Well he is playing guitar for St. VINCENT this Saturday (April 3 2021) on SNL. He will have a pretty awesome axe too.
In my local record store today. Shop guy checked inventory for any Jason Falkner albums, nada...sigh. Asked ( then) if he had any Matthew Sweet albums, two titles Cats Paw ( 2021) .. and Sweet/Hoffs 2 cd Under The Covers, best of. Bought both of them.
I've been trying to find analog versions of Jason's recordings. So far, I've been able to purchase a cassette copy of the Grays and a cool promo cassette of Author Unknown that's untitled and has a sticker with what must have been Jason's Elektra A&R rep's name and telephone number on it. I've now located a 1999 vinyl release of Can You Still Feel? Before I go any deeper down this hole, does anyone have insight as to whether these recordings were analog in the first place and/or has anyone listened to Can You Still Feel on vinyl?
Jason is touring w st. Vincent by the way not sure of dates as I don't follow her career.. unlike his
There’s a two part interview with Jason Faulkner here. Nearly two and a half hours worth C86 Show - Indie Pop: Jason Falkner - in conversation on Apple Podcasts C86 Show - Indie Pop: Jellyfish & The Grays with Jason Falkner on Apple Podcasts
Thanks for sharing. Jason was very generous with his time, even if most of this ground has been covered in previous interviews. I would love to believe that the new album he alluded to as definitely coming out would, ya know, come out at some point. Hate to say it, but I'm not holding my breath. I get that Falkner doesn't want to deal with any of the business / distribution logistics on his own. Don't blame him one bit for that. But I'm surprised he hasn't been contacted by at least one business-savvy fan who can handle all that dirty work for him gratis. There are hundreds (thousands?) of tiny, barely known bands who still manage to get vinyl pressed, put up a Bandcamp page, etc. Pair those with an official website / Social Media presence, and the word should spread relatively quickly to the admittedly small number of die-hard fans Jason has. Given that Falkner's fanbase is likely 99% white guys in their 40s and beyond, it stands to reason that at least one of them has enough leisure time / money to hit him up and say, "I can afford to lose $5k-$10k on this. Let's at least get your catalogue out there again. Oh, and where's that new album?" I'm not that guy, but maybe after my kids are out of the house I will be! Trouble is, that's another 10 years out. By that point, wunderkind Falkner will be firmly in Emmit Rhodes territory. That kinda breaks my heart.
Funny he has shared industry insights with me from time to tome. Among them labels he would not part of etc. It is at best a fickle industry- seems a shame that a guy with his talent isnt just a slam dunk for a cool label... but an omnivore or matador or other are not always calling....pity Like you i hope this record comes out but i am someone who feels nothing is certain until it physically is in my hands..
He just needs to let go of the label release notion and self-release on Bandcamp. I obviously don't have a crystal ball, but I can't see a scenario in which he would sell tons more copies if hooked up with a label vs. hiring a decent social media / PR person to get the news out to his small cadre of fans and direct them to straight to Bandcamp. And even if he did sell a lot more copies via a bigger indie label like the ones you mentioned, his net profits wouldn't likely be much better than if he had sold less units direct to fans. Do a Kickstarter, GoFundMe, anything. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like such an obvious solution.
Think he’s to proud, or is to busy on other projects $$$. Probably views his solo career as a vanity project.
Almost certainly true. And I don't blame him. In the podcast interviews linked above he even acknowledges this (to an extent), saying that he was so tired of being ignored by labels and the public that he'd rather not bother (paraphrasing). However, he also acknowledged that it had been too long since his last release and that his commercial body of work wasn't as robust as he wanted it to be given how long he's been at this. So he does seem to be conflicted. I'm sure he has a couple records worth of great material ready to go. And I'm sure he's read some of this thread. After all, we all Google ourselves. Bandcamp, Jason. Bandcamp. Or wait until one of us aging white guy fans reaches out and offers to bankroll the whole thing. But the former seems way easier.
No labels like Rough Trade etc interested? Apart from a patron of the arts scenario. He really should think of putting out his back catalog regardless of not releasing new material.
I was just chatting 2 days ago. I think he is unsure if how he wants to release a new album. I offered my services in a "kiss army" style foot patrol way. He did not take me up on my offer...
