Looking for the Oswald Cup: An Interview with the Technical Jed

This is the beginning of something new and fresh. If you're not familiar with my work, I wrote the 2010 book Keeping it Tight in the Old Dominion: A History of Virginia Rock Music. It collected interviews with as many notable rock bands from throughout the state as could be found. The purpose of this blog is to continue that route with new, comprehensive, full-length interviews with bands new and old detailing their careers and what being a rock band in the state of Virginia is really like. I'm kicking things off with Richmond's Technical Jed, an indie band popular in the '90s. Part of the burgeoning indie scene that was blowing up all over the state at the time, the Jed didn't last long but play shows here and there to a devoted fan base.

Pete Crigler: How did you become interested in music? 

Clancy Fraher: When I was young I heard my brother playing Jim Croce or David Bowie tunes on guitar. He's always been an inspiration for me musically and otherwise. I begged him to teach me guitar and he eventually showed me some chords. When I was in 8th grade I saw a guys from my high school live and was inspired by a band called Stalingrad at Southampton pool.  They were a couple of grades ahead of me and blew me away. 

Pete: How did the Jed come together and where do you think the band fit with the rest of the Richmond scene?

Clancy: My best friend Will and I started a band with Ricky Tubb in 9th grade was called the Xntrix. We started unceremoniously on the sidewalk behind St. Edwards school, just me and Will on guitars and Ricky Tubb. Eventually we found a singer and bassist and worked our way up to touring the east coast playing frat parties and college bars. We split up amicably around 1990. Some months later, Daniel Bartels hired me to work at an oriental rug store in Carytown where he was working. We realized quickly that we shared a taste for rock music and whisky. We were both trying to find an apartment so we ended up being roommates. I went out of town for travel and I left my new telecaster in an open tuning. In my absence, Daniel had started writing songs in that tuning. I was not very good at getting to work on time and had gotten got fired from the rug shop. The guy Daniel hired to replace me was David Bush. Since David played drums and Daniel played guitar, they started talking about who could rock harder, like you do. David knew a bassist- Steve Brooking- and asked Daniel if he wanted to play music with them. In turn, Daniel asked me if I wanted to join in. We started getting together and working on music in our friend's Oregon Hill basement. 

We were never terribly confident that we fit in the scene, sonically. So many talented bands have come from Richmond, how could we even compare. Our noise was nowhere near as sophisticated or well-executed as Mao Tse Helen, Honor Role, and Brainflowr was the most glorious noise live. We were remedial math by comparison. We tried to have fun and do our thing as well as we could. 

Pete: Tell me a bit about Brilliant records and what role it played in the band’s progress?

Clancy: We met David Moore through a mutual friend who worked with him at Peaches Records and Tapes. David had his own band- Waking Hours- and had figured out how to get singles pressed and distributed. He created Brilliant and released a single for another Richmond band called Aurora Paralysis. He saw Tech Jed perform and liked us. He asked if we'd be interested in making a split single with Twitch Hazel- the group who eventually became Fudge. Brilliant was distributed in the U.S. and Europe, which we thought seemed like a great opportunity, so we went for it. David was a great supporter of Richmond music and went on to release a number of records and cds of local music. He produced live events like Something Pretty Beautiful- a 3-day festival of indie rock that happened at Twisters and had what seemed like a thousand bands. The single became our business card. 

Pete: How would you describe the band’s sound?

Clancy: Our early stuff was eclectic pop with a hint of noise. After a few years, people compared us to Sonic Youth and Television. We tried to not limit ourselves, always starting practice pretending we didn’t have any songs. 

Pete: Tell me about working with David Lowery on Southern States and how the band signed with spinART?

Clancy: David had just moved to Oregon Hill with his friend Johnny Hickman to start Cracker. We met David at a mutual friend's party and eventually got him to produce some tunes for us at Turpentine Mill- the studio which evolved into Sound of Music. David's a really talented songwriter with a great ear for production. He was also generous with his knowledge of the music industry. We made a demo cassette with the two songs on it and Caroline Frye- our manager and then owner of Revolution Booking in Athens, GA- mailed them out to about 6 labels we had picked by flipping through our combined collection of indie rock singles. Joel Morowitz, artist development at spinART, was working on album art late one night and put our tape in. He liked it enough to reach out to us with an offer of a 2-record deal. Not a pile of money, but again a great opportunity.

Pete: Is it true that you had to bring different rhythm sections on the road due to dayjobs?

Clancy: Yes. By the time we got signed to spinART, Steve had established his own carpentry business and was not able to take off for months to tour without losing money and clients. Similarly, David was either working at a think tank or was working for FEMA and was not able to just leave town without negative consequences. David did tour the U.S. with us in 1995, hitting 36 states and Vancouver in about 8 weeks. Not long after that he told us he was done touring extensively. We kept doing week and two week tours, hiring a slew of touring drummers and bassists- mostly picking members of our favorite Richmond punk rock bands. John Gotschalk from Kneivels and Ricky Tubb, Becky and Bret from Morefire for burning people, and David Ramsden went out with us. I know I’m leaving somebody out.

Pete: What was it like recording with Rich Costey on the second album?

Clancy: SpinART found Rich, who had produced a Swirlies record and also mixed Pavement's Wowee Zowee. We thought that was impressive and decided to hire him. He came down to Richmond to hear the material we were writing and started pre-production plans. He brought us up to Boston to record basic tracks at Q-Division. We spent a week there and later Rich came down to Richmond for overdubs at Turpentine Mill. Cracker had just finished recording overdubs for their album the Golden Age and left their amplifiers and guitars for us to use. We were like kids in a candy shop.  

Pete: Is it true that the label essentially buried the record and is that what eventually led to the breakup?

Clancy: No. Daniel and I had grown weary of teaching our songs to new rhythm sections and made it clear to SpinART that we were not able to continue touring. This was weeks before we were due to begin touring the Oswald Cup. It was only after letting SpinART know of our decision that the label shelved our record. It made sense. Who would promote a record by a band that wasn't established and wouldn't be touring? They used the cd jewel cases for their other offerings. We played a 'final' show at 1416 Floyd Ave. The cops had come to tell us to stop playing during the opening band's set. We told the audience that we were planning to lock the doors before starting and if they wanted to leave, they better get out then. We started our set and could see the police flashlights behind us. David Bush got a ticket afterwards for disturbing the peace. 

Pete: How did you come to produce records for Drunk and what was it like in the nascent stages of Jagjaguwar?

Clancy: We were introduced to Rick Alverson by a mutual friend when he moved down to Richmond in March of 1994. We had an empty room in the house and were looking for a roommate, so Rick moved in. I started helping him record 4-track songs he had been working on. He started working on a project called Hovel and got me to record him. We liked working together so when he wanted to make the first Drunk record, he came to me. Jagjaguar was just starting out when Drunk played at Tokyo Rose, a restaurant in Charlottesville, where Darius Van Arman was booking bands while getting his degree at UVa. Darius liked the band and asked Rick if Jagjaguwar could release the record. 

Pete: Were you disappointed when the band broke up; were you satisfied with the amount of success the band achieved?

Clancy: I had mixed feelings at the time. We had a great run as far as we were concerned. I try not to get caught in shoulda coulda thinking. As much as we loved playing music, the touring rhythm section was never permanent and that’s what caused the band to stop touring. It wasn’t a personality thing just the repetition of teaching people the songs. I was impatient and sorta pulled the plug. We were writing music that we loved plying and loved got to see 

Pete: What have you been doing since the breakup of the band?

Clancy: After Tech Jed split up, I continued recording with Drunk. I also played for a year with Dynamic Truths. I moved to Chicago in 1998, got married and had kids. I still write and perform, but not as often as before. My wife, Kym, sings with me sometimes.

Pete: Do you keep in touch with the rest of the band and what are they all up to?

Clancy: Yes. We have reunited twice since we played that house party. In 2012 We played a fundraiser for WRIC Independent Radio. In 2015 we played another with Dynamic Truths and the Eccentrics at Beer is the Answer. We only play for WRIR fundraisers anymore lol.

Pete: What do you think the band’s place is in terms of Virginia music; What do you hope the band’s overall legacy will be?

Clancy: In terms of Virginia music, Tech Jed were a pretty good 2-guitar indie-rock band. We played what we liked and because we liked it.