By Dylan Hart
When an employee at Campus Recreation sought a special anniversary gift for her boyfriend, Nikhil Johns had the perfect idea.
After sending her a detailed questionnaire about her relationship, Johns developed a custom song to give as a gift titled “Come Home.” But on Nov. 20, he took it one step further.
“Typically, I don’t release these songs,” Johns said. “They’re just for people to give as a present. But this one turned out a bit more emotional, and the issue of long distance added a new dynamic to the song. It’s something people can relate to. So I decided to release it on their anniversary.”
Johns, 27, is an indie musician who plays under the name Napoleon the Wilderness. His acoustic guitar-driven songs explore relationships, travel and childhood, all through an optimistic and saccharine lens.
For the past two years, Johns has also been a marketing assistant for Campus Recreation, doing videography and photography for the department.
He was born in Manhattan, but he grew up in St. Petersburg. He moved when his mother, Rebecca Johns, got a job teaching geography at USF St. Petersburg, which she still holds today.
“In high school, I started writing songs for emotional expression,” he said. “Teenage angst — not to show anyone the songs, just for my own emotional expression.”
Eventually, he “got up the nerve to share” his music, which he was quick to dismiss as mediocre. It took him years to improve his music and learn how to sing, he said.
In college, Johns played in a Gainesville band called “Napoleon in the Wilderness,” named after a 1941 surrealist painting by artist Max Ernst. When the band drifted apart, the lead singer offered Johns the name. He omitted the “in,” claiming the new moniker to be a better fit for his style of music — and easier to pronounce.
Last year, on Valentine’s Day, he was given an opportunity to write a custom song, which quickly caught his interest. Since then, he’s written four more, although most are unreleased.
“It’s really nice with these custom songs because it’s a one-to-one ratio of people who are impacted by the songs,” he said. “It’s really rewarding.”
Johns has been working with producer Nicholas Roberts to build a fuller sound in songs like “Late Nights” and “Come Through,” which feature drum tracks, keyboard sounds and ambient noise alongside Johns’ voice and guitar.
Most of his songs, custom or otherwise, explore relationships and how they have affected him throughout his life.
“I would say that’s just what has come to me the most,” he said. “Relationships stand out as the most emotional things in my life that I’ve dealt with. That’s what I like to let out through music.”
But the theme of nature — the “Wilderness” — is often present as well. He “basically grew up” going to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve and still goes there often to clear his head. Alongside that, Johns and his family traveled the world when he was a child. He visited India almost every other summer alongside “various side trips.”
Today, Johns plays around St. Petersburg at venues like Hideaway Cafe, The Campus Grind and Iberian Rooster. He’s pushed himself to play around town and write at least one song a month.
“My goal is to be able to continue writing songs. I just like songwriting more than anything,” he said. “Ultimately, my goal is to make a living doing songwriting, whatever that looks like.”
Johns plans to continue releasing music every month via Spotify, but he also hopes to continue making custom songs for others via his website.
