[edit] Guide Note
Jay Reatard is a punk musician. His style of music is known as garage punk.
[edit] Starting out
Instead of going to high school, he stayed at home and recorded multi-instrumental tracks in his bedroom. At the age of 15, he began recording lo-fi songs on a 4-track recorder. He mirrored his style after The Oblivians, but added more anger to his own songs. In 1997, the owner of Goner Records, Eric Friedl, helped him release his first 7" single, Get Real Stupid.
Although he named his band The Reatards, he was the only member until the band's second release. After recruiting bassist Steve Albundy and drummer Elvis Wong, the band released five albums from 1998 to 2005.
In 2001, he also started working with Alicja Trout and Rich Crook as the Lost Sounds. The Lost Sounds released four albums between 2001 and 2005.
[edit] Side projects
Over the past ten years, he has worked on multiple side projects, including The Bad Times, The Final Solutions and Angry Angles.
[edit] Solo career
After The Reatards and the Lost Sounds broke up in 2005, he began his solo career. He released his first solo album, Blood Visions, through In the Red Records in 2006.
Matador Records signed him in 2008, and he plans to release six 7" singles throughout the year.
[edit] Fast Facts
- Birth Name: Jay Lindsey
- Born: Memphis, Tennessee
- Year of Birth: 1980
- Years Active: 1988-Present
- Record Labels: Matador, Shattered, In the Red, Goner
- Influences: The Oblivians, The Clean, Wipers, Wire, Tall Dwarfs, Ramones, Urinals, Brian Eno, Adverts, The Verlaines
[edit] Quotes
- "We'll come back in Toronto soon and do a free show to make it up to the real fans in Toronto. And we'll steer away from greedy promoters who don't have any control of their shows and who don't care about doing right by the audience." —Jay Reatard
- "I loved the racket so we did the record, and I've been a fan of everything he's done since. He's a pretty amazing kid." —Eric Friedl
