A Good Noise: Half Japanese

Half Japanese

The birthplace of Punk? CBGB's (http://www.cbgb.com/)? A clothing/fetish shop in London? Depending on who you ask, the birthplace of Punk will be identified as one of any number of locations. Some say the single greatest influence on the masses to start bands that would come to be defined as Punk and New Wave was a performance by the Sex Pistols (http://www.sex-pistols.net/). Held at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall ( http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2002/02/21619.html) on June 4, 1976. Most, if not all, of the 40 or 50 souls in attendance that night went on to start bands...with names like Joy Division (http://www.joydiv.org/), The Smiths (http://www.askmeaskmeaskme.com/) and The Fall (www.visi.com/fall).

But if you ask the parents of Jad (http://jadfair.org/) and David Fair, Punk can be traced directly to the bedroom of their two sons, located in the 200 year old house they owned in Uniontown, Md. Somewhere between 1975 and 1976 the Fair brothers, despite little to no musical ability, decided they wanted to form a band. Self taught, neither Fair brother had the ability to play guitar beyond the one or two notes they would repeat over and over. The remaining members, Mark Lickling and brothers Ricky and John Dreyfuss , formed the rhythmic core of the group. Somewhere in 1977 the group, under the name Half Japanese, made their first home recordings, copying the cassettes and adding forming their own imprint, the 50 Skidillion Watts label. Entitled "Calling All Girls", the tapes were handed out or mailed to friends and acquaintances as well as any record label the pair could locate an address for. The lone response they received was from Warner Bros. who stated in a written response that they defintely would NOT be releasing it. Each cassette was decorated by hand and in some cases the recipients were addressed by name on their individual cassette. The cassettes were shared and copied throughout the underground resulting in a recording deal with a small British label Armageddon.

David and Jad Fair

In 1980 Half Japanese issued a 3 record box set entitled "1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts". A collection of early home recordings as well as covers (Dylan, the Temptations and Buddy Holly) and various guitar/electronic feedback noise, the release marked the first known multi-record box set ever issued. The fact that "1/2 Gentlemen/No Beasts" included music that was such a drastic (not to mention strange) departure from anything that had been released to date made the box-set an instant cult phenomenon. It's limited supply only fueled the buzz. Throughout the early 80's Half Japanese would issue an odd assortment of recordings. A combination of distorted feedback and minimalist ranting, both "Loud" (their second Armagedeon release in 1981) and "The Horrible" Ep (released under the Press label in 1983) only cemented their cult appeal. David Fair would later describe a Half Japanese song as either "a love song or a scary song". Their fascination with both the opposite sex and horror movies permeated virtually all of their early work. Jad's unique voice left each song, regardless of the topic or subject, with an innocence and a vulnerability that was not heard by any artist of the day. Throughout this period the group would maintain a mailing list of 50 or so fans that they would send artwork and cassette tape recordings to, free of charge.

Recording for the Iridescence label, the 1984 releases of "Our Solar System" and "Sing No Evil" marked a rather dramatic leap forward for the group. Where Solar System branched out, carrying a more jazzy feel, Sing No Evil was the groups most accessible, listener friendly effort to date. Most fans and followers agree that Sing No Evil was the best work of their careers. The assortment of backing musicians provided a much cleaner pallet for Jad's improved songwriting to be heard. By the mid 80's David Fair began to withdraw from the group to turn his attention toward raising his family.

Jad Fair

Jad carried on the Half Japanese name with a varying group of musicians as well as starting projects as a solo act. Finding himself without a label following the demise of Iridescence, Jad sought to revive his homegrown 50 Skidillion Watts label, but lacked funding. Enter longtime admirer and magician Penn Jillette (http://www.pennfans.net/). As detailed in the excellent 1993 documentary "The Band That Would Be King", this was a time of great monetary success in Jillette's career. But the monetary success came in direct conflict with his own artistic standards. A reoccurring character on "Miami Vice" (http://www.miami-vice.org/) allowed him to make some good money. The fact he was receiving the money for this "work" on the almost cartoonish 80's crime drama made it a bitter pill to swallow. After hearing of Jad's plight, he decided that the spoils of the Miami Vice gig could, after all, be used for a greater good. Using that money, Jillette helped Jad revive the 50 Skidillion Watts label and secure the master recordings to Half Japanese's latest recordings, which were being held ransom by the owner of the failed Iridescent. On the shelf for over four years and now rescued from Iridescent, "Charmed Life" was released in 1988. A review in Spin Magazine (http://www.spin.com/) at the time ranked the recording with "Exile on Main Street" and "Sgt. Peppers" as one of the most influential recordings ever released.

The groups releases ending the 80's became more experimental in nature and were not as well received as their earlier work. But in 1993 one of the groups fans, Nirvana's (http://www.nirvana-music.com/) Kurt Cobain, asked Half Japanese to be the opening act on the eastern leg of their 1993 "In Utero" tour, exposing Half Japanese to an entire new audience. Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker (http://www.spearedpeanut.com/tajmoehal/) would also become a strong advocate of the group, not only playing on the 1993 release "Fire In The Sky" but also utilizing the group to act as backing band on her own tours and include Jad as a guest on her own solo releases. By the mid 90's Jad turned his attention to the visual arts (http://jadfair.org/art/), exhibiting his paintings throughout Europe. Following a string of live and greatest hits packages, Jad reformed Half Japanese after a four year lay off and released "Hello" in 2001 on Alternative Tentacles (http://www.alternativetentacles.com/).

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on bass, watt:

We have all had those momentary brushes with a "celebrity". Everyone's idea of a celebrity will vary, but one of my more memorable close encounters came with Mike Watt (http://www.hootpage.com/). It was probably sometime in 1990, although the exact date cannot be determined by me, my wife or best friend as to when exactly we traveled to Lawrence, KS to see fIREHOSE (http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=firehose&tr=y) at The Bottleneck (http://www.thebottlenecklive.com/). We got there early, took our position at the front of the stage and waited with the 10 or so other people that were there for the show to start. Opening up that night was Sebadoh (http://www.sebadoh.com/), a band we knew of but knew little about. Nonetheless, not wanting to give up our prime position, we stood at the base of the stage throughout their set. All I remember was it was loud and it was fast, perfect for an opener. Somewhere in the middle of their set we suddenly found that we were no longer alone and that Mike Watt had come out to take in the set as well. Wearing his usual flannel shirt and thick, black rimmed glasses, Watt bounced along to Lou Barlow (http://www.loobiecore.com/) and company along with us. Immediately seizing the opportunity, my buddy handed him an empty mug and we poured him a beer. Now, I'd had a few beers in my time up until this point of my life. But I'd never, ever seen anyone drink a beer with such voracity or with a singular purpose as Mike Watt did that night. He went after it with gusto, like a sailor who'd been away from port way to long. We poured him 3 or 4 in all, each sucked down in 2 or 3 gulps with more than a few drops ending up on the front of his shirt. As Sebadoh was wrapping up their set we looked around and he was gone.

Dick Watt, Mike's Dad, was a Navy man and it required him to move the family all over the country. While in San Pedro, CA. (http://www.sanpedro.com/) and faced with yet another move, his parents divorced when he was 12 years old. Watt soon took up with Dennes Boon (http://sidemouse.com/boon.htm), who lived in the same area of Pedro as Watt. The two had a shared interest in music, listening to Credence Clearwater Revival (http://www.creedence-online.net/) and Blue Oyster Cult (http://www.blueoystercult.com/), among others. After a few false starts they formed The Reactionaries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reactionaries_%28band%29) along with schoolmates Martin Tamburovich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Tamburovich) and George Hurley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hurley). After Tamburovich moved on, Watt, along with Boon and Hurley, formed The Minutemen (http://www.theminutemen.com/) in 1980. Boon's untimely death at age 27 started a lifelong journey for Watt, as he has searched to fill the void left by his friend and collaborator. Starting with the all bass duo dos (www.myspace.com/dosasintwo), through leading fIREHOSE, his solo efforts, leading more bands and playing bass for Iggy and the Stooges (www.iggypop.com) and Porno for Pyros, Watt has seen and lived more through his music than most, if not all, survivors of the early days of punk. Always on the cutting edge, Watt maintains a great website (http://www.hootpage.com/) devoted to his various musical directions, both past and present.

Mike Watt

I recently sent Watt an email to his myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/wattfrompedro) and, much to my surprise, he responded (at least I think it was him). Had I known he would actually reply I would have taken more time to think up some better questions...maybe next time. Thanks Mike.

roe: What was your first musical memory?

watt: a toy piano on the deck at someone's house my ma and pop took me to... it would reoccur in many dreams later.

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roe: What would you have done had you not been a musician?

watt: probably something in electronics maybe?

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roe: Greatest concert/live performance you ever witnessed (not performed with, just as an audience member)?

watt: man, this one is really hard... I wouldn't feel too honest about being for sure certain which was the "greatest" ever, know what I mean? sorry.

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roe: Why did you choose the bass?

watt: d. boon's ma picked it for me.

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roe: Who you are currently listening to?

watt: much much roky erickson. and john coltrane.

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If you cant find Mike Watt, you're not trying very hard. He is currently playing live dates with his latest trio, Mike Watt + the Missingmen, lending his bass lines to Iggy and the Stooges as they continue to tour the globe, channeling John Coltrane and Iggy with former members of Porno for Pyros in Hellride and playing with friends in his jazz influenced project Banyan.

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