Shane Johnstone was born in Glasgow. He grew up in Govanhill, the son of two artists, and went on to study music at North Glasgow College. He worked as a musician, earning a living from gigging, recording and tutoring, and went on to tour Europe with many different bands, mainly focusing on traditional music, as well as American Roots music (blues, country, bluegrass.) He made the conscious shift to the writing of fiction after 13 years of hard focus on abstract expression through music, and began writing his first novel: The Gods of Frequency, in 2017, shortly after receiving the news that he was to be a father for the first time. The Gods of Frequency, although fiction, is heavily influenced by his life as a touring and recording musician in the world of traditional music, and thirteen years worth of musical philosophy.