Jonah Geil-Neufeld was born at home in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. He spent the early years of his youth learning how to walk and talk and do other things that all human children must learn how to do in order to survive in this world. He got a sister named Hannah when he was 2. Later, he moved to a house on Hermitage avenue in Chicago that shares a yard with a two flat and is home to two other families. Jonah grew up around 6 parents and 5 kids in “The Yard,” as it has come to be called.

Jonah’s parents started a grade school along with two other parents in The Yard when Jonah began the 3st grade. His parents had already home-schooled him through Kindergarten, and so Sunflower Community School was born with its first three students being Jonah, his sister Hannah, and his friend Jake Pankratz Saner, who was one of the 5 kids in The Yard. Sunflower Community School met in the attic of Jake’s house during the first couple years, and then moved into a space at the top floor of a church. The school had 12 kids when Jonah graduated. He and his friend Dorian were the only two members of his graduating class.

All this while, all during Jonah’s up-bringing, Jonah’s creative juices began to flow. His imagination ran wild as a kid, and Jonah was always humming to himself or making percussive noises with his mouth. He got a plastic guitar when he was 3 and wrote his first song, titled “Twailed on A Whale.” The lyrics to the song consisted of rhythmically yelling the title of the song followed by the words “dee der dawd.” By the time Jonah graduated from the 8th grade, Jonah had picked up guitar and drums, he was in two bands, he had recorded 5 albums at professional recording studios in Chicago, he had collaborated to write two original musicals, and he had written an original screenplay.

Jonah was 10 years old when he began his first band with childhood friend Dorian Gehring and Dorian’s dad Stewart Gehring. The Cajun Jedi, as they were then-called, play traditional cajun music that Stewart had been playing since Dorian and Jonah were born and that the boys had grown up with. “I grew up with Cajun music,” Jonah explains, “I think it has influenced every kind of music I make, and I don’t think it’s ever going to stop flowing through my veins. Cajun music is responsible for my belief that music should be fun, danceable, and accessible to everyday people.” The band recorded its first album in Chicago’s famous Delmark Studios in 2001. In 2006, they became The Cajun Vagabonds and recorded “Grounded” at Riverbend Studio. Jonah continues to play drums and sing in the band.

Whitney M. Young Magnet High School (WY) was Jonah’s home for the next four years. The high school had about 2,100 students, which was a little bit of a jump from his grade school experience. Jonah continued to explore music and other forms of art. He played percussion in orchestra and band, and then picked up the trombone during his sophomore year because there were no trombone players in his orchestra. He played in the pit orchestra for the musical all four years of high school. Jonah continued to write songs on his own and with his various bands.

Jonah formed the alternative-rock trio SmazE with childhood friends Dorian and Jake in 2003. Jonah was the lead singer and drummer of the band, and the chief songwriter. SmazE recorded their first album in Dorian’s basement in 2004. They released another album in 2006 and began to collaborate with friend Sima Cunningham, who had a solo outfit at the time. Jonah played drums and trombone on Sima’s 2006 debut “Squeeze,” which was recorded at Engine Studios in Chicago and produced by Brian Deck (who has produced Modest Mouse and Iron & Wine, among others).

Sima Cunningham and SmazE joined to become The Audians in 2007. Jonah played many well-known venues in and around Chicago with The Audians, including The Metro, The Hideout, The Beat Kitchen, Uncommon Ground, and Chicago’s famous Millennium Park. The band recorded a self-titled album with producer Brian Deck at Engine Studios in 2007, and continued to gain attention in the Chicago teen-rock scene. The Audians’ most recent effort is 2008’s “Aliens and Friends,” recorded at Riverbend Studio. The album combines new tracks with re-mixed and re-mastered versions of the songs on their debut album. The new album got positive reviews in local newspapers, and the album’s first track “Poison Ivy” was played on Chicago’s WXRT radio station.

Jonah started Busted Peach in 2007 as a side project, the first band in which he played acoustic guitar instead of drum set. Jonah recorded “Brown Paper Bag” with his solo song material that he had been writing for years. Busted Peach’s fusion of folk-rock and world rhythms closely resembles the music that Jonah creates through his solo work. Jonah’s latest studio album is Busted Peach’s “O Heavy Hour!”

Jonah left Chicago to attend Lewis & Clark College in Portland in 2008. Jonah has focused on his solo song-work since that time, although he still plays with The Audians and The Cajun Vagabonds while he is in Chicago. Jonah has been apart of 13 studio albums during his 19 years of existence, and he is currently recording his first solo album in his college dorm room.  He plans to release his first solo album during the summer of 2010 under the name Jonah Luke.

Jonah fell in love with web design and computers over his high school career, and he has started his own web design business called jonahgn.com. Jonah has ventured into new creative territory in college, examples of which include his first short play and his first slam poem. He has collaborated with college friends on numerous occasions to create new music, and he continues to write songs on his own. Jonah is majoring in Hispanic Studies.

Jonah continues to hum to himself and make percussive noise with his mouth, and his imagination continues to run wild.

For more information, contact jonah@jonahgn.com.