"Deconstruction's first and last album, Deconstruction, is remarkably complex and grand. Made up of two former Jane's Addiction members, guitarist Dave Navarro and bassist Eric Avery, as well as drummer Michael Murphy, the band recorded a single album and then called it quits. The record is filled with elaborately constructed tone poems that range widely in their musical moods and feature folk, metal, funk, fake jazz, thrash, and post-beatnik influences. It is a challenging and coherent work." - Tom Sinclair, Rolling Stone. Oct. 20 1994




Various articles, facts, links, quotes, and stuff related to Deconstruction...
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* Deconstruction interview, '94
* When they first started the project, Eric and Dave threw all their ideas onto a home recorder. They didn't have a drummer, so they used a drum machine. Five rough demos have made it into fan's hands. Here they are (192k mp3):
Deconstruction demos, 1993
1. Iris
2. America
3. Jealous Song
4. One
5. untitled
notes- Very rough, early versions.. recorded by Eric and Dave with a home recorder and drum machine at Dave's apartment in Westwood, California in early 1993 (or maybe even late 1992). "One" is structured much different and is faster than the finished album version. Dave sings "Jealous Song".. his voice sounds a bit like Perry Farrell, funny enough.
* On the album, Dave Navarro sings lead vocals on "Big Sur" (and back-up on several other songs).
* Gibby Haynes (of the Butthole Surfers) sings lead vocals on "Fire In The Hole". Since the lyrics are conspicuously not listed in the booklet, I assume he wrote them, too.
* Due to the financial problems of the record label, American Recordings, the album went out of print in the late 90s, making it hard to find new. So your best bet for picking up a copy would be at a place that sells used CDs. You could try Amazon or eBay.
* Click here for some album reviews.
* Deconstruction never performed live.
* Dave '96: "That Deconstruction album was just a project, and we did what we'd come to do, but when it came right down to it, I don't think Eric was as interested in touring as I was."
* Scan of Rolling Stone's mention of Deconstruction, 4/1/93.
* Michael Murphy was not first choice to be the drummer... (from InPress magazine, June 12, 1991...So the rumours of Jane's Addictions imminent demise are in fact true. Avery reports that he, guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins intend on continuing as a team.) As you likely know, Stephen chose to continue working with Perry instead.
* Music Today interview with Stephen Perkins (9/01): "I remember when Deconstruction started and Porno For Pyros started, I was going to play some tracks on the Deconstruction record. People were like, “that doesn't make any sense, cause that's three quarters of Jane's without Perry,” and it wasn't really about that at all; it was about friends making music."
* They made a video for "L.A. Song". Eric co-directed. MTV made them edit a scene where a man walked toward the camera pointing a gun. The video was played a few times on MTV's "120 Minutes"... but it got more exposure thanks to being featured in an episode of Beavis & Butthead. (pic taken from Dave Navarro Is God)
* Phil Hayes shares, "the video was shot at 'The Pink Motel' a hotel that eric referred to as a 'horrible motel in the valley'. Approximately $50,000 was spent on the video."
* Here are the credits for the "L.A. Song" video (taken from a promo video): "4 May 94, Director: Jon Reiss, Producer: Rex Lundy, ZZYZX PROD"
* "L.A. Song" video is available to watch on here YouTube.
* Some of the "L.A. Song" video was used to make a TV commercial for the album. I saw it a couple times; I think it said, "From the ashes of Jane's Addiction... Deconstruction"... then played some of the song and said the album's release date or "out now" or something.
* Eric (Jane's Xine '96): "The bit in the beginning of L.A. Song is from the film "Day of the Locust". The film is based on a story by Nathaniel West about the old hollywood film system and its decadence in the thirties(?). It is a very moral story about the Hollywood dream and its destructiveness. I felt we had to have an element of that in a song about my city. I also liked the sounds of set-up and construction as the song is beginning to be 'built', so to speak."
* Josh reports, "I just discovered this a few weeks ago...the sample during the fast part of LA Song (A chance to begin again...) I'm pretty sure it's from Blade Runner. I was watching it the other day and there was the line...it's in the first 20 minutes or so of the movie, but I'm pretty sure that's where that sample was from."
* The song "Iris" was written in Jane's heyday. It was originally called "San Francisco". Eric, Dave, and Steve would sometimes play it at soundcheck. Audio: MP3 of San Francisco (Iris) + Up The Beach + jam 10/22/88 Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, FL (these songs were played at the beginning of a show while the guys waited for Perry who was apparently finishing up some business backstage.)
* Eric: "Dave and i jammed "san francisco" while waiting for a friend in sf. We renamed it "beverlys unborn" after micheal murphys wife got pregnant and finally "iris" after micheals daughter iris was born during mixing."
* (6767.com, '04) Q: I was wondering if anything in particular in San Francisco inspired Iris?
Dave: I think it was just the trip, the time and how we felt being alive and free, roaming the streets...
Q: I hear a huge Killing Joke vibe in Dirge.
Dave: Yeah, Eric and I were heavily influenced by Killing Joke.
* Eric (Jane's Xine '96): "I did indeed have the abruptnesses intentionally in mind. It interested me to try making a record that mimicked the audio/visual randomness of daily life in any major metropolis. Like tv. I was thinking about how incredible the human faculty for making sense is. That we are able to make order out of the barrage of images and sounds that assault us all the time is amazing. I'm surprised we aren't more fucking neurotic than we already are.
The record title refers to the post-modern architects and thinkers who played around with things being defined by what they are standing next to rather than by themselves. I wanted to try to pair up seemingly unrelated musical parts and see what kind of music would be produced."
* Trevor adds, "much like music gets labeled things like 'alternative' and 'grunge' so does the art world. at the time there was an art movement going on called 'deconstruction.'"
* José Miguel points out that the music in the bit between 1:42 and 2:14 in "Wait For History" is a version of composer Erik Satie's "First Gymnopédie".
* Click here for Deconstruction lyrics.
* The guys in Deconstruction supplied some background music to a few TV shows: "Friday Night Videos", "MTV Sports", and "Oddities". I'm not sure if these pieces were just bits of songs from the album, or separate recordings all together.
* Dave (6767.com '98): "I actually put that record on the other day and I felt very lucky to have had the chances I have had. I suppose I feel a meloncholy distance from myself, that is definately me, but at the same time, someone else. The year we made that record, was a very intense one for me and I grew up a lot. I am getting teary just typing that to you."
* (aol chat '96) Q: "Dave, do you plan to create any more Deconstruction albums?"
Dave: "No plans as yet"
* Q: "when you [Spread] tour (please please please do) is there ANY chance of hearing any Decon tunes, like say Iris....any chance at all?"
Dave: "I don't know. If Eric shows up at a show, I'll do it."
* Phil: "Would you compare LA (or Metropolitan California) to the fall of the Roman Empire? why or why not? when you talk about "letting rome burn" in America on the Decon. album, is this what you're referring to?"
Eric: "Absolutely. Though i wouldnt limit it just to So Cal, altough it is a good example. One interesting way in which we are similar is that Rome was increasingly settled by non-Roman citizens, whose allegiances were therefore split with their home country's, and the focus and energy of a growing nation was diluted. Patriotism can be a great motivator on many levels for an empire.
Complacency is the similarity i was referring to specifically by the Nero's 'fiddling' allusion in "America"."
* There's a UK record label called Deconstruction which threatened to sue the band for using their name. The sides settled when Eric and Dave assured the label it'd be a one-off project. So you see, there couldn't be a follow-up Deconstruction album even if they wanted to make one! (but of course, they could release something under a new name.)
* Gavin asks (2/99): Polar Bear has played shows with Stephen Perkins' Banyan... and Dave Navarro has been known to pop in at PB shows. So the question a lot of people are wondering: has there been any talk at all about the three of you playing together again (on stage or in the studio)?
Eric: I could picture maybe helping each other out in the studio on someones project one day but nothing has ever been mentioned or planned.
* thenitmustbetrue (6/01): In light of the whole Jane's thing, has there been any discussion about you doing something on your own with Eric Avery again? Not like with Jane's but sort of like Deconstruction?
Dave Navarro: Oh, no. But there hasn't been talk of us not doing it either, you know? It just hasn't come up. But if that's the plan, I'll step up to bat.
* Eric was asked a few Decon questions on his blog (2/07). Here is what he said: i think the only janes/decon overlap was the song 'iris'. we jammed it at soundchecks and i think i remember perry riffing over it.
only guitar i remember playing [on the album] was the rhythm on 'son'. if you have the services of a player with daves obvious skill we would crazy to have me do anything on guitar.
that record was made at such a difficult time for me personally that is has been hard for me to ever listen to. yes 'son' is directly autobiographical.

sdw