Jay Reatard Understands Why His Band Quit

For garage-punk ruffian Jay Reatard, 2009's been filled with huge highs, harsh lows and utter, complete misunderstandings. For every success (his critically acclaimed solo album Watch Me Fall), there was an often-surprising roadblock (Jay's backing band walked out on him in October) and a few WTF moments (two fans attacking him onstage at a recent Austin, Texas show) thrown in for good measure.

As the year's end means time to start anew, Reatard talked to Spinner to clear up some of 2009's most confusing bits of news before he takes a self-imposed few months off to relax, clear his head and, as he said, "focus on Jay Lindsay for a minute, do boring s---, renovate my house, get the personal side of my life straight."

Though the Memphis singer can be a bit standoffish, few expected his bandmates to up and quit this fall, least of all Reatard. His immediate response -- sending off a "Band quit! F--- them!" message on Twitter -- was gobbled up by the blogosphere, interpreted as Reatard's true colors. Not so, he said.

"We'd just gotten home from a really hard tour," Reatard says. "They called and said 'We're on your porch and need to talk to you.' I knew that voice. I asked 'Are you quitting? Just choose yes or no.'"

The reason? The road.

"It was never supposed to go on so long. It's a solo band. One tour turned into another for two-and-a-half years, pretty much nonstop. You get caught up in what's comfortable. Things that are comfortable aren't always healthy," Reatard says. "But of course those guys are still my friends."

As for that notorious Tweet, Reatard says, "That's what Twitter is for -- getting blackout drunk at 6 in the morning and typing some dumb s--- about your friends."

And really, who hasn't texted or Tweeted when a wee bit inebriated? It's bloggers, Reatard says, that need a sense of humor, and more than that, to remember the importance of the music, not the man.

"I don't enjoy the idea that you have to like people to like the music they make," he says. "I don't see a Pollock on the wall and think 'I bet that Jackson dude was great to hang out with.' I look at it and I'm completely engulfed. It doesn't even matter who made it. It's an object to be enjoyed or not. You'd think people who are into independent music, who supposedly have independent thoughts, would be above [gossip]. What's the difference between Pitchfork and Weekly World News? It's usually just sensationalized crap."

Reatard's beef isn't unfounded -- he's certainly been dealt his fair share of personal attacks, including death threats through, of all places, Twitter.

"Sometimes I'll get threats from people in the crowd. I think I have a lot of sociopaths in the audience. I don't get it-you paid, you came, you obviously wanted to be here," Reatard says. "Then you get on Twitter and say you'll smash my head with a brick? The creeps come out, man."

Hopefully the creeps will give it a rest for awhile-Reatard says he's ready for his well-deserved time off.

"I might go to Puerto Rico for awhile and sleep on the beach," said Reatard. "When I restart, I'll have a clean start. I want to have no ideas bouncing around my head. I'm going to start from scratch."