About FearSweater

I’ve been a voracious and omnivorous consumer of music since I was a child. Listening to music, discovering new music, seeing live music, reading and talking about music, sharing music … I’ve spent huge amounts of my spare time and money on it.

I love music so much and so much of it that some call me a poor critic. I love the Grateful Dead and the Dead Kennedys, Public Enemy and Hank Williams, Black Sabbath and Black Uhuru. My tastes are all over the place, but I don’t love everything. I can’t stand some music. I like what I like and have strong opinions.

Sharing music and converting friends to new bands is one of my favorite pastimes. This site is an extension of that drive. I’ve been super lucky to have been turned on to so many great bands by friends and I’m always trying to do the same in return.

The Mixes: I started as a teenager spending countless hours on my double cassette boom box making my own mix tapes. I named these tapes after the imaginary radio station where I got to be the DJ: KJAM (my initials). In December 1995, I started making an annual best of the previous year mix and giving it out to friends at my holiday party and the KJAM Christmix was born.

…a bigger part was trying to turn friends on to bands I wanted to go see live together

Part of putting together an annual mix was to force myself to stay current, but a bigger part was trying to turn friends on to bands I wanted to go see live together. I got some positive feedback and kept the annual mixes coming as the years rolled by. No one likes all the songs on my annual mix, but it’s fun when friends discover something new we can love together.

Over time I’ve amassed a collection of blurry show photos, annual mixes, ticket stubs, memories and a little tinnitus. This site is where I will start to archive all this. I will post the pics I’ve taken at shows and links to my annual Christmixes and some other odds and ends. Hope you enjoy them.

“One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain.” - Bob Marley

Jason Mattingly

Contact: FearSweater@gmail.com