TAYLOR HAIGLER '08
Jason Schwartzman definitely has solid indie cred. He has starred in many quirky Wes Anderson films, like Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited, and when he was just 14, he founded the rock band Phantom Planet. He is a cousin of Sofia Coppola and his brother Robert Schwartzman is the lead singer for Rooney. Last year he started his own indie rock solo band called Coconut Records. Recently, Nylon magazine called him, “the coolest guy in Hollywood.”
He can act, he can sing, he can play the guitar. This should come as no surprise as Jason comes from a family full of Hollywood royalty. His mother Talia Shire Coppola, was an actor and his father Jack Schwartzman was a producer. He is the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and cousins with the Coppola offspring and Nicolas Cage. His stepbrother is John Schwartzman, cinematographer of Armageddon, Seabiscuit and Pearl Harbor.
Jason is both an actor and a musician. He has had starring roles in Shop Girl, I Heart Huckabees and Marie Antoinette. Before he began acting, he was the drummer and songwriter for Phantom Planet but he gave it up to pursue his acting career. (The band is well known for their song “California”, which is the theme song for The O.C.) Jason’s upcoming movies are The Mark Pease Experience and The Fantastic Mr.Fox. Jason composes music for many films, has been in a music video for Puff Daddy’s rock remix of “It’s All About the Benjamins” and in 2005 he contributed to Ben Lee’s album “Awake Is the New Sleep”.
Coconut Record’s album “Nighttiming” is Jason’s latest project: his own indie rock album. Amazingly, he is the sole songwriter of every song and he plays all of the instruments himself! The general sound is clean and crisp and reminds listeners of artists like Albert Hammond Jr., Matt Costa, Death Cab for Cutie and The Stars. Schwartzman’s voice is sweet yet melancholy. It is folksy and his songs sound like more poppy versions of Bright Eyes’ music. Unfortunately the album is very short, clocking in around 30 minutes. Hopefully we’ll get a longer album from him in the future!
One can purchase the CD from the Young Baby Records website. The best part about it all is: he personalizes each album with a Polaroid photo that may range from a picture of his foot, to his house, to a picture of his dog. So, given the personalization of each album, delivery runs slowly (Jason apologizes… and how can you blame him for it). It can also be found on iTunes or can be purchased from http://www.thinkindie.com/.
Additional notes: Jason is dating LA fashion designer Brady Cunningham. He was dating his childhood friend, Zooey Deschanel, for several years until they broke up in 2005 (Zooey has a new CD out called “She & Him”) Jason has a bulldog named arrow and a cat named extra mayo.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Jason Shwartzman Does it All
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I found your post through Google Alerts (Coconut Records), and I gotta say, great post about Jason Shwartzmann. However, technically Jason didn't play all the instruments on his album, he had friends play instruments whenever they would come over. There's a lot of people who helped with the album, including Zooey Deschanel who sings on two of the tracks and Kirsten Dunst who sings on one of the tracks. And then, of course, his brother Robert who sings on "Easy Girl".
But that doesn't mean he doesn't have the talent to do all of it himself, because he definitely does.
Overall, love the post and love to see someone else interested in Jason Shwartzmann and his many talents.
Me too, i found it through google alerts. I just can say that I adore Jason. He rocks, he is the best.
Taylor,
I had no idea you were such a Schwartzman fan. kudos to your knowledge!
She & Him beats Coconut Records any day of the week!
Post a Comment