It’s been nearly a decade-and-a-half since Ian Vanek co-founded the art-punk project Japanther. Though he’s best known for taking it to the skins as one-half of the Brooklyn duo, on January 13th, 2015, he released the LP, Land of the Low Tides, under the name Howardian. The moniker may ring unfamiliar even to some diehard Japanther fans, but it has descended from the lo-fi garage trio he started when he was just 12-years-old with his brother Matt and their friend Adam Hoffman. Land of the Low Tides features a cast of collaborators beyond just Matt and Adam, but the album is, essentially, Vanek’s first solo record.
Land of the Low Tides reflects the Pacific Northwestern vibes of Yakima, WA, where Vanek grew up. Similar to many Japanther records, Low Tides is dense, however, in a more textural way – like a Puget Sound rainforest rather than the blunt, impenetrable concrete jungle that is New York City. He spins familiar elements including distorted guitar and bass, murky drum machines, turntable scratches, spoken word clips, and a wide range of other samples to create a far more insular experience than Japanther’s hook-heavy, bottle rocket punk. As Howardian, Vanek doesn’t shout his disaffections either. Instead, he calmly mumbles through his internal explorations.
Vancouver Weekly spoke with Vanek about the origin of the name Howardian, the differences between Howardian the band and Japanther the art project, and his early encounters with the Frogs and Mudhoney as a youth in Washington.
Vancouver Weekly: Land of the Low Tides features a rotating cast of musicians and performers. Does that include your brother or Adam?
Ian Vanek: My brother Matt Vanek provided a great deal of inspiration for the record and some of legal council. He is also mixing and recording some songs for me in Mexico City this spring. He will likely appear on those songs. He also appeared on a bunch of Japanther records. So he is still heavily involved in my life. The beauty of Adam fronting a live show was that he wasn’t from a music scene. He had no limit as a performer. We performed with the Frogs in Seattle in the 90s at the Crocodile, and Mudhoney was there. Impressed by our reckless abandon, Mark [Arm] and Matt [Lukin] bought the seven-inch and asked us to open for them in Olympia. Being 13 or 14 at the time, we had our shit way out of whack but still agreed. On the day of the show, Adam was in some kind of detention or lock-and-key-something, and we couldn’t play. Some band did send us a cease and desist threat after seeing that show publicized. Wonder what ever happened to that?
VW: You’ve always referred to Japanther as an art project rather than a band. Do you view Howardian the same way? If not, what sets them apart in that regard?
IV: Howardian is my first and last band. A combination of two sides of my personality. Kind of like that book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. An overly confident, intelligent side and more brash, less calculated side moving things along at a rapid pace in semi-unison. Japanther was formed at an art school by two visual artists with little to no musical experience. This was my reason for talking about Japanther in that manner. Making art with guitars didn’t seems too different than clay or paint. So we sculpted a universe and set boundaries and told stories. With Howardian, all of that feels more authentic to who I am. Therefore, there’s little need for me to hide behind smoke screens. The whole thing is about meshing the two and breaking down walls.
VW: How has the work that’s attached to the Howardian name evolved, from the very beginning to the sporadic tracks that have appeared on the Selector Dub Narcotic and WantCompDeux compilations to the solo LP?
IV: These are the same intentions as the Howardian of the 1990s but with a whole lot more experience behind the songs. Therefore, it’s just much further down road but very much the same cart. The evolution includes my understanding of dance and rhythm and the importance of simplicity in constructs. While these might have been my intentions from the jump, I am now much closer to accomplishing what I hear in my head with Howardian. I love the artist Popcaan right now, and I could easily hear my self being influenced by him in the future as I’ve been listing to his record [Where We Come From (Mixpak, 2014)] non-stop.
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