In 1992, Johnny directed several TV commercials including a critically acclaimed spot for Converse All Stars. He was approached by several commercials houses to sign as a director but elected to leave editing and, having been writing songs for many years, started the Indie rock band FIN.

‘Fin songs scoop you up and let you flow ’til you glimpse that little bit of heaven. Let them into your life now and watch the greyness vanish’. Melody Maker

FIN’s first single was Melody Maker’s Single of the Week and was B-listed by Radio One. FIN’s following and profile grew quickly and soon attracted the attention of Geffen records. FIN released four singles and a compilation album but imploded in early 1995. Johnny immediately formed SENNA and was signed to a publishing deal by Chrysalis music.

‘Senna at CBGB’s was one of the most extraordinary gigs I’d seen in years. They were stunning’. Hugo Burnham - Gang of Four

During this period Johnny became proficient with the digital recording system Pro Tools and (following the implosion of SENNA) his solo recordings became the basis of a later solo album. Having begun to write comedy sketches with a mate, Johnny won the BBC Greenlight award for new comedy writing and was rewarded with a half-hour pilot show on BBC2, ‘Hello I’m Jack Berry’.

‘It just goes to show what can come from small budgets and big imaginations. Roll on the series’. Daily Telegraph

 Following a brief stint writing sketches for other shows, including the treacly-black Monkey Dust, Johnny wrote and produced two series of his own sketch show Radio9 for BBCR4.

‘Weird, wacky, wicked and potentially wonderful. In the great English tradition of nonsensical humour, they may be very successful indeed’.  Financial Times

He then developed this into the TV comedy series The Message which was broadcast on BBC3.

‘Packed with slick invention and not a little madness’. Mail on Sunday

Whilst the series was still airing, Johnny contracted a virus that developed into Guillain–Barré syndrome and he was incapacitated for several months. Unable to do much beyond sitting in a chair, Johnny wrote the script for Acts of Godfrey, a feature film exclusively in rhyming couplets. He also recorded and released Promise, his debut solo album. The record was the Sunday Times Album of the Week and garnered universal critical praise and a playlisting on BBC6 Music.

‘This is a gem of a debut wonderfully evoking the spirit of Sparklehorse’s kinder, gentler side. It’s great. Trust me’. Sunday Times 

Having secured a production budget, Acts of Godfrey starred Simon Callow, Harry Enfield and Celia Imrie. It premiered at Raindance and was nominated for a British Independent Film Award.

‘Ingeniously scripted, darkly comic, cleverly plotted and completely original. One of the most inspired ideas I’ve come across’. The Guardian

Around this time Johnny wrote and produced a further sketch show for BBCR4 called The Scanner and made a further solo album called A False Parade.

‘Johnny Daukes, wearing another of his (seemingly inexhaustible) hats and it’s pretty damn good. Like Radiohead might sound if they still wanted to top every song with a huge chorus. A little hidden gem’. Le Cool

Following the break-up of his marriage, Johnny wrote a suite of songs called Wonder and the accompanying short-film was featured at Raindance and The New York Film Festival.

‘With a new album and short film ‘Wonder,’ Johnny is using all his talents to create something unique. It’s a project of pensive grace and a gem of original British craft, both musically and visually’. Right Chord Music

The next year was spent writing two drama projects. The Seahorse and the Wolf is a script based on the events surrounding Johnny’s mother’s death and, the involvement of the Catholic organization Opus Dei in the Daukes family dynamic. The Records is a multi-part TV project based around a talent agent, haunted by a murky past and struggling to cope in a turbulent present. Both of these projects are being redeveloped in the light of the childhood trauma contained in his memoir, ‘Shadowman’.

Whilst making a short documentary with Ian McKellen, Johnny was introduced to the film director Richard Loncraine, who was making the movie Finding Your Feet. Richard asked Johnny to edit the film and he did so, then went on to cut the next film by writers Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard, Fisherman’s Friends which he also co-produced. Johnny then wrote and produced two series of a sitcom called Cracking Up for BBCR4. Returning to film editing, Johnny cut the dystopian sci-fi thriller Settlers which was written and directed by Wyatt Rockefeller. He then edited the film Fisherman’s Friends 2 which was released in September 2022.

‘Johnny is everything you want in an editor; nimble, creative and intelligent. He cares deeply about the film and cuts straight to the heart of things’. Wyatt Rockefeller, Director – Settlers

In 2020, a family disagreement resulting from Johnny’s father’s death and the re-emergence of long-suppressed events and secrets resulted in Johnny writing his memoir; Shadowman | Records of a Life Corrupted and the accompanying album Shadowman | Records Remade.

‘It takes an exceptional storyteller to make your sides ache and your heart break from one moment to the next, but Johnny Daukes has both the flair and - just as crucially - the story to do just that. An extraordinary debut’. Pete Paphides

‘Johnny Daukes’ compelling memoir navigates both darkness and exhilaration with intensity and painful candour but also joy and wit. This is a book that is often melancholic but never mawkish and at its heart is an affirming appetite for life’. Stuart Maconie

In 2023 Johnny amalgamated his social media promo production StoriesForSocials into his website daukes.com, a hub for many past and present pursuits. The most recent of those pursuits is the film and album This Is The Road. The film was screened in Soho in late April to an invited audience of film, TV and music professionals.

‘mesmerising and touching and infuriating and memorable. Also: really (really) good original songs. Bravo!’. Dominic Minghella - Producer

‘Raw, honest and beautiful’. Boyd Hilton - Heat

‘Beautiful music, beautiful film. The man is a self-facilitating media node’. Mat Osman - Suede 

‘It takes the back off emotional timepieces from Daukes life, revealing wonderful, intricate, visual mechanisms that are so memorable and, I suspect, feelings shared by many of us with an eye on the clock’.

Peter Curran - BBCR4 Loose Ends

The album has been released on Johnny’s own independent label Document Of Interest which has also reissued his solo back catalogue on vinyl, CD and digital.

In 2024/25 Johnny edited the film Mother’s Pride starring Martin Clunes, James Buckley and Mark Addy. The film will be on cinematic release in spring of 2026 and features Johnny’s forensic rendition of Plastic Bertrand’s seminal 1977 hit Ca Plain Pour Moi.

He is currently developing an animated, shortform comedy sitcom that he describes as ‘Reggie Perrin meets South Park’.

Johnny is married to a TV drama executive and they share four children between the ages of 25 and 17. He enjoys running, cycling, cooking and doesn’t enjoy watching Manchester United much lately.