Jandek is the musical project of Sterling Smith, a Houston, Texas-based American lo-fi folk singer.

"[3] A review of the debut album Ready for the House (1978) in OP magazine, the first ever national press given to Jandek, referred to the artist as Sterling Smith.

[4] Smith has kept his personal history secret, revealing only one story about his pre-Corwood years: he wrote seven novels but burned them upon rejection from New York publishers.

[5] In a 1985 private phone conversation with John Trubee for Spin, Smith mentioned that he was working at that time as a machinist.

[6][7] Jandek's first album, Ready for the House, though a solo work, was originally credited to a band called The Units.