Jandek

Jandek is the Houston, Texas-based musical project by Sterling Richard Smith (born October 26, 1945). The moniker is probably devoid of meaning, as Sterling himself admitted in an unofficial 1985 interview to John Trubee that he thought of this name in the month of January, while “speaking on the phone with someone named Dekker”. He is known for his atonal, outsider approach to music, reshaping blues, avant-garde, folk and spoken word through his elusive and cryptic songwriting.

His first album, Ready for the House, was released in 1978 under the name The Units. A recluse from the beginning of his career up until 2004, Jandek started to consistently perform concerts and release some of them as live albums. Two full-length documentaries have been made about him: Jandek on Corwood (2003) and I Know You Well (2015). Jandek has released over 80 records, all of them under his label Corwood Industries.