Computer Magic

Computer Magic is the spacy, sci-fi-influenced synth pop project of singer/songwriter/producer Danielle “Danz” Johnson. A native of the Catskills, she began collecting vinyl at age 14 and started her own music blog a year later. By the time she was 18, she was DJ’ing in New York City while studying at Hunter College. Three years later, Johnson moved to Florida to be with her mother, and began making her own music when she started experimenting with production software. She began posting her atmospheric electropop songs online in 2010, adopting the Computer Magic moniker as an homage to This Is Spinal Tap. After releasing a few free EPs, she re-recorded some of her songs for the Brooklyn label White Iris, which issued the Electronic Fences EP in 2011. The following year, the Orion EP arrived on Kitsuné, which led to the release of a Japanese compilation via Tugboat Records. Computer Magic became so popular in Japan that Johnson made several albums just for her fans there, including 2013′s Phonetics and 2015′s Mindstate. During this time, she also issued the EPs A Million Years/Another Science and Extra Stuff. In 2015, Johnson launched her Channel 9 Records label, which released her official debut album, Davos, a set of songs she recorded with producer Claudius Mittendorfer. After two more EPs (2016′s Obscure But Visible and the following year’s Cody & Danz, a collaboration with Cody Crump), Johnson released Computer Magic’s more personal second album, DANZ, in 2018. ~ Heather Phares