← ABcentric Operator A · personnel file
Station A · Lansing area

Jason Anderson

Songwriter, singer and the other half of ABcentric.

Jason is always writing new music and brings the songs that fit to ABcentric. He brings in demos written in Cubase, then reworks them with Marc, adding bass and guitar.

Role
Songwriting, vocals, keys, guitar, bass
Programs in
Cubase
Go-to guitar
2001 Ibanez RG550
Other projects
THX421, Vesper Front
Jason in a cap and glasses playing a synth in a warmly lit home studio with racks, guitars and a Rush Moving Pictures poster
AT THE KEYS · home studio
Origin signal · before the guitar

On the board

Just before he picked up a guitar, Jason was always on a skateboard. His dad let him and his friends build a half pipe in the backyard in Redford, Michigan.

Young Jason with shaggy blond hair in a blue tie-dye T-shirt, standing in a garage doorway with his foot on a striped skateboard
BEFORE THE GUITAR · on the board
Transmission log · Jason's timeline

On the record

  1. Skateboarding

    Always on a skateboard, right up until he picks up the guitar, skating the half pipe he and his friends built in his dad's backyard in Redford.

  2. The Roaches

    First band. Plays guitar in the Roaches, a punky high school band raised on the Sex Pistols and the like.

  3. Behind the kit

    Plays drums in a hardcore band. They turn out to be a bit too crazy for him, so he quits days before their first gig at Blondie's on 7 Mile in Detroit.

  4. Abberant, then Ann Arbor

    Plays bass in Abberant, covering Nirvana, Ministry, Smashing Pumpkins and more, alongside original songs influenced by those bands plus some punk and the Beatles. He wants to play out, but the rest of the band doesn't want to do much, so in 1995, at 20, he moves out on his own to Ann Arbor.

  5. Meets Marc

    After a Siouxsie and the Banshees concert in Detroit. Both turned out to be regulars at City Club.

  6. DēLIEN

    Starts the Detroit industrial band DēLIEN with Pete Greko, recording first at Pete's West Bloomfield studio. Pete handles much of the sound structure and the chaotic programming, while Jason sticks to the melody and harmony of the songs. Jason sings, writes most of the music and does the song programming, first on Pete's Korg 01/W FD and then on his own Kurzweil K2VXS, which became the band's main sequencer. That work includes the debut album ALH84001. Plays the Labyrinth, the Shelter, the Magic Stick and Hamtramck's clubs.

  7. Biggest show

    DēLIEN plays its biggest show yet, sharing the bill with Hanzel und Gretyl.

  8. ALH84001

    DēLIEN releases its debut CD, ALH84001.

  9. Headlining, then back to school

    DēLIEN starts headlining shows and plays with Apoptygma Berzerk. Then Jason quits the band to go back to school.

  10. Married, and writing again

    Marries Carrie and finishes school. Starts a new job and begins writing again, working with a couple of female vocalists.

  11. Tri-County Blues

    Starts playing bass with Tri-County Blues. His first son, Max, is born.

  12. Searching for the sound

    Plays with several bands, trying to find the sound he is looking for.

  13. Elemental

    Joins the space rock band Elemental. His second son, Miles, is born.

  14. Surrounded by Sound

    Elemental changes, and Jason and Joe start Surrounded by Sound. Jason plays guitar and keys and sings, and the band debuts "My Love," a song that later lands on ABcentric's Phase Three.

  15. ABcentric

    Starts recording with Marc under the name ABcentric, beginning work on Phase Three at Marc's Playroom.

  16. Phase Three

    ABcentric's twelve-track album, written with Marc and recorded at Marc's Playroom.

  17. New album and Vesper Front

    Writing the new ABcentric record from songs started during COVID, and launching a new shoegaze project, Vesper Front.

Field recordings · in the booth

Behind the mic

Jason in headphones and a backwards cap singing hard into a condenser mic behind a pop filter, foam panels behind him
TRACKING VOCALS
Jason reading a lyric sheet at the mic, the War Zone chorus visible on the page
WAR ZONE · lyric sheet at the mic
Black-and-white photo of Jason in headphones, glasses and a Detroit cap playing an acoustic guitar
WRITING ON ACOUSTIC
Jason in headphones tracking an acoustic guitar into a mic on a stand, with two more acoustics leaning on the desk and an open case on the floor
TRACKING ACOUSTICS · MARC'S PLAYROOM
Home base · the studios

Home studios

Jason's Brighton studio: a large analog mixer between two studio monitors and a blue lava lamp, facing a window into a brick-walled live room with a drum kit and a 5150 amp
BRIGHTON, MI · before the Allen & Heath
Jason holding a white Rickenbacker-style guitar in his 2006 home studio, with a DēLIEN ALH84001 poster, a Prince poster and a Cure poster on the walls
JASON'S STUDIO · 2006
A smiling toddler in a black T-shirt sitting on the studio chair with his hands on a keyboard
SON MAX AT THE KEYS · 2006
Jason sitting on the living room floor with a red Fender guitar, his son Max on his lap holding the neck and his son Miles laughing beside a Line 6 amp
JASON, MAX & MILES · 2010
Live transmissions · on stage

Out in front of people

Jason in sunglasses playing a white bass under a tent at an outdoor show, a drummer to his left
ON BASS · outdoor show, June 24
Jason in a cap and glasses playing a natural-wood bass on a club stage, a white bass on a stand behind him and an inflatable pool raft overhead
ON BASS · club stage
Tri-County Blues group photo: four band members posed by a pool table and organ, Jason on the right holding a bass
TRI-COUNTY BLUES · the band
Tri-County Blues live on a small bar stage: keys, a singing guitarist, a drummer, and Jason on a white bass
TRI-COUNTY BLUES · Jason on bass
Jason on stage with Elemental at a Roland keyboard stacked over a Kurzweil K2VX, with a drummer and two long-haired guitarists beside him
ELEMENTAL · on keys, c. 2009
Jason in glasses under red stage light, hand on a Roland keyboard stacked over a Kurzweil K2vx
ELEMENTAL · c. 2008
Jason behind a mic stand and keyboard in warm stage light, a long-haired guitarist with a red guitar in the foreground
ELEMENTAL · on stage
Jason singing at the mic with a yellow Les Paul, flanked by a long-haired guitarist and a bassist on a club stage
SURROUNDED BY SOUND · 2009
Jason in glasses singing at the mic with a yellow Les Paul
SURROUNDED BY SOUND · vocals and guitar
Jason behind a Roland keyboard stacked over a Kurzweil K2vx, two guitars on a stand in front
SURROUNDED BY SOUND · keys
Six strings · at home

Guitars and couches

Jason on a couch playing a sunburst 1935 Gibson L-50 archtop, a small amp on the cabinet behind him
1935 GIBSON L-50
Jason sitting cross-legged on a patterned rug with a sunburst 1975 Guild D-25 acoustic
1975 GUILD D-25
Jason's dial · what he tunes in to

Frequencies

The CureDepeche ModeSmashing PumpkinsThe BeatlesLushMy Bloody ValentineSwervedriverVan HalenBlack SabbathJimi HendrixCurveWilcoPrinceMiles DavisWynton MarsalisMoevSloan