Jeffrey Lewis

For other people named Jeffrey Lewis, see Jeffrey Lewis (disambiguation).

Jeffrey Lewis

Jeffrey Lewis (born November 20, 1975 in New York City) is an American anti-folk singer/songwriter and comic book artist.

Early life

Lewis attended State University of New York at Purchase and graduated in 1997 with a degree in Literature. His Senior Literary Thesis was on the comic book Watchmen, and was awarded third best Liberal Arts thesis paper of his graduation year. Jeffrey also lectured on the topic of Watchmen at the Institute For Cultural Studies at the University of Leuven, Belgium, in 2000, and the text of his lecture ("The Dual Nature of Apocalypse in Watchmen") was published in the book The Graphic Novel, edited by Jan Baetens, in 2001. Starting in 2000, he spent about 2 years living in Austin, TX, playing open mic nights, working odd jobs and distributing his autobiographical comics to local coffee shops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License

Music

Several of his musical influences have been acknowledged in his songs such as "Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror", "The History of The Fall" and "The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song", concerning the song by Leonard Cohen. Lewis' lyrics are complex and literate, often combining a nihilistic world-view with a hopeful message and sharp wit. Growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan Island his songs are also highly informed by his home surroundings, with songs name-dropping places such as Williamsburg, the FDR Drive and the East River.

Jeff is often regarded as part of the antifolk movement, first and foremost because he was one of the many bands and performers (including The Moldy Peaches, Major Matt Mason USA and Lach) who played in the 1990s at New York's Sidewalk Cafe and its biannual antifolk festivals and open mic events. His music also possesses certain traits of a perceived antifolk style - a downbeat self-deprecating humor, an off-kilter singing style, a mixture of acoustic and 'punk' songs which feature themes of everyday occurrences and feelings. Jeff himself does not mind the 'antifolk' tag: “I think it’s a cool title. The fact that no one knows what it means, including me, makes it kind of mysterious and more interesting than saying that you’re a singer/songwriter or that you play indie rock.”

After being signed by the British record label Rough Trade in 2001, Jeffrey Lewis released his first official album The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane.

In 2003 he released the album It's the Ones Who've Cracked That the Light Shines Through. His third record, City and Eastern Songs, was released in the UK in November 2005 and in the US in September 2006. All three of these albums also include his brother, Jack Lewis, who wrote and sang a number of the songs. In October 2007, Jeffrey released 12 Crass Songs, an album consisting entirely of songs written by the anarcho-pacifist British punk band Crass, reworked to match Jeffrey's antifolk style.

He has also performed and collaborated with Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches as well as Diane Cluck. Some of his hand-drawn comics appear in the cover art of his CD releases.

In June 2008 Jeffrey Lewis with his brother Jack were the support act for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks in Europe. Other well-known acts that Jeffrey has performed shows or whole tours with include Devendra Banhart, Jarvis Cocker, Black Dice, Adam Green, Thurston Moore, the Fall, Kimya Dawson, Beth Orton, Frank Black, the Fiery Furnaces, Daniel Johnston, Scout Niblett, the Mountain Goats, Dr. Dog, the Moldy Peaches, Cornershop, the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Wooden Wand, the Cribs, Danielson, Herman Dune, Los Campesinos, Giant Drag, Super Furry Animals and others.

The New York Times online Op-Ed page "Measure For Measure" hired Jeffrey Lewis to write four short essays on the topic of songwriting, which were published at intervals in Fall/Winter 2008.

Artwork

Jeffrey Lewis designed issue of Bearded

Jeffrey has his own comic book series titled 'Fuff' (formerly called 'Guff') available via Olive Juice Music.

In March 2009, he designed the cover to the sixth issue of Bearded magazine.

Comics

• Reflections on Tomorrow thus a yesterday Flower Shall Doom (1998)
• The Worldwide Comix Scavenger Hunt vol 1 (1998-2003)
• Reflections #2 (1998-2003)
• Trip to Key West (1999)
• 1999 European Travel Diary (1999)
• Jeff's Austin Diary (2001)
• Come to My Show (2004)
• Fuff # 1
• Guff # 2
• Guff # 3
• Fuff # 4
• Fuff # 5
• Fuff # 6
• Fuff # 7
• The Art of Touring (2007)
• Comic book press kit for Mountain Goats' album 'Heretic Pride (2008)

Discography

Albums/EPs

• When Madman Was Good - Version One (1997)
• When Madman Was Good - Version Two (1998)
• Indie-Rock Fortune Cookie (1998)
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999)
• The Only Time I Feel Right Is When I'm Drawing Comic Books (2000)
• I Am, Of Course, Glad (2000)
• Kimya Dawson And Jeff Lewis (2001)
• Songs From Austin (2001)
• Diane Cluck And Jeffrey Lewis (2001)
• The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane (2001)
• Guitar Situations: Musical Conduct (2002)
• AntiFolk Collaborations Volume 1 (2002)
• It's the Ones Who've Cracked That the Light Shines Through (2003)
• Jeffrey Lewis "Four Seasons" Box Set (2004)
• City and Eastern Songs (Jeffrey & Jack Lewis) (2005)
• Gas Money EP (2005) (split with Schwervon!)
• Tapes From The Crypt (2006)
• 12 Crass Songs (2007)
• City and Eastern Tapes (2008)
• 'Em Are I (Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard) (2009)

Singles

• The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song (2001)
• Back When I Was Four (2002)
• Graveyard/Spirit of Love (2002)
• No LSD Tonight/Don't Let The Record Label Take You Out To Lunch (2003)

Compilation Appearances

• Antifolk Vol. 1 (2002) - "You Don't Have To Be A Scientist To Do Experiments on Your Own Heart
• Call It What You Want This Is Antifolk (2002) - So Long (I'm Gonna Go Draw All Alone In My Shack)
• The Art Star Sounds Compilation (2005) - "Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror"
• Still Unravished- A Tribute to June Brides (2006) - Waiting For A Change
• Anticomp Folkilation (2007) - "The River" (with Diane Cluck)

External links

• The official Jeffrey Lewis website