Jason Falkner

Having participated earlier in the West Coast neo-psychedelic outfits the Three O'Clock and Jellyfish, Jason Falkner struck out independently around 1996, delivering sharp power pop whose meticulous arrangements hinted at both his childhood classical studies and his contributions to the debut album from another classically inclined pop musician, Eric Matthews. Born in Los Angeles in 1968, Falkner absorbed the sounds of West Coast pop acts such as Love and Crosby, Stills & Nash during his formative years, yet he later pursued piano instruction with a classical future in mind. Punk and new wave records belonging to his sister eventually pulled him back toward pop, prompting him to pick up the guitar and perform in multiple high-school groups. Shortly after finishing school, he entered the Three O'Clock—central figures in the Los Angeles paisley underground—for their sixth album overall and first major-label release, the 1988 set Vermillion. Although the record held together well, it proved to be the band’s final effort, and the group disbanded shortly thereafter.

Within a year, old acquaintance Roger Manning persuaded Falkner to relocate to San Francisco and join his newly formed band Jellyfish alongside Chris Manning and Andy Sturmer. The ensemble earned notice in alternative circles and issued an agreeable first album, yet Falkner grew dissatisfied with his limited role as guitarist and departed after that single release. Despite vowing never to join another group, he soon aligned with the loose four-piece collective the Grays, whose members deliberately sidestepped conventional band constraints; the relaxed approach yielded only one album, 1994’s Ro Sham Bo.

Once more without steady employment, Falkner assisted Eric Matthews on the 1996 LP It’s Heavy in Here and at last secured a solo contract. Elektra Records issued his well-received debut, Presents Author Unknown, the same year. Working alone did not restrict him to his own material exclusively; he also co-wrote songs for Brendan Benson’s One Mississippi and contributed multiple instruments to Susanna Hoffs’ self-titled album. He maintained ties with Matthews by playing on the 1997 follow-up The Lateness of the Hour, then issued his own second solo album, Can You Still Feel?, in early 1999, co-produced by Nigel Goodrich. At that juncture Falkner left Elektra and shifted focus away from his own projects, taking on session duties for Chris Cornell and Soulwax while producing an album for the Brown Eyed Susans. His association with Goodrich led to a bass role with Air, both on the 2001 album 10,000 Hz Legend and in live performances. The position remained part-time, freeing Falkner to collaborate again with Brendan Benson on the 2001 release Lapalco and with Travis on The Invisible Band. Capping an active year, Spin Art put out the home-recording anthology Necessity: The 4-Track Years; the Japanese imprint Air Mail Recordings released the demo-and-cover collection Everyone Says It’s On; and Columbia Records issued Bedtime with the Beatles, an album of instrumental lullaby versions of Fab Four classics.

For the remainder of the decade Falkner juggled session work, production assignments, and personal recordings, appearing with Air, Beck, Aimee Mann, Lisa Loeb, Ben Lee, Gnarls Barkley, Glen Campbell, and, memorably, Paul McCartney, while producing albums for Anne Soldaat and Daniel Johnston. He released the Bliss Descending EP on Wreckchords Records in 2004 and I’m OK You’re OK on Noise McCartney Records in 2007, followed by a second set of instrumental Beatles covers, Bedtime with the Beatles, Pt. 2, on Adrenaline Records in 2008. Amid his crowded calendar he formed the synth-rock outfit TV Eyes with Jellyfish bandmate Roger Manning and Air drummer Brian Reitzell; their self-titled album appeared in 2006 solely in Japan, though Omnivore Records supplied a deluxe reissue in 2014. Falkner concluded the decade’s first ten years with his fourth solo album, All Quiet on the Noise Floor, again via Noise McCartney Records.

The opening half of the 2010s brought an intensive slate of sessions involving Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dwight Yoakam, Primal Scream, Blonde Redhead, Nikki Yanofsky, and longtime associate Beck, who finally convinced Falkner to join his touring band after years of overtures. The commitment reduced his session workload, although he produced an album for Syd Arthur in 2016 and worked with power-pop veteran Emitt Rhodes on the long-awaited comeback Rainbow Ends. Around the same period he partnered with the far more prolific R. Stevie Moore on a collection of collaborations, reworked Moore classics, and one new Falkner composition; the resulting album, Make It Be, appeared on Bar/None Records in early 2017.