Half Japanese

Half Japanese
Half Japanese at the SXSW Festival, March 2008
Background information
Origin	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Genres	Punk rock, indie rock, experimental rock, lo-fi
Years active	1975–present
Labels	50 Skidillion Watts, Safe House, Alternative Tentacles
Associated acts	Jad Fair, the Velvet Underground, Moe Tucker, John Zorn, Mark Kramer, the Tinklers, Daniel Johnston, Sonic Youth, Nirvana
Members	Jad Fair
Past members	David Fair Mark Jickling John Sluggett Howard Wuelfing Don Fleming Jay Spiegel Jason Willett Gilles Reider Henry Beckmeyer Rick Dreyfuss John Dreyfuss Moe Tucker Kramer

Half Japanese is an art punk band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair around 1975, sometime after the family's relocation to Uniontown, Maryland. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out-of-tune, distorted guitar. Both Fair brothers sang, although over time Jad moved into the frontman role. The band members are John Sluggett - guitar, Gilles-Vincent Rieder - drums, Jason Willett - bass, Mick Hobbs - guitar, and Jad Fair - vocals and guitar.

Jad is well known for playing an untuned electric guitar. After 30 years, he still does not play in any traditional manner; in the documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King he states that "you do need cords to plug the guitar in but that's pretty much it."

Their lyrics often deal with monsters and the supernatural (especially as influenced by "creature feature" and scifi movies), in addition to more conventional themes, such as young love. They have stated that all their songs are either "love songs or monster songs."

The band released their first single Calling All Girls in August 1977, followed by a triple album 1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts that gave them a near-instant cult status. It is possible they were the first band to begin with a triple album.

The band played and recorded as a duo until the early 1980s when they began incorporating additional members into the group: Mark Jickling (guitar and vocals) and brothers Ricky and John Dreyfuss (drums and saxophone). Since that time, dozens of musicians have come and gone under the Half Japanese banner, including Howard Wuelfing, Don Fleming, Jay Spiegel that are both from the band Velvet Monkeys, Shockabilly bass player and Shimmy Disc impresario Mark Kramer and many, many others. Jad is the only member who has been with Half Japanese from the beginning. David Fair eventually left the band in the early 1980s to focus on his family. He has continued to make guest appearances with the band from time to time.