Thepunkguy

Jason Farrell, man of all medias, has been making music since before 1987. He was in Dc’s famed Swiz, Fury and Sweetbelly Freakdown and was the lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter for Dischord’s Bluetip and now Retisonic. He’s also a filmmaker and acclaimed graphic designer. Let’s say, he doesn’t sleep much.

Can you tell me a bit about Retisonic and any other musical projects that
you are involved in right now?

I started Retisonic back in 2003 in NYC… after my last band (DC-based
Bluetip) had just broken up. I wanted to start over, use the useful stuff,
jettison the rest, and hopefully end up with a more streamlined sound:
simpler arrangements and a stronger emphasis on melody/harmony. Joe
Gorelick (ex-Garden Variety) and I began writing our new material with
that in mind. We release our first ep LEAN BEAT in the fall of 2003 just
in time for our first tour: a month in europe. Jim Kimball (J-Majesty)
stepped in on bass to complete the live line-up, then stayed on as a
full-time member. Since then we’ve toured the states a bunch, released our
full length RETURN TO ME, and stitched it up with another european tour.

Since then, we’ve written and recorded 18 new songs: 6 of which were just
released as the LEVITTOWN e.p. the remaining 12 songs will make up our
second album, which we hope to have out in the fall. I’ve been
incorporating my luv of film with our songs, making three 16mm short
movies to accompany the tunes… i guess you could call them videos, but
having gone thru the headaches and joy of using actual film makes me
reluctant to cheapen them with such a name. samples of our movies and new
songs can be found on our website and myspace page

In addition, I’ve been slowly compiling more songs for my True Baritone
project. over the years, my friends at corelone records have released two seven inches of my country-meets-the-misfits solo whatever. now i finally have enough to make a cd.

Where are you living these days?

los angeles CA

How does the city that you live in effect your artistic process?

Seeing the LA river inspired me to make the CURSES movie. there’s
something beautiful and spooky about los angeles: it’s always summer.
coming from the east coast and it’s wildly changing seasons, you’d think
i’d be in heaven, but after a couple years it’s disorienting. time flies.
it’s like i’m dead and in limbo, stuck in a dream i had as a kid, or saw
on t.v.

What was the best lesson learned from growing up in the DC area, that you
still use today?

if you don’t know how to do something, don’t let that stop you from doing
it: just get started and it’ll sort itself out… or it won’t… either
way, you’re learning (or at the very least you’re keeping yourself
busy)

I know you do a lot of work with film, are you still involved in working
with film?

I’ve been making films off and on (mostly off) for years. low-budget
d.i.y. affairs mostly. i love the medium, great way to tell a story.
recently i got a grunt-grip job working on a big production. it’s been
great to see how thousands of dollars can be spent on lighting and filming
what ultimately is a piece of shit… makes me feel o.k. about my
poorly-lit turds.

How about Graphic Design, do you still work with Dischord and other DC
labels?

I still do record covers for big and small labels: recently finished the
Traindodge “Wolves” album for Ascetic records, Fivespeed “Morning over
Midnight” for Virgin, and the new Joe Lally (fugazi) solo CD “There to
Here” for dischord.

(some of Jason’s design work)

What artform do you find most satsifying? Design, Music or Film? Why?

I spend most of my time thinking about and/or writing music, so
consequently it is the most frustrating and the most satisfying. film is
pure diversion for me: an expensive hobby. i have no expectations for the
results, and when they’re done, i don’t know what to do with them besides
stick them up on our website. very fun to make. design pays my rent, an
accomplishment the other two consistently fall short of achieving.

What is your writing process for Retisonic?

it varies, and has changed over the years to accommodate our bi-coastal
status, but in general: I’ll be fucking around on the guitar, strum something i like, and tape it on my little tape recorder. Then i move on, strumming something else and
promptly forgetting that first riff. a few weeks or months later, i’ll
listen through the entire cassette tape (by now full of 15 second song
ideas). if any ideas jump out, i’ll turn them into a song, re-record it as
a rough demo, then give it to the rest of the band. that demo will be our
starting point, and with joe’s and jim’s input, we shape up the full song.

What have you released so far and where can we get it?

the RETURN TO ME album and LEAN BEAT e.p.
U.S.A.: silverthree records

Europe: modern city records

LEVITTOWN e.p. (NEW!)
USA: Ascetic Records

Europe: modern city records

What have you been listening to most recently?

my dog as he demands to be walked. we’ve trained him not to bark in the
house, so he is testing out an entertaining variety of howls and
near-barks, trying to see what combination of canine vocalizations will
get me off my ass.

Any shows coming up?

hoping to do some east coast dates in the fall, followed by europe.

Are you a MAC guy till you die?

i heart macs

What’s Ian (MacKaye from Fugazi) like in real life? Is he made of gold? c’mon tell us..

he’s funny.

SONGS Bluetip - Join Us

Retisonic - Saturday

Jason Farrell - Second Guess Your Pharmacist

Bluetip - Castanet

Buy their albums here and here. Be Retisonic’s friend here.
Go check out Jason’s design portfolio and see his films at Retisonic’s site here.

Check out our other Interviews Here.