by Andy Hong
photos by Jeff Gros and Andy Hong
(First appeared in Tape Op,
May/June 2003)
I met Jason Falkner a few years ago, while attending his show at Vynyl in Hollywood. Jason was hanging out with friends in the audience. As we made eye contact, Jason called out to me, "Hey, you're that guy in Tape Op!" So when I was in L.A. for the NAMM conference with fellow Tape Op'ers Larry Crane and John Baccigaluppi I thought it'd be fun to drop by Jason's studio and talk to him about recording and producing - both at home and in big studios.
Afterwards, Jason went out for dinner and drinks with us, with the conversation proving that Jason is a walking music encyclopaedia. He really knows his pop music history. It's clear why his well-developed music sensibility comes across so well in his recordings.
| AH: You're working with Roger Manning from Jellyfish again? We have a band called TV Eyes now. It's kind of new-wavey, electronic, hard dance - but with real songs that contain that forsaken art called melody. Some late '70s carcrashing into the '80s - but also very modern. In other words, not a novelty act. We're doing all original songs. I sing. Roger and I sort of share the synth duties. I play guitar and bass, and Brian Reitzell from Redd Kross plays drums. We started the record in 2000, and finished it six months ago. We weren't working on it solid, and Brian and I were on tour with Air for all of 2000 and for two months in 2002. The TV Eyes 12" is coming out on Emperor Norton records. AH: Before you played in Jellyfish, you were in The Three O'Clock. I was only 18 at the time. I was a huge fan before that. My high school band covered "With Cantaloupe Girlfriend" and "I Go Wild." That first EP was genius. |
Many thanks to Andy Thompson for the transcription of this article and to Tara Cadenelli for the magazine.