Jad Fair and his brother David from Coldwater, Michigan started this band around 1975 in their bedroom. At that time they only had drums and Jad's out of tune guitar, but later expanded to include other instruments. David explains the guitar here:
I remember hearing their song "Firecracker, Firecracker" in 1986 and it blew me away. The mix of raw passion and simplicity inspired me along with the catchy blues chord progressions. It appeared on their album "Sing No Evil".
Jad tunes all his strings to one note, or doesn't tune it at all. Similarly, I tune my strings to two notes but I do like to tune them. My old Silvertone guitar never stayed in tune however, so I just went with it. Their tunes are usually about monsters or love--themes often heard in Vladimir songs. Jad designs all the album covers.
In addition to the Half Japanese albums, I also had Jad Fair's solo albums "Best Wishes" and "Everyone Knew... but Me" on which he played all the instruments. My favorite from those albums was a song called "Monster Island". In 1986 or so I sent Jad Fair a fan letter (and maybe a Vladimir tape, I can't recall). He sent me some promotional pencils, a story book he wrote and illustrated, and some other goodies.
So much about Jad Fair and Half Japanese inspired me as I developed the Vladimir sound and approach to music.
In addition to the Half Japanese albums, I also had Jad Fair's solo albums "Best Wishes" and "Everyone Knew... but Me" on which he played all the instruments. My favorite from those albums was a song called "Monster Island". In 1986 or so I sent Jad Fair a fan letter (and maybe a Vladimir tape, I can't recall). He sent me some promotional pencils, a story book he wrote and illustrated, and some other goodies.
So much about Jad Fair and Half Japanese inspired me as I developed the Vladimir sound and approach to music.
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