John William Feldmann (born June 29, 1967) is an American musician and record producer. He serves as the lead singer/guitarist of the punk rock band Goldfinger.
Early life
Feldmann grew up in Saratoga, California.[1] He started writing songs around the age of 12. Around that time, he met the band Social Distortion, and was inspired to be like them.[1]
Career
Feldmann's first band was Saratoga-based Family Crisis.[1] In 1988, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed the band Electric Love Hogs and met future Goldfinger bassist Kelly LeMieux.[1] The Electric Love Hogs (which also included Dave Kushner of Velvet Revolver and Bobby Hewitt of Orgy) put out one album, their self-titled 1992 debut, which was co-produced by Tommy Lee.[2]
Feldmann formed Goldfinger in Los Angeles in 1994[1] after meeting original Goldfinger bassist Simon Williams in a shoe store where they were both working. Goldfinger played 385 shows in 1996, breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for the most concerts in one year for a touring band.[3] In 1999, Goldfinger's song "Superman" was featured in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater video game.[1] Starting with their self-titled debut album in 1996, Goldfinger has released eight studio albums, including Never Look Back, which was released on Big Noise on December 4, 2020.
Starting in 1997, Feldmann has worked as an A&R executive at Warner Bros. Records, scouting talent and overseeing artist development.[8][9] Feldmann is a former A&R consultant for Red Bull Records. In 2016, he became the Vice President of A&R at BMG.[10] He currently works with artists to produce albums released under the record label Big Noise, which he founded alongside Nick Gross and Jon Cohen in 2017.[11]
Feldmann, Travis Barker, and John Reese started Back to the Beach Festival at Huntington State Beach in 2018. The two-day ska and punk festival featured The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, 311, and Sublime With Rome its first year, and was headlined by Blink-182 in 2019, but has not returned after that.[12]
Feldmann is published by Big Noise and managed by Lucas Keller and Nic Warner at Milk & Honey.