Gary Jules
Biography
With 1998's Greetings from the Side, Gary Jules emerged as one of the most gifted songwriting talents to surface during the decade. The album was ultimately sunk by poor record label handling and, as a result, sadly neglected by an unknowing public. It would be three years before he resurfaced with the independently released Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets, an album that was even more stunning and advanced on all the promises of the first.
San Diego native Gary Jules Aguirre -- professionally shortened to Gary Jules to honor the Texan grandfather who called him that -- first began playing acoustic guitar as a child at the instigation of his parents. Unsatisfied with lessons, he quit shortly after his first recital, only to rediscover the instrument in fifth grade on his own, this time taking up electric guitar with John Lennon as the primary catalyst. By the time high school arrived, Jules and childhood friend Michael Andrews had formed an early incarnation of the Origin. (The band eventually signed to Virgin and put out two early-'90s albums, though after Jules had left the group and moved to Los Angeles.) In 1987 he began a yearlong stint at UCLA during which he started the band Kofi. The band went on a short hiatus the following year, and Jules took the opportunity to trek around Asia, sometimes singing in the streets for his supper. When he returned to the States, Kofi resumed playing and developed a small buzz around Los Angeles, until they called it quits in 1990. Jules moved back to San Diego later that year and formed Ourtown Pansies, who put out a limited, locally released CD before disbanding in 1992, after which he took off for and settled in San Francisco, where the Origin had already relocated. When that band broke up as well, Jules and Andrews began playing and recording together again. During this period, he wrote many of the songs that would eventually form the bulk of his debut album and make volumes of demo tapes. Andrews returned to San Diego to play with the Greyboy Allstars in 1995, and Jules began making frequent sojourns to Los Angeles to shop for a record deal.
Serendipitously, one of the few people who had heard the Ourtown Pansies album was Zeke Piestrup. An old roommate of a high-school friend of Jules, Piestrup had since become a DJ at the vaunted KROQ in Los Angeles. Thanks to his considerable industry clout, Piestrup managed to sign Jules to A&M when that major bought his indie label, Metro Ride. Jules recruited Andrews to produce the album, who, in turn, corralled engineer J. Bradley Cooke, fresh from working on the Counting Crows' Recovering the Satellites. Using rented Crows equipment, they holed up in Andrews' basement studio in the spring of 1997 and recorded the superb Greetings from the Side, which was subsequently mixed by industry heavyweight Tchad Blake. Unfortunately, A&M allowed the album to languish until it was finally released in the fall of 1998. The label also neglected to release a single from the album, and it disappeared before it had a commercial chance. (The record's title song did, however, find its way into the film Digging to China.) A&M promptly dropped Jules from the label and he did not resurface until 2001, when, lessons learned from his major-label experience, he self-released Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets. It took awhile to gain momentum, but with solid distribution in Europe and Australia and strong word of mouth domestically, Trading Snakeoil was soon on its way to being Jules' first hit album. His haunting remake of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" was issued as a single and debuted at number one in the U.K.; it eventually went gold. Jules then embarked on a tour of England and Scotland that lasted through spring 2004. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide
Selected Discography
I have lost track of how many times I have heard this in a soundtrack to a movie or tv show. It is finally great to know who does the song.
|
||
I've heard a female cover this song I think her name was Alex Parks I actually liked her version better but I like Gary Jules voice
|
||
It's incredibly sad that Jules is only known for his cover song, when the rest of his material is exceptional.
|
||
it was also like the best songs for one of the greatest films of our era, DONNIE DARKO
|
||
I saw a video on Youtube of images from the Balkans War set to this....I was in absolute tears. My father is Croatian and I visited thirteen years ago after peace had more or less been negotiated - but seeing the rubble and hearing this cover re-enforced the absurdity of war to me along with the sheer cost of innocent human lives. This song haunts me in its beauty and harrowing simplicity. Sheer brilliance.
|
||
I think Tears for Fears did this song originally. The Gears of War commercial is awesome with this song. The Gears of War 2 commercial with a song by DeVotchKa is pretty sweet as well.
|
||
Brits...push e d the s**t out of it. I dont like it at all and i enjoyed donnie darko.
p.s not the first version of mad world. |
||
Adam Lambert also sang it on American Idol--and didn't give Gary Jules credit. Not cool! I love this version--way to go Gary!
|
||
This song was perfect at the end of Donnie Darko. I liked it best in the Gears of War commercial.
|
||
Wow, looks like a lot of people found him via "Mad World" - myself included. Though oddly enough, Idislike the Tears version, the piano alone just sounds good.
|
||
Gary Jules is fantastic. Like many others I found him via his cover of "Mad World" and am I ever glad I did! I wish more of his music got attention. Sure, "Mad World" is a good cover, but a cover shouldn't be what most people hear by such a talented artist.
|
||
It should be noted that his remake of "Mad World" also was prominently featured in "Donnie Darko" really fitting the end of that film.
|
||
indeed it is a decent song, but you can thank tears for fears for that....lol
|
||
As I listen to "Mad World"--the first song I hear from Gary Jules, I am really taken back at the raw sadness and truth behind his lyrics. His voice is wonderfully refreshing. I love his sound already and this song is my introduction to Jules!
Must check out "Falling Awake" which people are raving about... |
||
Fantastic artist. Alot of people know him just from his work for Donny Darko (which is a decent song) but I feel his Gary Jules album is alot better than anything he did for a movie. I think Falling Awake and Barstool are brilliant works. (according to this Falling Awake is its own album but its not it can be found on the 2006 Gary Jules album) but a defident thumbs up overall.
|
| report abuse |



