Posted on April 15, 2010 - by Mark Zonda

My Teenage Stride, an interview with Jed Smith

There’s some kind of Daniel Johnston tension on the Fratellis drumming of  “Heart Shackles”. My Teenage Stride is surely force to dig out curiosity and surprise on the instinctive and amused approach Jed Smith uses to carve his works out. This kind of kind arrogance attitude reflected on their music hit my attention and humor on this interview as well. Brookliniers, World, look out for Jed Smith and its band.

Mark Zonda: “My Teenage Stride”, it’s hard to be indie in America? How did you formed?

Jed: Is it hard to be indie in America? I don’t know. You mean like Indiana Jones? He gets a lot of action scars. Maybe it is hard to be him. MTS formed when someone asked if they could put out an album after hearing a fake compilation I recorded of fake bands doing fake psych-pop and garage punk songs. Of course it was just me and my four-track. My Teenage Stride was one of the fake band names in the compilation. For some reason, I decided to go with it. Mistake? Probalikely.

Mark Zonda: THIS IS PURE GENIUS! I thought that I was the only person being able of such things! Do you recall some of the fake names? Whch are your favorite fake bands in the hystory of pop music?

Jed: Some of the fake names- hmm, let’s see, there was Arabian Waterpark, The Empty Ess, Sinking Joe Louis, Wine, The Green Ivy League- that’s all I can remember. Nothing great. Fake Bands? I’m a fan of King Shit & The Golden Boys.

Mark Zonda: Is it so cool to be unsigned? Which label would you love to get in touch with? Which are your favorite ones anyway?

Jed: Is it cool to be unsigned? is that the question? I guess it depends on what you want. None of MTS’s physical albums are self-released, they’re all on small labels, but it’s not so much a signing as it is an agreement for an album here or an album there. But uh, you know, labels with money usually do stuff like pay for a publicist and pay advances, the former of which gets you into blogs and magazines with attractive people. We wind up in blogs and occasionally magazines anyway. I don’t know. Labels I like? Well the one that comes immediately to mind is Slumberland. Mike has great taste, he’s put out a few of my favorite records of the past 15 years like the 2nd Aislers Set album and Black Tambo and a bunch of my friend’s bands are on Slumberland. So it’s sort of a no-brainer.

Mark Zonda: Do you think you’d get to write a different kind of album if you got to sign with Slumberland? Would your attitude on writing music adapt on this new perspective?

Jed: I don’t think I’d change my approach at all for anything. I do this for my own amusement first. I have a fantasy chart in my head, so I’m only competing with myself. It keeps me interested. I understand the pressure to adapt that some people might feel, but I’m long past caring about it myself. I try to make songs that I’d want to listen to. This is my own little universe I operate in, I wouldn’t want anything to intrude into it.

Mark Zonda: You’ve made a song called Gallipoli. Ever been in Italy? What’s that song about?

Jed: Gallipoli Now. Yes. I have never been to Italy, though I have relatives in Abruzzi I believe. Gallipoli Now refers to the skirmish in Turkey in 1915 in name only. Perhaps it’s metaphorical or simply a non-sequitur. I’d rather not think about it. The song is actually about….other things.

Mark Zonda: Can you tell us what you find more attractive on other things and what other things you find more attractive?

Jed: What I find more attractive in other music? I’m confused. I guess I like reverb, weird-sounding recordings, vocal melodies, ambiguous lyrics. Loud drums. In people? Sense of humor. Low self-esteem. I dunno.

Mark Zonda: Is playing in Cakeshop the future? What makes showcases so much better than stadium acts?

Jed: Playing in Cakeshop is the future for a lot of people. I think I’ve played in Cakeshop about 150 times. It’s great. Andy Bodor has done more for music in New York than nearly anyone for the past 5 years. As far as stadiums go, I already have little patience for shows sometimes. I have never in my life enjoyed seeing anything in a stadium.

Mark Zonda:  What’s the success behind “Live and Die in the airport lounge”? Was it inspired by “The Terminal” with Tom Hanks?

Jed: The success behind that song? I dunno. It is kind of weird, almost three years later it still shows up everywhere all the time. I’m not complaining, but I don’t really get it- I did it in about a half hour. It was “inspired” by watching a Guided By Voices documentary. There’s a scene in it where they drive past a place called the “L.A. Lounge”. Robert Pollard thinks of the song title “To Live And Die In The L.A. Lounge”. I changed it to “Airport Lounge”. Viola, song. By the way, the William Freidkin film “To Live and Die in L.A.” is his third masterpiece and you should seek it out immediately. Watch it next to Michael Mann’s “Manhunter” for extra effect.

Mark Zonda: GUIDED BY VOICES! What a band! Would you be pro on a duet with Bob Pollard? Where on Earth that wicked old man finds the energy to write 5 albums a year?

Jed: Robert Pollard. One of the finest songwriters of the 20th century, maybe beyond. His best stuff seems like it always existed, and someone just had to pull it out of the ether. That’s such a rare quality that I’m not even sure there’s anyone else in the past 20 years who’s on par. I prefer his Alien Lanes period but he’s written probably a good 200 brilliant songs, which is about 199 more than anyone else that immediately comes to mind. I’d love to do an email record with him. I’d send him backing tracks and he’d send me vocals. That’d be cool.

My Teenage Stride – “Penelope”

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