JONATHAN INC.
Friday, March 26
Liberty Lounge
Many great ideas are born out of necessity – some are just better than others.
Take the career of Jonathan Anderson for example. Best known for his work with Vancouver’s alt-country up-and-comers Radiogram, he has been building his solo career as a writing-recording-releasing one-man powerhouse.
"I never wanted to run a record label," says Anderson. "It’s something I kinda fell into because of the way things have panned out. They haven’t rolled up to my door with a big record deal yet, so we’re kind of doing our own thing."
His own thing is Jonathan Inc., a heartbreakingly beautiful pop-based outfit that just put out its third release on Anderson’s own Anniedale records. Originally a folky break from the rock of his youth, Jonathan Inc., with the help of a few friends, has evolved into a lush and dreamy, yet unassuming, band. Anderson, who has taken advantage of being in Radiogram by writing a large portion of new material while on tour with them (holed up in hotel bathrooms with his acoustic guitar), has produced some stunning pop songs on his latest album Things Done and Left Undone. Although technically it’s a home-recorded affair, that’s what happens when you have your own studio in your garage in conjunction with your own record label.
"For an album I put out a couple of years ago called Waiting For Morning, I rented a bunch of gear and I did it all myself, and I really liked it," he says. "So I ended up buying some gear. As soon as I owned a bit of gear, my friends started calling me in and it blossomed."
At this time Anderson and his friends (from Vancouver’s Dawntreader) had material to release, but no one to help them out. "We didn’t have a record label of our own… and I thought I’d at least like to have a name to release my albums under and it became wider, incorporating some bands I was friends with – that shared esthetic qualities."
The result was Anniedale records, which Anderson launched in late 2001. Like all good labels that start as glorified vanity projects, Anderson is slowly opening the Anniedale umbrella to include more of his musical friends. As a reluctant label head, he admits to not being a fan of the business aspect of the industry, but he sees the advantage to doing things himself, especially given the sense of community fostered between the bands.
"Sometimes you gotta create your own scene," explains Anderson. "You can’t always wait for people to come to you. I got inspired when I realized that people don’t know better, just because they’ve been doing it for 10 years or because they work for ‘x’ label. There are different ways of doing things. Sure we’d like to work with a bigger label with better resources that could help us promote our music better. In the meantime, we’re not going to just sit around and do nothing."
CELEB TOP FIVE
The Top Five most underrated Canadian artists according to Jonathan Anderson of Jonathan Inc.:
1. Snailhouse
2. A Northern Chorus
3. P:ano
4. Aaron Booth
5. Maplewood Lane |
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