Ever since his departure from Jellyfish at the peak of the band’s brief early-’90s run, Jason Falkner has relished his role as a self-made power-pop iconoclast. R. Stevie Moore’s championing of the DIY recording aesthetic stretches all the way back to the late ’60s, gaining underground momentum during the following decade’s punk explosion. Unlike Falkner, Moore has never been much for restraint, recording more than 400 albums. As one might surmise, new collaboration Make It Be casts Falkner as the editor/ringmaster of Moore’s wonky sonic circus—and the results should connect with fans of the former’s innate craftsmanship and the latter’s rampant eclecticism. Falkner and Moore will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.
Falkner: Ever since I can remember I was interested in things no one had heard of or told me about. I developed a strong suspicion of what came down the mainstream pipeline at a surprisingly young age so I’ve always been more interested in things that aren’t “sold” to you by someone or something (like a corporation). I get such a kick out of finding “the great lost classic” and have definitely stumbled onto quite a few. It used to be much harder to find these gems. You had to take a chance just because the cover looked cool or maybe you recognized the producer, a band members name or even the record label and so you bought it … without hearing it. Imagine that in 2017! The cool thing about that was you actually gave the record a fighting chance to become important to you. Give it many listens before moving on. It widened my scope of taste for sure. People’s reaction when I play these records? Always the same. “Why the hell haven’t I heard this before?”
