The Boon

That’s Life
Sick & Tired
Pick You Up
Making Enemies
Love or Just An Allergy
The Future’s A Killer
Nothing Better To Do

All songs by Andras Jones & Josh Clayton-Felt

Andras Jones: Vocals & Guitars
Josh Clayton-Felt: Guitar & Vocals
Dan Carlson: Bass
Dennis Muth: Drums

Andras Jones and Josh Clayton-Felt met in high school at The Cambridge School of Weston in Massachusetts. After their graduation in 1986, Andras moved to LA where he started getting acting work, while Josh attended college at Brown University. In the fall of 1987 Josh joined Andras in LA where they formed the band The Boon.

The first two tracks of this demo (“That’s Life” & “Sick & Tired”) were recorded mostly on a Tascam 4-track in the room they shared in Hollywood, with some overdubs recorded at studios around LA. This demo led to a “spec deal” with Gary Goetzman’s Entourage Studios that led to the remaining tracks. Here’s how Dan Carlson, the bass player on these sessions, remembers it.

Living in LA, in the late 80s, I was lucky to be introduced (by someone I never met, oddly enough) to Andras Jones and Josh Clayton-Felt, two recently transplanted Boston-ites (that can’t be right) who were starting a band. Josh and Andras were writing really great pop songs and we immediately got along – as friends and musicians, a rare thing. As I remember, we practiced and practiced at their house in Hollywood, all the while searching for a drummer. After a couple of non-fits, we met Dennis Muth, a lovely guy and wonderful player.

Somehow – no idea how – we got the attention of Gary Goetzman, who offered us time at his studio to put some demos together. The four of us, along with a great engineer named Nick Carr, spent time – a week maybe? – at Entourage, getting it all together. My first serious time in a serious studio, I remember feeling like I finally was in control of my playing and how it came across on record. Truly exciting.

There were two large rooms at Entourage, and whichever one we weren’t using was being used by David Byrne for some project or other. Never saw him there, but I remember Josh temporarily “liberating” his very old and beautiful Fender Stratocaster from a gig bag in the corner to do most of the guitar overdubs.

Tragically, Josh died of testicular cancer right around 2000. He’d had a successful – although far too brief – career as a musician, both with his band School of Fish and as a solo artist. He made wonderful records.

After all these years, Andras has decided to put all the tracks we all made together up on Bandcamp. I listened yesterday for the first time in years, and it was like stepping back in time. My days with Andras, Josh, and Dennis were brief, but wonderful and I’m so glad to have this as a memento. It was a thrilling time.

Listen HERE