Half Japanese

Last updated
Half Japanese
Half Japanese Sxsw 2008.JPG
Half Japanese at the SXSW Festival, March 2008
Background information
Origin Uniontown, Maryland, United States
Genres
Years active1974–present
Labels 50 Skidillion Watts, Safe House, Alternative Tentacles, Joyful Noise Recordings, Fire Records (UK), Emperor Jones, T.E.C. Tones, Psycho Acoustic Sounds
Members Jad Fair
John Sluggett
Jason Willett
Gilles Reider
Mick Hobbs
Past membersDavid Fair
Mark Jickling
Howard Wuelfing
Don Fleming
Jay Spiegel
Henry Beckmeyer
Rick Dreyfuss
John Dreyfuss
Moe Tucker
Kramer
Rich Labrie

Half Japanese is an American art punk band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in 1974, [1] after their family's relocation to Uniontown, Maryland.

Contents

Half Japanese' original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out-of-tune, distorted guitar. Both Fair brothers sang, although over time Jad held the frontman role. As of the band's last several releases since the 1990s, according to the album and CD credits, Half Japanese composes and plays the entirety of the music while Fair, eschewing his role as guitarist from earlier albums, plays almost no guitar but is responsible for the vocals and lyrics, which typically divide into either "love songs or monster songs." [2]

Band history

Their lyrics often deal with monsters and the supernatural (especially as influenced by "creature feature" and sci-fi movies), in addition to more conventional themes, such as young love.

The band was formed in Jad and David Fair's bedroom in the mid-1970s, with sources varying on the exact date. [3] The band released their first single, "Calling All Girls", in August 1977, followed by a triple album, 1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts in 1980. [4]

The band played and recorded as a duo until the early 1980s, when they began incorporating additional members into the group: Mark Jickling (guitar and vocals) and brothers Ricky and John Dreyfuss (drums and saxophone). Since that time, dozens of musicians have come and gone under the Half Japanese banner, including Howard Wuelfing, Don Fleming and Jay Spiegel both from the band Velvet Monkeys, and Shockabilly bass player and Shimmy Disc impresario Mark Kramer among others. Jad is the only member who has been with Half Japanese from the beginning. [4] David temporarily left the band in 1987 in order to take care of his family, and since then has been involved with the band sporadically. [3]

The next line-up of Half Japanese came together in the late 1980s, proving to be a long-lasting and stable unit recording several albums and touring frequently throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. This incarnation featured guitarist/multi-instrumentalist John Sluggett (also a longtime member of Moe Tucker's band), multi-instrumentalist Jason Willett, Mick Hobbs, and drummer Gilles Reider. Since then, the group has worked with Moe Tucker from The Velvet Underground, who produced and performed on Fire in the Sky (1992), as well as The Band That Would Be King (1989), and with Fred Frith, and John Zorn, among others. [4]

In 1993, the band was brought to greater exposure when they opened for Nirvana's 1993 In Utero tour on dates in the US East Coast. [3] Kurt Cobain would later wear a Half Japanese T-shirt when he died. [5] The band's history and influence are chronicled in the 1993 documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by Jeff Feuerzeig. [4] In 1997, the band signed with the Alternative Tentacles label and released the album Bone Head . The same year, they self-released the album Heaven Sent on the label of drummer Gilles-Vincent Reider. [4] [3] In 2001, they released their second album on Alternative Tentacles, Hello . [3]

The band was chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he curated in March 2012 in Minehead. [6] In September 2014, the band released the album Overjoyed on Joyful Noise Recordings, their first in 13 years, [7] which was followed by the limited edition Bingo Ringo EP the following year. [8] The band subsequently moved to Fire Records released the albums Hear the Lions Roar in 2017, Why Not? in 2018, Invincible in 2019 and Crazy Hearts in 2020. [9] [3] In 2021, I Guess I’m Living: The Charmed Life Tapes, an alternate recording of their 1988 album Charmed Life containing previously unreleased material was released exclusively on Record Store Day. [10] [11] July 2023 saw their twentieth studio album, Jump into Love. [12]

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

EPs

Singles

Film/video

Books

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References

  1. ↑ "Half Japanese". Fire Records. n.d.
  2. ↑ Kitching, Sean (2023-03-22). "Love Songs And Monster Songs: Jad Fair's Favourite Albums". The Quietus .
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Huey, Stevey. "Half Japanese Biography". AllMusic .
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Colin Larkin, ed. (2003). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. p. 232. ISBN   1-85227-969-9.
  5. ↑ "Follow-Up Report". Seattle Police Department. 8 April 1994. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "ATP curated by Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) - All Tomorrow's Parties". Atpfestival.com. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Heller, Jason (2014-09-02). "Half Japanese: Overjoyed Album Review". Pitchfork .
  8. ↑ Sesar, Misha (2015-07-30). "Stream Half Japanese's Surprise, Six-Sided Bingo Ringo EP". Stereogum .
  9. ↑ Gabos, Ryan (2018-01-28). "Half Japanese - Why Not? (Fire Records)". The Big Takeover .
  10. ↑ "Half Japanese - I Guess I'm Living: The Charmed Life Tapes". Fire Records .
  11. ↑ Trendell, Andrew (2021-04-07). "Here's the full list of Record Store Day 2021 releases". NME .
  12. ↑ Kitching, Sean (2023-07-18). "Half Japanese - Jump Into Love". The Quietus.
  13. ↑ [ dead link ]
  14. ↑ "Half Japanese had so much fun in Hot Springs, they published a book about it - Rock Candy - Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art". Arkansas Times. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2014.

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