Jasongs
Jasongs is basically the alter-ego of Jason Arvanites. Simply profound. Humble, and proud of it!
I’ve been making music since the age of 14. When I first had a go at the guitar, I thought all I had to do was press my fingers on those ridge-like thingies. Plunk, plunk!
“That can’t be right!” I thought to myself. But, I pressed on nonetheless. Tolerating the wretched twangs. Soon I discovered that the flat part of the neck, in between those railroad tie-like ridges, was where I should be applying pressure. (Insert Duh here.)
Aha! I said aloud to myself. So, I plucked. Even strummed. Belting out tunes familiar to my ears.. “Deh, deh, deh…deh, deh, deneah…Smoke on the Water…”
Next came an even bigger revelation. CHORDS!!! I picked up a Sixties songbook. Noticing little boxes over the lyrics that contained lines and dots, I soon put two and two together and voila! “Oooooooooh! So that’s how you play guitar!” After that you couldn’t stop me. I learned anything I could get my hands on. All my Sister’s Beatle records became my class room. (This was also where I learned how to harmonize.) Some other teachers were Credence Clearwater Revival, Queen, Billy Joel and anyone else that struck my fancy.
Of course, song writing was the next achievement to make. The very first song I ever wrote was, “I Caught the Rat Then” It was kind of a morbid tune. But it made sense to me at the time. A bunch of others followed, only to be stowed away for a future time.
My biggest personal inspiration came when I met the girl who would become my wife.
Elaine is originally from Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. So, it seemed logical that the first song I write for her be “Pompton Princess”. My newfound love spawned 4 or 5 other overtures. But I’m not much into all that mushy stuff. It was just a matter of time before I was back into some of the more zany, brainy compositions.
Lots of my songs seemed to lend themselves to a more lighthearted audience. None of this doom, gloom, depressed, lost love, funeral parlor junk for me. Give me a mindless, silly, rockin’ jaunt any day. It makes sense to me that the best audience for my music is children. Simple, innocent, accepting and fun loving as they are. Taking that concept and combining it with the fact that we could all learn something through this medium, and the clear evidence that I am just a big kid myself, I came up with “Brain Jam”.
This album is the start of a series of albums intended to celebrate the cerebellum, motivate the medulla, and coax the cortex. Music has power to do that. And is a great memory aid. The best part is, even if you don’t learn anything from this record, at least you had some fun along the way.
Have a good time. And keep that Brain Jammin’!
