The Technical Jed
Encyclopedia
The Technical Jed was a rock band from Richmond, Virginia
. The band started when Daniel Bartels and David Bush, who were working together at an oriental carpet store, asked Clancy Fraher and Steve Brooking to join them. Fraher taught Bartels some open tunings on his new telecaster, then promptly left the country to explore Europe for a month. When Fraher returned, Daniel had begun creating his own musical vocabulary that was later crucial in setting this band apart from the typical 2-guitar bands of the day. Many reviewers likened them to Tom Verlaine
and Richard Lloyd of Television
.
at Sound of Music Studios. The groups manager at the time, Caroline Frye, sent out 6 demo cassettes to a select group of indie labels. The New York based SpinART Records
heard the cassette and signed the band to a 2-record deal. The first record, Southern States, was mostly a compilation of singles and material that had been released previously. It was a broad collection of rock flavors stirred over a few years. The album peaked at 43 in the CMJ chart.
to create an album that highlighted their guitar work and studied interplay with the rhythm section.
virtually shelved the record temporarily and its release was never fully promoted. "We're stripping the Oswald Cup CDs and using your jewel cases for our other releases..." The album has since been added to iTunes
.
Daniel Bartels teaches science and builds robots with his students for competition.
Steve Brooking is still building up the city during the day time and tearing it down at night.
David Bush is a database manager for a large media company.
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. The band started when Daniel Bartels and David Bush, who were working together at an oriental carpet store, asked Clancy Fraher and Steve Brooking to join them. Fraher taught Bartels some open tunings on his new telecaster, then promptly left the country to explore Europe for a month. When Fraher returned, Daniel had begun creating his own musical vocabulary that was later crucial in setting this band apart from the typical 2-guitar bands of the day. Many reviewers likened them to Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
and Richard Lloyd of Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
.
Kramer's Beach split single
Richmond label Brilliant Records' David Moore asked the band to contribute a pair of songs to a double-7" w/ fellow Richmond band Twitch Hazel (featuring members of Fudge).Wyatt's Torch E.P.
Brilliant released an E.P. featuring songs from VA bands Poole, Technical Jed, the Seymores, and Ultra Cindy.Southern States
The band did a couple of songs with David LoweryDavid Lowery
David Lowery is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter; he is the founder of alternative rock band, Camper Van Beethoven, and co-founder of the more traditional rock band, Cracker...
at Sound of Music Studios. The groups manager at the time, Caroline Frye, sent out 6 demo cassettes to a select group of indie labels. The New York based SpinART Records
SpinART Records
spinART Records is a now-defunct New York City-based independent record label that released recordings by artists such as The Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide, Frank Black and Michael Penn....
heard the cassette and signed the band to a 2-record deal. The first record, Southern States, was mostly a compilation of singles and material that had been released previously. It was a broad collection of rock flavors stirred over a few years. The album peaked at 43 in the CMJ chart.
the Oswald Cup
The second record for spinART was more of a concentrated effort. The group worked with producer Rich CosteyRich Costey
Rich Costey is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with many bands including Muse, Cave In, Thursday, Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas, The Mars Volta, Doves, Bloc Party, Ontronik , Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance, Supergrass, Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, Nine...
to create an album that highlighted their guitar work and studied interplay with the rhythm section.
Touring band
The regular rhythm section was restricted by career choices and were not able to tour. As a result, Fraher and Bartels chose to take members of their favorite Richmond punk bands out as substitutes. John Gottschalk (Kneivels, Nrg Krysys-bass), Ricky Tubb (Waking Hours-bass), Bret Payne (Morefire for Burning People-drums), Becky Sanchez-Burr (Morefire...-bass), and David Ramsden were among the few that took up the challenge. Fraher and Bartels found this method to be unsatisfactory and decided ultimately to hang it up after the release of the Oswald Cup. spinArtSpinART Records
spinART Records is a now-defunct New York City-based independent record label that released recordings by artists such as The Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide, Frank Black and Michael Penn....
virtually shelved the record temporarily and its release was never fully promoted. "We're stripping the Oswald Cup CDs and using your jewel cases for our other releases..." The album has since been added to iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
Current Events
Clancy Fraher currently resides in Chicago and is performing with Joe Nio of the Seymores in the New Messengers.Daniel Bartels teaches science and builds robots with his students for competition.
Steve Brooking is still building up the city during the day time and tearing it down at night.
David Bush is a database manager for a large media company.
External links
- [ AllMusic.com album review]
- the New Messengers