Jandek is the musical project of Sterling Smith (born October 26, 1945), a Houston, Texas-based American lo-fi folk singer. Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 120 albums while granting an interview extremely rarely and providing no biographical information, releasing on a self-made label, "Corwood Industries". 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.
In a 1985 private phone conversation with John Trubee for Spin, Smith mentioned that he was working at that time as a machinist.
Jandek's first album, Ready for the House, though a solo work, was originally credited to a band called The Units. Corwood was forced to change the name by an identically named Californian group already in possession of a trademark on the name.
In 1999, Texas Monthly reporter Katy Vine interviewed a man she believed to be Jandek, though he refused to identify himself, and although familiar with Jandek's music, refused to discuss it. In 2003, filmmaker Chad Freidrichs released a documentary, Jandek on Corwood, which contained no interviews with Jandek but was put together with "a representative of Corwood Industries". Jandek has since made numerous live performances, usually unannounced in advance.