Isaac Brock
Shooting For The Moon
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And luckily, any threat of an Epic-induced musical makover is rendered moot by the stirring sounds of Moon, Brock's guided tour of the terrain between desolation and hopefulness, dotted with his unique lyrics and unconventional phrasing.
One aspect of a major-label deal that Brock is still getting used to, however, is the seemingly endless promotion process. Reached on his cell phone after repeated attempts, he had forgotten our scheduled interview and asked, in no uncertain terms, why I was bothering him. A few minutes and a series of explanations later, our chat was underway.
Isaac Brock: Sorry I was so grumpy just then, you were the third person who called and I didn't pick up and they called again.
NATN: That's OK. I wonder if you could tell me what on the new album you are most proud about?
IB: Wow, this is going to take more focus, hey, hold on a second [talks to someone in the car]. Let's see. Yeah, I'm actually really really into the effects we wound up getting with [producer] Brian Deck, like fucking with sounds. For the most part it came off how I'd kinda hoped it would, kinda desolate, dark. I don't know the right word.
NATN: Are there any songs that you really think came out great?
IB: There's one that's not on the album that did. I really like the way "The Cold Parts" turned out, and "Gravity Rides Everything" and "Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes."
NATN: Did you have any qualms with using strings and other instruments?
IB: Obviously not, I mean, we've had them on every record so far. Why, did you think that was Epic's idea? They just didn't show up on the old recordings. It was really weird, the guy we were recording with was really good, mainly at getting crazy effects.
NATN: Is this the most time Modest Mouse has spent recording an album?
IB: Definitely, which is one of the main motivations of going with Epic in the first place: having a bigger budget to record, and to record until we felt happy with it.
NATN: Did you feel that in the past you were not afforded that opportunity?
IB: Um, no, but at the same time, it took that to know that we did want to be afforded that opportunity. I felt that [before], for where we were at, we were getting more than enough time to record, you know what I mean? Up Records didn't have a fat enough wallet, you know, they couldn't take that big of a risk to have us recording for months and months. They gave us a pretty long amount of time regardless. I don't know whether we're hokey or whether we just really focus a lot, but either way it usually takes us awhile to get shit done. Of course, so far every record has turned out to be pretty much a double album.
NATN: You guys will be on the road in support of this album for quite awhile. Have you been to Europe before?
IB: Yeah, we've been to Europe and Japan. We need to go to Europe because Matador is putting the album out over there, and we've got to do our part to help them out with that. I didn't have much fun the last time we went there. I'd like to give it another try. I was under the belief that twin beds there would be the same size they are here, but when you get a twin bed it's actually big enough for one person. I'd brought my girlfriend, and it was like, a) you just don't bring your girlfriend on tour. There are too many issues, but nonetheless, it's hard to share a bed built seriously for only one person. You can't fit two people in that fucker. We didn't get along with the tour manager very well. It wasn't like our friends who we were used to helping us out. He was a stranger, some older British guy. I'd like to try and have a good time. Japan was great. I'd like to go back there regardless.
NATN: Are you looking forward to the added exposure that being signed to Epic may bring?
IB: Possibly. It depends on how it works out. I can't really predict whether we'll get more people.. [unintelligble].. I don't know if I could handle being around those guys all the time. They like to grab your head and.. it would be nice to get more people to hear the music. The more the merrier, I guess.
NATN: How has the response been to the new songs?
IB: Usually when people see you live, they want to hear the ones they know, but they do like hearing some new ones. It's been fine, it's been good. Better than I'd expected.
NATN: Can you perform everything from The Moon & Antarctica?
IB: Um, well, "Gravity Rides Everything" is a little hard because it has four really different guitar tracks. It's kinda hard to pull off. Hey, you don't mind taking a walk to the hotel bathroom with me, do you? Good, because you have no choice. Okay, where were we? [long pause]
NATN: I understand that Up is putting out an EP in conjunction with the new album?
IB: Yes. It's got "Night On The Sun," and "The Willful Suspension Of Disbelief." Two of the songs were recorded separately in Seattle with Phil Ek, and two were recorded at the sessions. And, yeah, it's pretty cool. We're doing two 12-inch EPs with Up. I'm pretty into them, I'm pretty into the songs. I'm pretty into the whole idea of having this record be a trilogy. I like having a bunch of different little chapters.
NATN: Why is it coming out on Up?
IB: It's just.. I want to do whatever I can with them. That was the one thing I was able to get Epic to agree to let them do, the vinyl versions. There's no money to be made on that anyway, so Epic would rather someone else dealt with the hard part. Epic is putting out the album on vinyl, otherwise they'd have to have Up do it, and they don't want to swallow their pride that much. Whatever chance I get to work with Up is a good time.
NATN: Do you have a solo album coming out on Sub Pop?
IB: It's more of a loophole I created. It's kind of a solo/side project called Ugly Casanova. It's just going to be doing it with different friends and things. It's something I kinda wanted to do, get myself some recording gear, to start to learn to record things better myself. Essentially I traded Sub Pop one record for some recording equipment. So far, so good. My A&R guy got shit-canned, and I don't know how I feel about that. It'll definitely come out on Sub Pop.
NATN: How far along are you on it?
IB: I've been so busy with all this other shit, touring, practicing, shows, and artwork, to the point that I've only managed to record four songs for it, and I think all except for one of them I'm going to scrap. I'm sorry I was so grumpy when you first got on the phone, man. It's been a long little chunk of time. We were driving from Missoula, Montana to Minneapolis, which took about 20 hours. We have two vans, and there's 8 of us. I usually like to either drive or ride shotgun, because I'm a control freak, and it keeps the feeling.
NATN: Before you mentioned a trilogy concept. Can you describe that?
IB: I don't have a clue. I just really like the idea of trilogies. The first three records kinda worked out to be part of a larger story, you know. And I'm kinda trying to work out how I can tie those together and maybe write a short little book thing that fills in the blanks.
NATN: There seems to be some definite thematic similarity to the material on new album.
IB: I kinda thought I got away from that on the new one, but it's not really for me to say. It's kinda like, what you hear is what you hear.
NATN: What have you been listening to lately?
IB: Califone, and Cat Power's Moon Pix, which is fucking amazing.
NATN: There were some rumors about Modest Mouse touring with Pearl Jam. What can you report?
IB: That's news to me. There's lots of rumors. It would be interesting if they were fans, it wouldn't bother me. I mean, hell, why would it? I'm not sure I would even mind touring with them. I don't mind their new stuff at all.
NATN: You'll see them at the Epic christmas party.
IB: There are no invites getting sent out to us for that!
NATN: So tell me how you guys are viewing this new step?
IB: I don't know if it will happen or not, you know. I don't really know what the hell people want to listen to, or why they do. Obviously because I'm in the damn band, I'm going to think what we do is better than what's played on the radio. So saying that is kind of a given. But, yeah, I don't know if they threw us out on a major radio station, I don't know if it would stick if they threw us out. I actually wouldn't mind it. It would be kind of interesting to see. But hey, whatcha gonna do? I'm not going to push it. I'm not going to fight it.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"