The Golden Age of Music on the Internet, Pedal Steels, and Mickey Mouse

Johnny Klein, known for his work under Euphoria Again and Knifeplay, is a prominent Philadelphia musician. From his early days of lo-fi bedroom pop, to more recent twangy tunes with Dogwood Tales, Klein has a diverse range of music in his collection. Inspired by the golden days of the 2010s internet music culture, Klein has been making music since 2013, crafting a unique sound and undergoing gratifying experiences in the world of music along the way. 

What inspired you to start making music?

[Klein] I spent a lot of time listening to music, and took inspiration from the people I was listening to on BandCamp. Back when Tumblr was a big thing, there were a lot of people putting good music out on there too. I was into artists like Coma Cinema and Alex G, you know, a big fan of the bedroom artist sound. At the same time, I was also really into Drive-By Truckers and some southern rock influenced stuff as well.

I started Euphoria Again in 2012 or 2013 when I was in high school. I had a Mac, so I just kinda started recording. I’d make these songs on GarageBand and put them online. It wasn’t like “Oh I’m going to make an album, and play shows, and have people listen to my music” or anything. I was just recording in my room and putting out everything, even my first takes. It wasn’t anything polished. 

I put some music out on Youtube and Mat (Coma Cinema) saw one of my songs and commented on it. Now at the time, he was one of my biggest inspirations and I was a fearless teenager so I messaged him and just said, “hey, let’s make a record.” And to my surprise, he was down. I ended up flying from Utah to South Carolina to record some music with him. I think I was sixteen or something at the time and I got out there and I was just this young kid. I think he was kinda confused. Mat was definitely the first person in the music world I got connected with, though. And he was able to connect me with others. It's funny, now we share the same booking agent.

But we ended up making a record and Orchid Tapes put it out. At the time, Orchid Tapes was putting out some great music by Alex G and Teen Suicide, a bunch of that type of music. And yeah, I thought that was really cool. That experience gave me some confidence and motivation to start putting out real music. I've put a lot of music out through the years, sort of here and there. I did some stuff with Fog Lake a couple years later. A lot of the stuff I’ve done has been with people I’ve met on the internet, you know, making friends through Tumblr and Instagram. I guess from there, I just continued to make music, just a little more legit now. 

Moving to Philadelphia

I ended up moving to Philly around 2014 when I put out The Mouse Rides On with "Mickey Shoots Up". I honestly just moved there because that’s where a lot of my favorite artists were based. When I moved here I actually stopped making music. I was having way too much fun. When I was young and still in Utah, I was making and recording a ton of music. But when I moved out here, I guess I fell into the “life of the party” way of living for a bit. But, at the end of the day, drinking and partying just don’t add up to make a good artist. Maybe in some fantasy, or if you are in a huge rock band making a ton of money you can do it, but it didn’t work for me. 

I was in Philly for a short period of time and played with Pill Friends. I also played in another band with Ryan Wilson and Brian Nowell from Blue Smiley. Unfortunately it didn’t last long, so I moved back to Utah for a few years. 

I don’t know, I definitely didn’t do the smartest thing at the time. What the right thing would have been to do was to tour and try to grow the music. But man, at the time I was young and partying and it just wasn’t possible. But here I am now, I’m a little more responsible, I’ve got my shit together. So now we’re doing it. 

I ended up moving back to Philly in 2018. But as far as Philly’s influence on my music, it comes down to the people making music here. If I want to make music, it is easy to find people here who want to play and make records. There’s also so many great bands, it’s inspiring. 

Euphoria Again and Knifeplay

Euphoria Again is one of my longtime projects. It’s kind of a solo project, but I bring on my friends to help me write sometimes. Most of the time, I’ll write the songs and put together the band, which usually has changing members. I have a few collaborators that I consistently use, like Max Black from Knifeplay. He’ll play bass and keys. I’m not much of a drummer, so I’m always finding someone to play drums. 

How did you come up with the name "Euphoria Again?"

It's actually from a Ben and Jerry’s poster that I had that on my wall when I was in high school. I feel like that’s how a lot of bands get their names. You see something and you’re like, “Oh! I’m gonna call my band that,” and before you know it time goes on and you never change it. But yeah, that’s where it’s from and the name just felt fitting. 

Where did the inspiration for "Mickey Shoots Up" come from?

When I was younger, I think I just liked being edgy. Not quite an edge-lord, but I was big into rock 'n’ roll. I liked these characters that were entirely self-sabotaging, like Elliot Smith and Kurt Cobain. With my age and everything at the time, I figured Mickey Mouse was the ultimate symbol of youth, so I thought, “What if I just make him do all of this horrible stuff?” I think I just wanted to be a little offensive, as teenagers do, you know. Just trying to be a little off-putting, I think that’s pretty normal.

It’s funny, we still play that song. We’re playing some songs from the old record, but now we really have to rework them. I’m a much different person now, so we’ve rearranged them a bit to be new again. They’re a lot of fun to play.

When did you join Knifeplay?

TJ Strohmer was one of my first friends when I moved to Philly. We would write together, so it just kinda worked out for us. He’s the writer for Knifeplay, so as a band we all just write our parts and collaborate. It’s the same thing as Euphoria Again, you sort of steer the ship with your vision and shape what is being given. 

Klein wrapped up a US tour in September playing with both Euphoria Again and Knifeplay, as well as a November tour in which Euphoria Again played with Gleemer and Flooding. 

How does it work touring with both Knifeplay and Euphoria Again?

It’s always a little different. The tour I did with Knifeplay was acoustic, so it was me, my friend Joe Hannah, and a pedal steel. People seem to really like a pedal steel, you know. It’s always different though. Sometimes it’s a full band and sometimes it makes more sense to make it an acoustic set if I'm touring with an acoustic artist.

What is your favorite moment from this tour?

I think our show in New York City was probably my favorite. We got a new drummer, and we hadn’t really gotten a chance to play all together before. We all have jobs, so it’s pretty hard to find a time when we can all practice together. Our first show was kinda another practice, and it ended up being a good show. Thankfully it all came together and it was a lot of fun.

Playing with Gleemer and Flooding

I am really trying to get out there and play more now. The tour with Gleemer and Flooding worked out because of Corey Coffman. We’ve kinda known each other from the internet through the years, and he is a fan of Euphoria Again. I was trying to tour more, so I asked to play some shows and it all worked out. 

Have you ever played in Cleveland?

Yeah, we’ve been there. I think we played at a bar called the Happy Dog. The bar with the crazy hot dog toppings. I was there a few years ago with Knifeplay and it was fun a lot of fun. We played with Unrecovery, they’re cool for sure. It’s hard, if we’re on that side of the country, we usually are playing Chicago. We'll be back though. You could definately do a week long tour out in the midwest. 

New Music With Dogwood Tales in January

How did this collaboration come about?

I really enjoy their music and we went on tour with them a couple of months ago. While on tour, we became good friends and were inspired by each other’s music. We jammed a lot and were throwing around the idea of making a record together. The bass player owns a recording studio in Harrisonburg, Virginia, so we were actually able to make it happen. 

Two months after the tour, we met up again. We both brought three or four songs and our bands to meet up. We ended up recording everything in like four days. We would just go into the studio and learn each others songs. We had this gigantic band, I think there were like seven of us. We ended up live tracking everything, which is kinda a weird way to do things. It’s old school, you know, not the typical way things get done now. But it worked really well and it turned out great. I’m really excited for it. I hope people like it. I think people who are into the alternative country-influenced stuff will like it. 

Is there a song from the album you are most proud of?

I would say “It’s Not Hard to Laugh.” The single “Destination Heaven” is out now, it’s very twangy. The whole record has some country flavor because it has pedal steel. Dogwood Tales are from Virginia, and we like that style of music. But Dogwood tales are equally as big of fans of Bladee and Yung Lean, so the inspirations are far and wide. We’re all fans of contemporary music as well, like Blue Smiley and They Are Gutting a Body of Water, so there’s a little bit of everything going on there.

Keep up with Klein on Instagram 

@euphoria__again

@knifeplay_music

Stream Euphoria Again on Spotify 

Stream Knifeplay on Spotify

Destination Heaven will be available on streaming services on January 7th, 2026