About Me/Writing Portfolio
Andrew Earles
http://twitter.com/andrewearles
Mailing Address:
Andrew Earles
PO Box 820912
Memphis, TN 38182
I am a writer based in Memphis, TN. My first book, Husker Du: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock is in stores NOW.
My publisher is Voyageur Press (a wing of Quayside Publishing) and the book clocks in at 288 pages, and much of the photo section contains previously-unpublished images. The hardback is in its second printing and has sold over 10,000 copies worldwide, while the paperback is due for publication in October 2012.
I had a speaking engagement at Temple University on November 9th, 2011.
I hosted a discussion about my book at SXSW 2011 and here is a link to the event’s description and streaming audio:
http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MP990204
For most browsers, the audio of the entire Q & A session will be at the bottom of the page.
On March 25th, I was interviewed on WREC TV’s (Memphis’ CBS affiliate) “Live @ 9″ program, an hour-long show that profiles local and visiting talent. Essentially, this was to promote my two-hour book signing and discussion the following day at Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Memphis’ best and biggest independent book store. http://www.daviskidd.com/Default.aspx
In December of 2010, I did two radio interviews about Husker Du: The Story… The first was with Minnesota Public Radio and the second with good friend and colleague Tom Scharpling for the December 21 airing of his Best Show on WFMU. The archive is here:
Because I do not want to highlight only positive press about my book, I encourage a google search for interested parties. A page dedicated to the book along with every review (and my response to each) is now in the works for andrewearles.com
Elsewhere in the land of lengthy, professionally-bound texts, I wrote twoessays (or essay-length reviews) for Phil Sutcliffe’s AC/DC: High-Voltage Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Ultimate Illustrated History … a economy coffee-table tome (a “side-table” book?) in which I keep the company of Ian Christe, Martin Popoff, and longtime colleague and close pal, David Dunlap Jr. Keeping with my perhaps predictable fascination with the underdog, the consecutive albums, “Flick of the Switch” and “Fly on the Wall” are my objects of examination. You can order it HERE!Over the past six years, I have contributed writing, editing, or general creative consultation (or all three) to six other books. They are Lost in the Grooves (Routledge, 2004), The Overrated Book (Last Gasp, 2006), The Rock Bible (Quirk, 2008), Mock Stars: Indie Comedy & the Dangerously Funny (Speck Press, 2008), Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin: The Illustrated History of the Heaviest Band of All Time (Voyageur Press/MBI, 2008/2010 hardback/paperback), Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock (Voyageur Press/MBI, 2009), and AC/DC: High Voltage Rock and Roll: An Illustrated History (Voyageur Press/MBI Publishing, 2010).
On the subject of the late Jay “Reatard” Lindsey, I wrote a ton of copy during his lifetime, and two pieces since his passing. The latter:
and….
This lengthy tribute for Pitchfork, which ran on the one-year anniversary of his death.
In early 2009, I wrote The Vice Guide to Festivals, a 12,000-word, 24-page pocket-book that was supposedly distributed throughout SXSW 2009, but is currently available in all of its messy, negative, and possibly pointless glory if one really wants to visit THIS PAGE.
Beginning in 1999 with some reviews for The Memphis Flyer, I have gone on to write for Chunklet Magazine, Decibel Magazine, Devil In The Woods/(DIW) Magazine, Dusted Magazine, Magnet Magazine, Memphis Magazine, Harp Magazine, The Onion A/V Club, Paste Magazine, Scram Magazine, Sound Collector, Spin Magazine, Still Single, The Baltimore City Paper, The Knoxville Voice, The Philadelphia City Paper, The Philadelphia Independent, The Philadelphia Weekly, The Washington City Paper, Verse Chorus Verse Magazine, Vice Magazine, WFMU’s LCD Magazine, While You Were Sleeping Magazine, Econoculture.com, McSweeneys.net, Perfect Sound Forever, and Pitchfork Media.
Much of my writing for these publications is archived on their respective sites, but I’ve made a short list of personal favorites that represent nicely (in my opinion). Otherwise, I do not want to “censor” what constitutes my portfolio / resume for personal benefit, and I stand behind anything that carries my byline. Or rather, I can add a little charm and humor to the ones I can no longer dance with, if approached accordingly. Start with The Memphis Flyer, Paste Magazine, Magnet Magazine, Spin Magazine, Vice Magazine, and The Onion A/V Club (so long as readers consider comments sections to hold zero validity or cultural worth).
Chunklet Magazine
I’ve written a book’s worth of content for Henry Owing’s magazine, but my favorite is this one:
http://aseasonedtaste.blogspot.com/2010/10/sarge.html?zx=f1bd69cb8d6c1de0
The Memphis Flyer
My first and longest-running free-lance outlet. I’ve written 100+ pieces for Memphis’ alt-weekly, including several cover stories, as well as my only published examples of food writing. All of it can be read or referenced via the following link…
http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/ArticleArchives?author=1104384
Vice Magazine
http://www.viceland.com/int/guide_festivals_us_09/htdocs/festival_intro-100.php
(online version of 25-page, 12K word-count pocket-sized book, distributed to unknown locations in March/April 2009 (aside from SXSW)
http://www.viceland.com/int/v15n10/htdocs/records-142.php
Just like the sub-head reads, 21 interviews in two days, the second of which also happened to be when I had the first signs of acute appendicitus. The offending organ ruptured less than 18 hours after the first pain was felt, and the especially bad case put me in the hospital for another four days. Full disclosure: I came home from the hospital, hobbling with a cane and with a lower abdomen full of 1/2″ to 1″ openings respectively for the camera, grabber, scalpel, suction, light, snippers, and whatever I’m missing…placed on the ends of long metal rods and pushed into my body to deal with spreading infection and an appendix that was, in the words of the horse’s ass of a date-rapist who operated on me, “fucking nasty, bro”
The following was written in my 20-year-old voice, as per my editor’s request. This was surprisingly difficult due to many variables. The theme centers around my very real affection for the music of The Thinking Fellers Union Local 282.
http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n10/htdocs/mother-of-all-strangers-164.php
OUTSIDE OF THE WRITING WORLD
EARLES AND JENSEN PRESENT: JUST FARR A LAUGH…VOL. 1 & 2 (THE GREATEST PRANK PHONE CALLS EVER!) (2CD/26-pg booklet) & EARLES AND JENSEN PRESENT: JUST FARR THE RECORD (LP-only)
On May 6th, 2008, Matador Records released “Earles and Jensen Present: Just Farr A Laugh Vol. 1 and 2 (The Greatest Prank Phone Calls Ever!)” Packaged in a 2CD/25-page booklet format, it now stands as one of the, if not THE, worst-selling title in the history of the label. Nonetheless, it is a unique and epic project that will always be a source of great pride as a personal accomplishment, one that I carried out with Jeffrey Jensen, my partner in comedy since 2000. Here are some pertinent links:
Matador Records Earles and Jensen BIO (written by me) and ORDERING INFORMATION:
http://www.matadorrecords.com/earles_and_jensen/biography.html
In May of 2009, Matador released Earles and Jensen Present: Just Farr the Record, a vinyl-only document of “outtakes” and calls that didn’t make the cut for the 2CD/booklet released one year earlier. This LP was pressed in an edition of 324. As of this writing (April 2011), it remains in print and can be ordered from the Earles and Jensen section of the Matador online store.
It should be mentioned that the first disc in the JFAL Vol 1 & 2 set is a reissue of the original Just Farr a Laugh CD, created 2000/2001, and self-released by Jeff and myself in 2002. We pressed 1000, and they were eventually sold out by 2005. This release also contained an inordinate amount of liner notes, but nothing on the scale of the Matador release.
TOM SCHARPLING’S THE BEST SHOW ON WMFU
From 2001 until late 2006 and with great frequency, I performed radio bits on Tom Scharpling’s The Best Show on WFMU. As an extention of this, I have several bits on the Best of the Best of the Best of the Best of the Best Show on WFMU CD. For more info, visit the show’s archives. All in all, I called into The Best Show on WFMU as 30 or more (mostly repeated) characters of varying hilarity and quality. One day I’ll sit down with the archives and make a long list, then go back and transcribe every last word of dialogue.
THE CIMARRON WEEKEND
Yes, I bare-backed the predictable zine route into free-lancing. The Cimarron Weekend is the publication that I “founded” (“This guitar thing isn’t working out and putting out records has become a perpetual babysitting session”) in 1996 with a debut issue comprised of five stapled pages and absolutely no images or visual appeal. Four similarily-produced issues followed until colleague and long-time friend David Dunlap Jr. stepped into the co-editor/co-publisher seat and CW graduated to cover prices, real distribution, glossy covers for two issues, and a glossy FULL-COLOR cover for what became the CW’s swansong. That was 1998. The pre-Dunlap era (four issues that physically and thematically resembled the first) will probably never be exhumed for the ten remaining CW fans. Trying to get all of this into a format that can be enjoyed again.
RESORT THEORY ENTERTAINMENT (1995 – 1999)
As hinted at in the previous Cimarron Weekend description, I’ve tried my hand at releasing records. Twice. Active from 1995 until 1998, Resort Theory Entertainment was my initial micro-label/exercise-in-futility. Once again, Mr. Dunlap was involved. In fact, he is responsible for releasing what is perhaps the best-known Resort Theory title, the lone LP by The Clears, a band made up of Alicja Trout, Shelby Bryant, and Brad Pounders. Steve Shelley’s Smells Like Records did the CD. It was the final title to carry the Resort Theory name. The Resort Theory Entertainment discography contains six 7″s, a CD-only release, and the previously-mentioned full-length LP by The Clears.
FAILED PILOT PRODUCTIONS (2000 – 2008)
In the summer of 2000, I released a 7″ of “found” songs titled “Killed By Absurdity Vol 1″…this was the label name that appeared on the sleeve. Two years later, when I joined forces with Jeffrey Jensen to create and self-release the first Just Farr a Laugh CD, the FPP name was continued, and soon became the name of the website we had set up for the selling and promotion of the CD.
MISC
As of April 2011, I shopping six different book proposals to interested parties. Are you an interested party? Please e-mail me at andrewearles@gmail.com
Andrew Earles Productions is unofficially semi-active as my THIRD attempt to operate a micro-label for the purpose of releasing records. The first release will be the ”Mindpants” b/w “Hole In The Wall” 7″ by NYC’s greatest leftfield pop band, Fly Ashtray. Look for it in May or June of 2011!
Want me to write something? Care to host one of my entertaining book-related presentations (monologue, Q&A, book signing)? Friends, fans, enemies, future employers and current colleagues should e-mail me at the address below.
A heartfelt thanks goes out to those who have supported my endeavors at any point and in any capacity since 1995. Every sentiment counts…don’t hold back: andrewearles@gmail.com
