System of Love EP by The Swimming Pool Q's- MP3 Album
Photo by Glenn Bewley
In his houndstooth cape and top hat, Jeff Calder overwhelms the audience with his pompous and domineering manner.
-The Bagpipe, Lakeland High School, April 19th, 1969
JEFF CALDER
Jeff Calder grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. He spent his teenage years in Lakeland, Florida, selling clothing after school and trying to convince his friends to let him be in their bands. He was a creative writing student of Harry Crews at the University of Florida, and, upon graduation in 1973, pursued a career as a free-lance writer before moving to Atlanta in 1978 to form The Swimming Pool Q's. Over the years, his articles have appeared in Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Music Magazine, Mix, Stomp and Stammer, and Tampa Tribune, among other publications. His long essay, "Living By Night in the Land of Opportunity: Reflections on Life in a Rock & Roll Band," was published in Duke University's South Atlantic Quarterly. He's also known for in-depth liner notes to The Q’s’ The Deep End and Matthew Sweet's To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet. His appreciation of Richard & Mimi Farina aired on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. In 2009/10, he conducted interviews with poets and writers for Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Cover-to-Cover book show.
In the 1990s, Calder served as an A&R rep for Brendan O'Brien's Sony label, 57/Shotput Records. For Shotput, he co-produced The Sight-seers’ Funseeking With The Sight-seers, and he was the reissue coordinator for Music To Eat (Sony/Columbia/Shotput), the classic avant-garde rock album by HamptonGrease Band, originally released on Columbia Records in 1971. He assisted the reissue projects for Gyrate and Chomp, two important DB Recs albums by the Athens’ band, Pylon.
Calder co-produced The Swimming Pool Q’s 2003 disc Royal Academy of Reality with Phil Hadaway. He contributes lyrics and music to Supreme Court (Supreme Court Goes Electric; DB Recs; 1992), his group with guitarist Glenn Phillips, with whom he plays guitar and keyboards in The Glenn Phillips Band; Supreme Court’s new album, Sun Hex, was released in 2010. For over 10 years, Calder was Associate Manager at Atlanta’s legendary Southern Tracks Studio during recordings by artists such as Indigo Girls, Pearl Jam, Sugarland, The Wallflowers, Velvet Revolver and Bruce Springsteen. In addition to work on new material with The Swimming Pool Q’s, his most recent production projects include The Language of Birds, the forthcoming debut by the Atlanta group The Hot Place.