Will Johnson

The Maintenance Shop

8 p.m. Thursday

$8 students, $9 public

Will Johnson’s voice is the first thing you notice.

Its laid-back nature has a way of making you comfortable, almost as if you’ve always known him. It’s relaxed, and it fits his persona.

Johnson’s first passion lay in the drums, but a profound love for music inevitably led him to songwriting.

“I was just a frustrated guitar player and I decided I might put some words to a song for the first time. I did and it became a horribly addictive process after that,” Johnson says.

Johnson acts as the front man for two bands; the critically acclaimed gritty indie-rock band Centro-matic, and its more gentle, country-ish counterpart South San Gabriel.

The fascination with these bands exists in the fact that they share the same core members but have two vastly different, distinct sounds.

Based in Denton, Texas, Centro-matic and the quieter, more lush South San Gabriel are reminiscent of fraternal twins — both created in the womb of prolific singer/songwriter Johnson.

Although he fronts two bands, Johnson found himself with songs that did not work with either one, so he ventured off into his first solo endeavor. Johnson had amassed so much material over the years that his first solo album, “Murder Of Tides,” was recorded in less than a week.

Johnson the solo artist is a world away from the Johnson who’s known among the small fan base of Centro-matic. When he’s part of the Denton four-piece, Johnson roars with deep enthusiasm, cutting through the haze of screaming electric guitars and pounding drums.

Johnson says he lives for this kind of differentiation.

“I kinda like to throw a wrench into my own skin a little bit and keep things different as opposed to doing the same type of tour all the time,” he says.

Johnson says the best part about being a musician is simple.

“Being able to sustain a life off of something as silly as driving around the country and playing music,” he says. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, and it’s something that I’m thankful for everyday.”

Johnson says fame is nice, but it’s not what he cherishes about his career.

“Of course you want a band that you play in to be recognized, but the thing that’s important to me is that the four of us are still enjoying ourselves and are still inspired by the privilege of getting to play together,” Johnson says. “I worry about us being happy and getting to record exactly the kind of record we want to record without anybody telling us what to do or how to do it.

“We’ve enjoyed that for almost eight years, and there’s no reason that we shouldn’t enjoy that for more years to come.”