Portrait: Alan Smithee

Alan Smithee - wait a minute - isn't that he the director of that corny Hollywood movie? Exactly! He has over 50 movies in a multitude of genres to his name, which sounds like a legendary career. But careful, every one of them is incredibly bad! Alan Smithee is, in fact, a pseudonym which has been used for years by directors for whom their own films were too embarrassing to put their names in the credits. And now a young band from Los Angeles bearing the same name has appeared to rehabilitate the honor of the mysterious Alan Smithee with the aid of their music.

"We gave ourselves this name because we want the name to be associated with good music instead of bad films," says lead singer David Jonelis. Alan Smithee play offensive but catchy rock music with an extremely ambitious and self-confident character. One hears in their music that they are aiming high - about like their great idols U2 or Matchbox Twenty.

Of course Jonelis also knows that they still have a long way to go. After having bad experiences with earlier bands, the 25-year-old is quite confident of his newest project. "I can only hope that I will be able to achieve the superstar dreams that I have always strived for with these guys on my side. For me, that would be the sweetest thing of all." Nevertheless, he and his four musicians still can't even live from their music. Singer David works in a law office for the entertainment branch and the others are music teachers, web designers or car parts salesmen.


Since their founding in 2002, Alan Smithee has played over a hundred concerts, published a live album and then brought out the debut "Wash Away". The record, which the band recorded in a studio in Hollywood is convincing in its driving rock songs and a clear, beautifully produced sound. The songs range between pop and rock. Distinctive hooks and refrains to sing along with are guaranteed. Dominant, driving drums generally ensure a lively tempo while the two guitars complement each other harmonically to weave a rocking carpet. Occasionally they grow to a stormy riff and take the center stage but they never become insistent. The music begs to be played on the radio.

The solid, deep vocals hover lightly above the music but always stay in contact with it. Sometimes with a dose of pathos, then solemnly melancholy, always with demanding anger, David Jonelis sings of lost love ("How does it feel"), what it's like when no one believes in you ("Who the hell") or about the times when you really feel lousy ("Wash Away") - classic rock themes for a sound which is as proven as it is solid. The song "California Calling", a folksy homage to the home of the five Californians, takes things a bit more slowly: "Wish I could taste it, the ocean air I knew, guess I'll get wasted and raise a glass to you." Singer David wrote the song one morning at five o'clock, just before returning home from a tour of the East Coast. "I grabbed my guitar and wrote the song in five minutes. It was a situation in which the song practically wrote itself."

What else needs to be said about the record? "The first edition of 1,500 copies is sold out," reports Jonelis happily, and a new supply has been ordered. The band is very productive; just a few months after publishing their debut album, they had already recorded two new songs. The tireless live performances have paid off; their tours of the west and east coasts of the USA have earned Alan Smithee a loyal following. All that's missing is a recording contract, and the Californians have been looking for one for a while.
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