Patois

Patois

Patois is the alt-pop moniker of Daniel Johnson. A native Detroiter, he began releasing music as Daniel in 2009, starting with the Bulbz EP for Ghostly sublabel Moodgadget, followed by three full-lengths, Lazrus, Extracolor, and Sicko, and the Hard Feelings EP, all repped by Downtown Music.

“Stay With Me,” from Hard Feelings, was prominently featured in Beauty and the Beast on the CW network. A rework of the Lazrus cut “Hard Core” by his side project Avila was featured in MTV’s The Real L Word. Avila, for which Johnson produces and writes, has had their music featured in numerous commercial and TV campaigns for brands including Victoria’s Secret, Trojan, Orange is the New Black, The Bachelor, and Showtime’s The Affair.

Johnson also works prolifically creating custom music for TV and commercials. His productions have included collaborations with Flint Eastwood’s Jax Anderson for ESPN and Luscius for Santander Bank.

In 2019 Johnson, feeling that the use of his first name for his solo work was so common as to be unsearchable, and wanting to refocus and recommit, adopted the new alias Patois.