David Fair, Co-Founder of Half Japanese, Has Died

David Fair, co-founder of the DIY rock band Half Japanese, has died. Thick Syrup Records and filmmaker Jeff Feuerzeig, who directed the 1993 documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King, confirmed the news on Sunday. No formal cause of death was given, but producer Don Fleming, a former bandmate and friend, said Fair had been treated for cancer over the past several years and died peacefully Saturday shortly after his daughter Harper toasted him with a root beer float.

Fair and his brother Jad started recording together after their family moved to Uniontown, Maryland, in the mid-1970s. Those home sessions became Half Japanese. They traded instruments, ignored standard tunings, and treated raw sound as an end in itself. Fair’s essay “How to Play Guitar” made the point directly: “If you ignore the chords, your options are infinite, and you can master guitar playing in one day.” It was not a joke.

Half Japanese debuted with the 1977 EP Calling All Girls and expanded on its unchecked instincts with the 1980 triple album 1/2 Gentlemen