Interstellar Discussion, Part Four

Completely Yours

Cavicchi writes extensively about the fan’s ‘point of conversion,’ placing heavy emphasis on the narrative of the listener before becoming a fan. He draws from the two processes of conversion that William James outlines in his own work: self-surrender and volitional conversion (Cavicchi 1998:43). In self-surrender, ‘fans negatively describe their activity or attitude in the period before the actual ‘discovery’ of [the musician]...This indifference or negativity is then radically altered’ (1998:43). Cavicchi’s own conversion to Springsteen fandom was volitional – a disciplined ‘building up…of new habits’ (1998:43). Though he had enjoyed Springsteen’s music in the past, his marriage to an avid Springsteen fan inspired him to listen more closely to the entire Springsteen catalog, and from there he became a fan (1998:51). In both types of conversion to popular music fandom, exposure to an artist’s work almost always precedes a fan’s interest in the artist.

Outsider music, however, receives little exposure in popular (or unpopular) press. While outsider musicians receive occasional mention on indie music websites and in music publications, listeners often must actively seek out their music or even their story. Jandek fans will often relate that their conversion was facilitated by exposure – whether through a friend or self-discovery – to what I call a ‘canonical text,’ one of several legendary pieces of media that feature Jandek. In the case of Jandek, these include the book Songs In The Key of Z by radio personality Irwin Chusid, a documentary, several articles referencing his work in Spin Magazine, and a Corwood representative’s ‘surprise’ interview with a Texas journalist. Through these texts, readers are exposed to the ‘myth’ of the musician first, which then inspires them to seek out further information and, ultimately, the music.

A canon of references is in no way unique to outsider musicians, nor are canonical texts the only avenue for introduction to outsider music. Based on sheer lack of volume alone, outsider musicians’ canonical texts are often easier to identify. For fans of outsider musicians, then, obtaining information about the object of their devotion becomes critical to the formation of fan and artist identity. In the case of Jandek, lack of information not only produces myth, but also drives the endlessly deferred narrative and ultimately creates a particular identity of its own through silence.

I'll Sit Alone and Think a Lot About You

How does this discourse about the theory of outsider music fans take place in the context of the Jandek fan mailing list? Jandek fans engage in many common fan-specific rituals: writing to Jandek, visiting the P.O. Box that Jandek operates out of, listening to Jandek in specific ways and now, traveling to concerts. The discussions that fans participate in on the mailing list largely contribute to the myth that surrounds Jandek. Like many music fan communities, Jandek fans are not always fond of each other. Members of the mailing list exhibit what Hills defines as ‘imagined subjectivities,’ the ‘valued traits of the subject…only to those within a given community, while denigrating or devaluing the ‘improper’ subjectivity of those who are outside the community’ (Hills 2001:134). Jandek fans not only distinguish between themselves and the greater world, but also feel that as individual fans, many of them understand Jandek and his ‘true’ identity more than other fans.

Through these rituals, myths, and subjectivities, Jandek fans are ultimately responsible for creating the identity of Jandek that they perceive. By interpreting the lyrics of Jandek’s body of work and abrupt correspondence as ‘clues’ to uncovering a greater meaning, fans engage in a dialectic with the artist that becomes the ultimate point of contention for the mailing list community. As Jandek’s music surfaces from the same postal code with an intense regularity, the ‘true’ identity of Jandek becomes the dialectic in which fans place his work.

The scope of my 2006 study covered the list archives from its inception in 1997 to April of 2006, supplemented with questionnaires I distributed to the mailing list in March of 2006. As of April 2006, the Jandek mailing list was composed of 524 members, and I received 36 responses to my questionnaire. I also engaged in additional correspondence via email with 5 of the respondents. Of the list members, I was only able to identify five active female members over the course of nine years, and one of them responded to my questionnaire. My analysis will be divided up into several parts. After providing a brief biographical sketch of Jandek, I will present the canonical texts about him, and the fan’s reactions to these texts. Next I will present the bulk of my research: the activities that fans engage in, and how these activities construct the myth and identity of Jandek. I will then present the theory that the identity fans have constructed for Jandek is a direct reflection of their own identities as fans.

It is important to clarify that the primary activity of the Jandek community is engaging in discourse that seeks to define the identity of Jandek. While many other fan cultures engage in this activity, Jandek’s reclusive nature dictates that a bulk of the information about Jandek is largely speculative, and thus forms a narrative that largely feeds back into itself. As a result, my research will deal heavily with the narrative of the myth of Jandek, at times presenting a large amount of background information in conjunction with my analysis. Ultimately, the story of Jandek is the story of the fans.