Adam Voith is a writer, editor and no doubt the booking agent for a lot of your favourite bands…
Yesterday Paste Magazine published his brilliant piece “Getting Fired By Songs: Ohia, Or: The impossible math of early 2000s indie rock touring”
Don’t hold that against him though, As Jason’s biographer Erin Osmon pointed out on Twitter; “Molina fired or threatened to fire nearly everyone he cared about. Consider yourself anointed.”
You can read Adam’s Paste article here
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We asked Adam if he would answer a few questions about his time working with Jason as a sort of companion piece to his original article and he very kindly obliged.
Static & Distance: When did you first cross paths with Jason Molina and how did you initially start working together?
Adam Voith: I became aware of Songs: Ohia in college, when the Swanson brothers talked about the music around Bloomington. I first met Jason not long after, when he had moved to town. He was working as a barista for a small coffee bar inside a record store called Roscoe’s. He had a black leather jacket on, which caused signal confusion for me. I couldn’t square the outfit with the songs I’d heard. I was only a fan of Songs: Ohia while in I was still in Bloomington, not an employee. After I graduated and moved to Seattle, I started working at Trey Many's Aero Booking, which represented Songs: Ohia. That’s how I became the agent for the band.
S&D: Your Paste piece is a fascinating insight into some of the minutiae and hard realities of early 2000s indie touring. Fluctuating audience numbers (and questionable maths skills) aside, can you remember what those early Songs: Ohia shows were like in terms of Jason's performances and his stage presence?
AV: When this music came into my life, I had not yet fucked with almost anything that sounded like it, including Will Oldham/Palace, which is what every single person wanted to tell me Molina sounded like. I didn’t have any listening history with folk music or the classic singer/songwriters. I was into limited Christian Rock until making a hard right turn into punk where I marinated happily for years. Then, here’s this dude playing a four-string guitar, sorrow singing his face off. It was totally new to me. I’ve got some photos of shows, and Jason’s sitting in a chair. He often had a hat pulled down low. The performance was really just his voice and those lyrics.
SD: As someone who worked with Jason in some of the earlier stages of his career, how do you feel now about his subsequent legacy and the way it has continued to evolve in the years since his passing? Do you hear his influence in some of the musicians you work with now, or more broadly the music you listen to?
AV: Many of the artists I represent love Molina. Lately, I’ve also been stoked to see his songs and, in particular, his lyrics being kicked around by contemporary fiction writers and poets. He's beloved in literary circles, and I think that would please him. As to my own listening habits, I know so much more about music now, and I can see Molina’s music as part of a lineage, but I’m glad I didn’t know that when I found him. I was a new snobby punk, and probably would have turned up my nose with the broader context.
SD: Lastly, can you leave us with a favourite song of Jason's? Any particular reason why?
AD: Not gonna get cute. It’s "Farewell Transmission” and it’s because that's one of the best songs ever by anyone. If you want a deep cut favorite, I’d say “Our Republic” from the first album.
You can follow Adam’s own writing here: