the duo’s first sync placement on Fox’s sitcom “I Hate My Teenage Daughter.”
Between 2012 and 2017, more opportunities arose to work with other artists. Mike Caren, head of Atlantic Records invited Shytown to write for top-selling rapper B.O.B. and Aussie singer Cody Simpson. In the Hollywood studio, it was there they met singer Jay McGuinness, of the UK boy band The Wanted. They proceeded to work together and eventually released two songs. Later, Lance Bass of N’Sync caught wind of the the duo’s traction and asked them to write a new theme song for his Sirius/XM show “Dirty Pop.” He also requested they come on the show for an interview. Shytown eventually parted ways with their management in 2013 and continued their collaboration with other artists. EDM singer Vassy reached out via Facebook and was featured on their single, “Love Bill.” They even worked with platinum rock band Puddle of Mudd’s lead singer Wes Scantlin, helping to revive his career and land him a publishing deal with Warner Chappell. Only months later, on a break from touring, Luke Spiller of the British rock band The Struts, contacted EJ regarding producing and consulting for their new EP. Upon their arrival in LA, EJ introduced them to Studio City Sound and Grammy-Award winning engineer Tom Weir. In May of 2015, Shytown executive produced their EP.
As they continued to take a break from the spotlight and stage, they grew more involved with the sync business. Opening up their own recording and production studio in North Hollywood, CA, they were able to focus on working with other artists and building a diverse catalogue of music. Over the next few years, they managed to place original songs on various reality network TV shows, Free Form TV series “Good Trouble,” an international shoe chain playlist and feature-length film “Next Level.” YouTube star Lauren Orlando performed their song “Special Place,” which became her musical debut. The film ran in select theaters across the country and is now streaming on Hulu, Amazon Prime and Tubi.
Starting in 2017, EJ and Danny made several trips to Nashville where they wrote with Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band), a country music staple. Stegall’s label Dreamlined Entertainment offered a publishing deal but numbers were never agreed upon. Ultimately, Shytown found itself back in Chicago where they reunited with drummer Dan Reynolds who had also moved to Chicago by way of Los Angeles. Lead guitarist Joe Kashul was then recruited as was bassist Dave Blanco and keyboardist Michael Kaiser-Nyman. The newly-formed band quickly landed a residency at Chicago’s House of Blues. Once 2020 hit, the band worked virtually and recorded “Never Land,” its first EP since 2011. The laid back, reggae-tinged tunes were said to be inspired by “a place they’d rather be.” Shytown’s publishing arm The Jetsetters, most recently inked a deal with Shoot The Noise, a successful sync agency.
