Jandek Explained

Jandek
Birth Name:Sterling Smith
Birth Date:26 October 1945
Origin:Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genre:Lo-fi,[1] folk, blues,[2] outsider music
Years Active:1978–present
Label:Corwood Industries

Jandek is the musical project of Sterling Smith, a Houston, Texas-based American lo-fi folk singer.[3] Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 120 albums while granting an interview extremely rarely and providing no biographical information, releasing on a self-made label, "Corwood Industries".[3] Jandek often plays an idiosyncratic and frequently atonal form of folk and blues music, frequently using an open and unconventional chord structure.[3] AllMusic has described Jandek as "the most enigmatic figure in American music".[3]

History

A review of the debut album Ready for the House (1978) in OP magazine, the first ever national press given to Jandek, referred to the artist as Sterling Smith.[4] Smith has kept his personal history secret, revealing only one story about his pre-Corwood years: he wrote seven novels but burned them upon rejection from New York publishers.[5]

In a 1985 private phone conversation with John Trubee for Spin, Smith mentioned that he was working at that time as a machinist.[6]

Jandek's first album, Ready for the House, though a solo work, was originally credited to a band called The Units. Corwood was forced to change the name The Units by an identically named Californian group already in possession of a trademark on the name.[3] All reissues of this first album and all subsequent Corwood releases have been credited to "Jandek". In Trubee's unauthorized interview, Smith claims he came up with the name Jandek while on the telephone with a person named Decker during the month of January. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain discussed Jandek in a 1993 interview, stating "He's not pretentious, but only pretentious people like his music.[7]

In 1999, Texas Monthly reporter Katy Vine interviewed a man she believed to be Jandek, though he refused to identify himself, and although familiar with Jandek's music, refused to discuss it.[8] In 2003, filmmaker Chad Freidrichs released a documentary, Jandek on Corwood, which contained no interviews with Jandek but was put together with "a representative of Corwood Industries".[3]

On October 17, 2004, at the Instal Festival in Glasgow, Scotland, an unannounced and unidentified act (playing alongside bassist Richard Youngs and drummer Alex Neilson) performed at the festival. This was later confirmed to be Jandek in his first live performance.[3] [9] Jandek has since made numerous live performances, usually unannounced in advance.[3]

Discography

See main article: category. This is the discography of Corwood Industries; the record company releases only albums by Jandek.

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Thurston Moore to Play With Jandek . Tom . Breihan . . December 10, 2009.
  2. Web site: Jandek: About Jandek. Tisue.net. 12 May 2021.
  3. Web site: Jandek Biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic.
  4. Web site: Jandek: Discography . Seth . Tisue . tisue.net . September 23, 2016.
  5. Web site: LCD 22 - Jandek - The Original Disconnect . . September 23, 2016.
  6. Web site: Lousy or brilliant, the big question remains: Who is Jandek?. Thor. Christensen. Chron.com.
  7. Web site: Good Luck Finding Jandek's Record Store Day-Exclusive Vinyl Box Set. March 15, 2013. Spin.com.
  8. Web site: Jandek and Me. Katy Vine. August 1999 0. August 1, 1999. Texas Monthly.
  9. Web site: Real Wild: A Decade of Jandek in Public. October 17, 2014. Pitchfork.com.

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