John’s first recordings reached the offices of Planet Mu Records in 1999 where its founder and Aphex Twin collaborator Mike Paradinas encouraged John’s more experimental efforts. During this time, he acquired the name Leafcutter John, suggested by a friend who compared his creativity and industriousness to that of a leafcutter ant.
Working with Planet Mu, John released three critically-acclaimed albums which culminated in the release of The Housebound Spirit, an album which combined elements of music-concrete and electro-acoustic music with voice and guitar work more commonly found in folk music. It won an Honorary Mention at the 2004 Ars Electronica Awards, and was featured in The Wire’s top 50 records of 2003.
As part of his ongoing quest to create more expressive instruments with which to write and produce music John has designed, built and developed a unique light controlled musical interface which is the heart of his live show.