Martin Johnson, frontman of Boys Like Girls, has built far more than a cult following. Across his two-decade career and multi-platinum songs, Johnson has soundtracked a generation while quietly navigating his own evolution.
But what lies beyond his chart-topping hits is a more personal narrative—a story of hitting rock bottom, choosing sobriety, and building a family.
Editor’s Note: This is an extended version of the interview found in the print magazine.
What’s your earliest memory in music?
I got my first ukulele when I was three, and I started writing songs at six. I had a weird Casio trainer keyboard and a classical guitar with nylon strings, which is somehow trendy again. My dad was in a folk group in the 60s, so I stole his guitar too.
I was also doing musical theater. I thought I was going to be a Broadway guy, right? I really wanted to perform, and that’s the accessible route to performance. It’s hard to force a bunch of third graders to learn their instrument well enough to be in a band with you. Everybody’s just like, that’s cute. For me, I was like, no, no, no, I’m dead serious.
Were there any specific moments when you realized you wanted to be a musician?
My cousin was in a street punk band, and my first show was at The Rathskeller, which is a classic punk rock club in Boston. I was 10. There was a brass knuckle fight. I was in my little starter 90s jacket standing on stage, just being like ‘This is obviously what I want to do.’ It was a 200 cap venue, but it felt like a stadium.
You ended up touring while you were still in high school. What was it like to be on the road so early?
I learned a lot about myself. I was 17, and trying to go back to senior year of high school after going on tour was not super possible. I had a really cool principal that let me turn in a 12 song album with lyric sheets and song descriptions as my senior project for an arts credit and a couple of English credits.
I ended up starting a band with John (Keefe) in early ‘04, as seniors in high school. It was called Lancaster, and we went through a few different names, but we had some of the same songs we play now. That was the first generation of Boys Like Girls.
And now you’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first Boys Like Girls record with The Soundtrack Of Your Life Tour. How does that feel?
A lot of this tour is making peace with that kid. That kid who was a little bit conflicted, quitting theater, starting this new band, and deciding not to go to college. I left him behind for a while, but he wrote that first record 22 years ago. Stepping back into it with full bravado, as if I wrote it yesterday and I’m super, super proud of it, is a challenging thing to do. Now I get to invite that kid into the room to show respect for the people that those songs made the most sense to.
Spending decades on the road has also taken you on a journey to sobriety.
It’s what happens, right? You have a record, it’s a hit. Everybody starts doing drugs and getting a ton of tattoos and expensive clothes, and arguing with each other, and getting in fistfights on the bus at seven in the morning, coming down from whatever you’re doing at 22 years old.
When did you decide to get sober?
I got sober June 15th of 2010. The first wakeup call I had was shutting myself in the bathroom in New York City in 2010 and just doing a whole eight ball with these drag queens I’d never met, while they were playing Mamma Mia over the speakers, in this Hell’s Kitchen theater gay bar. I got back and was like, ‘I want to quit music, I think I want to die.’ I was taking 15 Xanax bars a day and speedballing 24-7.
I decided to stage an intervention for myself, which was bullshit because I had one already, I just didn’t realize it. We got flown to Pebble Beach to play a show and I soiled myself on the flight, so they had to ground it, and they sent my dad out. I stopped drinking and doing drugs after that, but I kept the med bag.
Later, I sat with somebody who was eight years sober in a sauna. He said, “I’ve never met anybody who died from coming off pills, but I’ve met a lot of people who’ve died from taking them.” I’ve been sober since that conversation.
On top of finding success to sobriety, you’ve also become a father to two daughters, as well as a husband. What’s it like being a musician and having a family?
It’s really hard to flow in and out of being an artist and being a dad, but I’m doing the absolute best that I possibly can. It’s really important to me to be a good dad. I’m the example of what a man is to these girls. Personally, I hope every man they ever meet doesn’t measure up so they’re mine forever.
Wellness is also a big part of your life now. What are some habits you have to stay healthy?
We try to keep a really non toxic house. We make our own clean and cleaning products. There’s not a ton of plastic. All my kids’ toys are wood. We got our milk delivered raw milk like a milkman. It comes in glass jars, to the doorstep, still warm. And I do breathwork everyday.
On tour, I fast all day, so I’m just having bone broth. I ride my bike 20 miles a day because I warm up my voice while I’m actively moving. I’m singing the highest note that I humanly can on every single one of those records, so I’m like, ‘Okay, how am I going to do that?’ In a major city, it’s very interesting because I’m singing my vocal warmups while I’m physically on the bicycle.
You recently launched Thunder Club, a digital subscription to access the band’s archives. Why did you go this route?
I have folders and folders of hi-8 tapes and camcorder footage nobody’s ever seen. On Myspace, you could have dumped anything, but you can’t just put that on Instagram. It gets buried. So Thunder Club is giving us an outlet to do that. We’re dropping songs that have, and will, never come out. I think we’ve become friends with some of our biggest fans, which is a huge blessing, to see things through their eyes.
Can you tell us what it’s like being in Boys Like Girls today?
Boys Like Girls felt really heavy to pick up for a very long time. I’ve done the work to be able to pick it up again and not feel that emotional baggage that came along with it, which was a lot of work. We were all a little bit more headstrong as kids. Now we’re boring, sober, best friends, you know? And so it’s really easy to communicate. There’s a lot of mutual trust. We’ve been through a lot.
At the end of the day, art, to me, is just telling stories. I’m hoping I can find some of that out there playing our first records every night, because that kid had something to say.
Boys Like Girls: Soundtrack of Your Life Tour
GLC Live at 20 Monroe
11 Ottawa Ave. NW, Grand Rapids
March 28, 6 p.m.
glcliveat20monroe.com