Guitar / Piano / Bass / Vocals / Songwriting / Production
Johnny Oskam is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer, mix engineer and composer with over 10 years of experience in the music industry.
From a young age Johnny took to music and never stopped. Growing up in San Clemente, Johnny was involved in choir all through elementary, middle and high school. He earned the plaque for choral performance in his senior year at San Clemente High School and sees his background in choral music as the foundation for his love for music in general. He also began learning guitar and piano at age 13, and has been playing ever since.
Starting in 2010 and for the next 7 years, Johnny pursued a career as a blues/rock solo artist. He has played countless live shows, many of which as an opening act for national touring artists such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Burdon of The Animals, Robin Trower, Walter Trout and many, many more. He released two full length albums, Soul Search (2014) and In My Shadow (2017). In My Shadow was nominated by the Independent Music Awards for Best Blues Album of 2017. Johnny and his brother Michael were also nominated for best producers for the same album.
In 2017-2018, following the death of his father and band manager, Johnny decided to take a step back from pursuing a career as a blues/rock artist and focus his attention on other things. He began working as a teacher for School of Rock, where he remained as an integral part of their staff for three years, eventually taking the position of Music Director at their Rancho Santa Margarita location.
After leaving School of Rock in 2019, Johnny began leading worship at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point, CA. You can still see him singing and playing guitar at mass on Sundays.
In 2020, Johnny began feeling the itch to pursue a career as an artist again. Feeling refreshed after a few years away, and with a new, more mature perspective on the industry and music in general, Johnny formed a hard rock band called Systerian. Formed with his best friend and long-time drummer, Katin Burns (also a teacher at Los Rios), Systerian has been consistently releasing music since September of 2020. Drawing influence from grunge-era bands like STP, Alice In Chains and the like, as well as nu-metal groups like Korn, Systerian has a familiar but fresh sound.
In addition to Systerian, Johnny also works in other avenues of the music industry. Taking more of a backseat role at times, Johnny produces for other artists, mixes, composes for film and liturgy, and of course teaches.
Johnny hopes to share his knowledge of music and production with students in a way that will inspire them to be creative, express themselves and find their own unique voice.
Some of Johnny’s music – if you want to hear it or share it (all clean lyrics) – may be found here: linktr.ee/systerian
