Singer, songwriter, and producer
Jawny began honing his blend of bedroom pop and lo-fi indie funk under the stage name Johnny Utah in 2016 and scored a viral hit with 2019's "Honeypie." After issuing two EPs, he officially began operating under the
Jawny moniker, releasing his debut mixtape
For Abby in 2020, with The Story of Hugo EP arriving the following year.
San Francisco native
Jacob Lee-Nicholas Sullenger got an early start on his musical career: He began playing guitar when he was six and started producing in his teens; at age 15, he crafted beats for rappers. After briefly attending college, he relocated to Philadelphia at 20 to pursue music full-time. Adopting the pseudonym Johnny Utah, a nod to
Keanu Reeves' character in the 1991 film Point Break, he released an eponymous debut EP in 2018 through Z-Tapes Records. His second EP, Big Dogs, arrived later that year and featured the single "Really Meant," which appeared in an episode of HBO's High Maintenance. His funky 2019 single "Honeypie," which drew comparisons to
Mac DeMarco and
Beck, became his first mainstream hit, garnering millions of streams as well as use in thousands of videos on TikTok. Early in 2020, he signed to Interscope Records, which released his mixtape
For Abby that year. His first release as
Jawny -- an homage to the Philadelphia slang "jawn," a catch-all noun that can refer to almost anything -- the release was a concept piece about a guy trying to win back his ex that was largely recorded in
Sullenger's Los Angeles apartment. In 2021, the
For Abby single "Sabotage" charted on Billboard's Alternative Radio and Alternative Airway charts. Later that year he issued the four-song
For Abby-adjacent EP, The Story of Hugo. ~ James Christopher Monger