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vinylexams · 5 years

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INTERVIEW with Brian Cook of SUMAC, Russian Circles, Botch, These Arms are Snakes, and Roy

Brian Cook of the MANY gnarly bands listed above took time to answer a bunch of questions that had been burning a hole in my mind for years earlier today. Did you know that aside from playing bass in some of the heaviest bands currently in existence, Brian is also an avid record collector and he also runs a very similar page where he posts all of his records and writes up a bit of history and personal context with each one? A man after my own heart! I’ve dropped a link to his Tumblr below and you’d be a fool not to go check it out and follow his work there.

https://bubblesandgutz.tumblr.com⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

I really appreciated having a chance to talk to a very talented musician who also places a LOT of importance on physical medium and the recording process. All too often I get submissions from bands who either don’t know the in’s and out’s of the vinyl format or they took a lot of shortcuts and deprive their art a chance to really shine in the ways that vinyl allows. I picked Brian’s brain about his approach to creation of physical musical media as well as his history as a collector (and even tried to convince him to get These Arms are Snakes play my big gay wedding reception!). Thanks for taking the time to tell your story to us, Brian!

You've been a member of several incredible bands over the past few decades (Botch, Sumac, Russian Circles, These Arms Are Snakes), all of which have released pretty much everything they've recorded on vinyl. How important is the vinyl medium for you as a musician and creator?

Thanks for the kind words. It's really important to me for my music to have some sort of physical format. I realize that mode of thinking might seem sort of old school or outdated, but i've always been enamored by music as a kind of historical artifact. When I was younger, that meant it was important for me to have an actual Dead Kennedys cassette as opposed to a dubbed version from my friend. It was like the difference between owning a painting versus owning a xerox of a painting. When I became a musician, it was a sign of validation. By having a record with my name on it, I had created something that would potentially outlive me. And now in the digital age we've convinced ourselves that everything lives forever on the internet, but it's not true. Myspace just lost all their music. I've written for a lot of online music outlets that have closed shop or simply deleted old posts. Meanwhile, I have a trunk full of old zines that outlived the supposed permanence of blogs. So while the digital age is great for convenience and scope, creating a physical recording is really the more reliable way to make sure something exists for more than five to ten years, or however long it takes for the newest technological fad to become obsolete. Vinyl seems to be the longest lasting format, so it's my preferred medium. But if my music exists on tape or CD, that's fine too.

Do you approach your recording and production processes with specific formats like vinyl in mind? If so, what do you do differently? Absolutely. The main concern is that we're dealing with the time constraints of vinyl. For bands like Russian Circles and SUMAC who have really long songs, it means we have to be careful how we sequence our records because we can easily exceed the 22-minutes-per-side rule. We've also been told by pressing plants that it's better to have long drones in the middle of an album side than at the beginning or end because there tends to be more surface noise at the beginning of a side and more warble at the end, and drones don't do much to mask these imperfections. But while one can complain about the limitations of vinyl, there are also issues with digital formats that can alter the way an album is put together. For example, the digital version of Empros has a longer drone at the end of "Batu" than the LP version, partially because of vinyl's limitations, but also because digital outlets like iTunes don't recognize records with long songs as full albums unless at least one track is longer than ten minutes. So we stretched it out on the digital version so that we'd be compensated appropriately for our work, but condensed it on vinyl so that we didn't compromise the sound quality.

Of all of the albums you've contributed to, which one stands out to you as the one you feel most connected to?

Probably Geneva by Russian Circles, if I had to pick one. We wrote that record over the span of several months at a house in rural Wisconsin. It was one of those ideal scenarios I'd always dreamed of---hunkering down in some isolated retreat and just immersing ourselves in the writing process. I've never walked away from an album feeling as accomplished as I did with that one. It just felt like we'd achieved something that had previously been out of my level of expertise. I think we've made better records since then, but I don't think I've ever felt as successful in making the sounds in my head translate to the recording. With regards to my other bands, I feel that way about Botch's We Are The Romans, These Arms Are Snakes' Easter, Roy's Killed John Train, and SUMAC's What One Becomes. But Geneva will always hold a special place.

How did you get into vinyl collecting and how does it play a part in your life?

I started buying vinyl around '92 because it was cheap. My first LP was Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet's Savvy Show Stoppers. I bought it for $2. Then I discovered 7"s, which was the dominant format for hardcore and punk bands at the time. Throughout high school, I mainly bought 7"s because i could buy 3 or 4 a week on my allowance. And let's be honest... most hardcore bands in the '90s had better 7"s than full albums. But vinyl was so dead at the time that you could also go to thrift stores and scoop up the entire Creedence Clearwater Revival discography for the cost of one CD. Even new vinyl was cheaper than their CD counterpart back then. So it's a bit of a drag now considering that vinyl is currently the most expensive format, but I still get a thrill from going to record stores, digging through crates, and coming home with a new LP. I can't say I buy that many 7"s anymore though.

What do you think about the relatively recent resurgence of large-scale vinyl production and collection?

It certainly has its advantages and disadvantages. I buy a lot of reissues just so I can have a clean, good-sounding copy, so I appreciate the resurgence in that regard. At the same time, the vinyl boom has made used record shopping a bit more of a drag. I don't know how many copies of Neil Young's Harvest I saw in used bins throughout the '90s and '00s, and then when I finally decided to buy a copy five years ago, it seemed like they'd all been snagged and the reissue was going for $50. When the Zeppelin discography got reissued a few years back, I mentioned wanting a new copy of Physical Graffiti to my husband. He went to our local indie record store in Brooklyn and asked the owner if they carried it and he totally balked at the question. "Why would we carry a reissue when you can buy a used copy of that in any record store for $5?" he said. My husband was like "every used Zeppelin record you carry is beat to shit and goes for at least $20... what the fuck are you even talking about?"

If you had to pare down your entire collection to no more than three albums, which would you keep?

What's the broader context? Like, are those the only three records I can listen to for the rest of my life? Or is it just a matter of only being allowed to own three records? If it's the former, I'd probably choose Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Miles Davis' In a Silent Way, and a Can album... either Ege Bamyasi or Soon Over Babaluma. Ask me tomorrow and I'd probably list off a different three. If it's the latter... like, if i'm merely holding onto records because the actual artifact means a lot to me but I can still listen to music in some other capacity, then I'd probably go with the His Hero Is Gone / Union of Uranus split LP, Undertow's At Both Ends, and Sticks & Stones Theme Songs For Nothing, just because those seem like a pain in the ass to replace and they're important records to me. I have records that are worth way more money, but I'm not someone who buys records because they're valuable.

Do you have a "white whale" record you still haven't found?

Not really. For ages I resisted the urge to buy used records online, but I've since relented. The record that finally broke my ordering embargo was Hack's The Rotten World Around Us. They were a band from Adelaide, South Australia in the late '80/ early '90s who sounded like a grungier version of the first couple Swans records. Super heavy and scary. I got turned onto them through a 7" on Alternative Tentacles, but the LP was never available stateside. The first few times I toured Australia i went to every record store I could find in hopes of finding a copy. No one had ever heard of Hack. The singer was in another band called Grong Grong, and members of that band had gone on to be in King Snake Roost, Lubricated Goat, and Tumor Circus (with Jello Biafra on vocals), but no one had heard of them either. In my mind there was this rich underground of Australian noise rock from that time period that was still vital and valid, but the reality is that it was largely ignored and forgotten. I eventually found a copy online and bought it for $20. A year later i found a used copy in Boise. Oh well. I'd love to find Acme's To Reduce The Choir..., or an original copy of Popol Vuh's second album, or the Neu! 7", or the Greenlandic prog band Sume's Sumut album.

Hypothetically how much money would I need to raise to get These Arms Are Snakes to reunite to play my wedding reception? My family will hate it but my partner and I will be very happy, etc.

We still talk about doing some proper "farewell shows" since we bailed on doing them back in 2009/2010. Granted, now they'd be reunion shows, but in our hearts they'd be our proper goodbye. We're putting together a vinyl release of various odds and ends for next year, so maybe that'll give us an excuse to finally book something.

#vinylexams #vinyl #vinyljunkie #onmyturntable #nowspinning #sumac #botch #thesearmsaresnakes #seattle #taas #roy #russiancircles #briancook

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missfliss88 · 6 years

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Some of the artwork, designed and painted by Brian Cook for the dust covers of the Batsford books printed between 1930 and 1950. His mother’s maiden name was Batsford and it was his maternal great grandfather who started the book selling and publishing firm. Brian started work in production for the company and became it’s chairman in 1952 after the death of his Uncle.

I love these covers and if ever I was to buy a book because of it’s cover...

I’d buy the lot!!

#books #batsford #artwork #briancook #landscapes #travelguide #britain #countryside #bookcovers #dustjacket #collectorspiece #wishlist

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americanlaundromat · 4 years

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Merch is in! Our good friends at @jmackstudios surprised us and got them done 2 weeks ahead of schedule. We folded and bagged all day and begin shipping tomorrow! #tee #tshirtsdesign #illustration #teedesign #indiemerch #tshirt #independentrecordlabel #screenprinting #screenprintedtees #graytee #greentee #dccomics #batman #batmantee #bluetee #lonnyunitus #jmackstudios #briancook #merch #batmanlogo #americanapparel #nextleveltees https://www.instagram.com/p/B-LMao-pXDt/?igshid=mb3t1ewb8y2h

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englishmodernism · 7 years

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Britain For Hiking Brian Cook Treasure from yesterday's Ink Paper + Print Fair at The Towner. One of a series produced by The Travel Association of Great Britain. No idea yet of the date but it'll be fun to research. #briancook #hiking #ramblers #thegreattresspass #nationaltrust #hostelling #openairmovement #posterlove

#openairmovement #briancook #hostelling #ramblers #posterlove #nationaltrust #hiking #thegreattresspass

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eversonpoe · 5 years

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new addition / now playing: sumac + keiji haino • Even for just the briefest moment / Keep charging this “expiation” / Plug in to making it slightly better • 2xLP in O-card slipcase, clear vinyl limited to 300 copies • #sumacband #keijihaino #keijihainoandsumac #vinyl #aaronturner #nickyacyshyn #briancook https://www.instagram.com/p/B3-ckhZJ08w/?igshid=me96dbuvoqtc

#sumacband #keijihaino #keijihainoandsumac #vinyl #aaronturner #nickyacyshyn #briancook

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tmkdoom · 5 years

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👂Tbt @sumacbandofficial @zukunftostkreuz March232019 . . . . #sumacband #europeantour #endon #baptistsband #aaronturner #nickyacyshyn #postmetal #karlsruhe #southernlord #nomadsofprague #jubez #sigerecords #metal #thrilljockey #sumac #berlinlife #hydraheadrecords #briancook #sludge #isistheband #berlinconcert #berlinlive #sludgemetal #berlinstagram #livemusic #favourite #ostkreuz #zukunft #daymarerecordings #russiancircles (hier: Mainz, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv315L_ltu0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=g3gh2qrezxo0

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threadless · 3 years

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It’s allll in the details.✨ 🎄

Xmas Tree by briancook

#christmas shirt #christmas tree #funnytshirt #Illustration #holiday art #christmasshirt

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yestheearthisflat-blog · 7 years

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Justin, I hope to repay you for that wristband. The amount of access it granted me, the extra access I got when I crossed some boundaries, and the bailouts you provided for me throughout the seven @TheBig3 events I attended was priceless. Thank you • Thanks to him the following #Big3 players have supported #TheEarthisFlat in one form or another: #AllenIverson #MikeSweetney #DermarrJohnson #AndreOwens #RashardLewis #KwameBrown #MahmoudAbdulRauf #MikeBibby #RickyDavis #JoeSmith #CuttinoMobley #DeshawnStevenson #JeromeWilliams #RasualButler #BonziWells #LeeNailon #MikeJames #LouAmundson #KenyonMartin #AlHarrington #RashadMcCants #JamesWhite #ChaunceyBillups #ReggieEvans #MoeEvans #BrianCook #StephenJackson #BrianScalabrine #JoshChildress #DerrickByars #DesomFarmer #XavierSilas Every single one of you contributed to my cause directly whether you autographed a shirt or a postcard or had a conversation with me one-on-one about your relationship to #mentalhealth issues or played your hearts out or asked how I was doing or shot around with me at that Vegas charity game or talked in the locker room about the Holographic Principle or bought a shirt or asked for a shirt or laughed at my shirt or saw me all over and never quite knew what I was about with that shirt but now know this: #TheEarthisFlat wouldn't be what it is without you and I am forever grateful you allowed me to tag along for the exceptionally successful rollercoaster that was the #Big3. I can't wait to see you all next season and for many more after and hope to reconnect someday. You helped me start to meld #mentalhealth and #basketball and paved the way for me to strengthen the symbiosis between the two. You provided me with so much inspiration to build the positive energy that allows me to continue this journey... . . .

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wesfareas · 3 years

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Every year my brother and I like to list our “Top 10 Albums” of the year… Which literally has never reserved to 10… AND per usual, our lists are about 80% in-common. Go figure? Anyways, I present to you my top 20 constant rotations of the year followed by a notable mentions list which is simply albums I love but need more time with… If you see anything on this list you don’t recognize, give it a listen. Enjoy. Cheers. • #Lantlos #Converge #ChelseaWolfe #Logic #FlyingLotus #SeatbeltsBand #KowloonWalledCity #Thrice #Quicksand #Mastodon #GenghisTron #EverytimeIDie #DannyElfman #Failureband #RobinGuthrie #BillieEilish #SilkSonic #CannibalCorpee #HansZimmer #Zao #Mogwai #BrianCook #JerryCantrell #BlackSheepWall #Nas #AmigoTheDevil #CultofLuna #theworldisabeautifulplaceandiamnolongerafraidtodie #hiatuskaiyote #badbadnotgood (at Death Ray Tattoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CYm3iBkPP1C/?utm_medium=tumblr

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babyawacs · 3 years

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Biosensors Calthis all : Gutsusbdue stagedorganfialbrink brainfog bad plasma badmmix drowsy? Howisa i biosensors

Biosensors Calthis all : Gutsusbdue stagedorganfialbrink brainfog bad plasma badmmix drowsy? Howisa i frmaingit /// A bad drug Bad Plasma Trick Bad Accessmesss Demystify Itis Bad Sothedrugigns maybecoffeepoison Ortwistedingreidenjts Chekcalso gutssubdue ///// Every defective capacitor a mental illnbesss Every coffeee a drugtrip Every visit briancook orsuffocaitondmamges Every molest agerman crime…

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pubtheatres1 · 8 years

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THE MEN FROM THE MINISTRY – RELOADED! The White Bear Theatre, Kennington until 14 January Written By Brian Cooke Directed by Michael Kingsbury ‘They caught him in Downing Street shouting, “The Prime Minister’s barmy”. He was given two months for insulting behaviour and six for revealing State secrets’. ★★★★ THE MEN FROM THE MINISTRY was an enormously popular BBC Radio comedy of the ‘60s and 70’s. Some 147 episodes were made. It was a ‘hit’ both in the UK and internationally. It’s still going strong in Finland where it is called “Bowler and Brolly”. Its focus was Government officials complete with pin stripe suits, bowler hats and umbrellas. On the surface it dealt with establishment figures that were all knowing and confident. But behind the scenes these men –and they were mostly men- were seen as incompetent and selfish. Yet the programme was never harsh. The ‘heroes’ were always warm and likeable. The whole thing was done with an extremely light touch. Each episode of THE MEN FROM THE MINISTRY“ was set in the ‘General assistance department’, a fictitious unit but one which was only too recognizable to the general public. The main proponents were the senior executives known as ‘One’ (originally played by Wilfred Hyde White and later by Derek Guyler) and the junior executive, ‘Two’ (played throughout by Richard Murdoch). Their boss Sir Gregory Pitkin was often the main villain but was as thoroughly incompetent as his underlings. Here in THE MEN FROM THE MINISTRY – RELOADED two episodes from the original radio series have been brilliantly adapted by one of the original writers, Brian Cooke –writing Royalty without a doubt: ‘Round the Horne’ on Radio and ‘George and Mildred’, ‘Robin’s Nest’ etc on television. The whole is all brilliantly observed. We begin in the Paris Cinema-evidently, originally, a niche provider of pornographic films. (Your reviewer never went -I assure you). Sixties decor, microphones, ‘applause’ and ‘on-air’ signs fill the stage. There is a very accurate and funny ‘warm- up’ orchestrated by Jon Glover. Then on to the ‘meat ‘of the show with Stephen Critchlow as a suave ‘One’ and a very droll, funny and relaxed Robin Sebastian as ‘Two’. In fact all the comic acting is of the highest order from the many faceted and voiced David Benson, Charles Armstrong , Sydney Stevenson and the afore mentioned Glover. What’s not to like? I’m sure it will get a transfer. It’s well written, superbly acted and done with tremendous love. And it’s funny. The audience the night I went loved it. Yet when I left it was with some unease. It’s not a show ‘pickled in aspic’ but it is a heritage piece. It doesn’t challenge; but then it’s not supposed to. So three very British cheers to everyone involved. Just don’t go expecting anything enormously innovative. WHITE BEAR THEATRE 138 Kennington Park Road SW11 4DJ Box Office www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk Performance dates: 3rd – 14th January 2017 Tuesday –Friday 7:30pm, Saturday 2:30pm, 7:30pm, Sunday 4pm Tickets £15/£12 conc. Reviewer, Richard Braine is actor, director and playwright. As an Actor he has worked extensively throughout the country including Chichester Festival Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange, Birmingham Rep, and Stephen Joseph Theatre in Yorkshire. His Television and Film credits include: “Calendar Girls”, “Pride, Prejudice and Zombies”, “Finding Neverland”, “Bridget Jones”, “Suspicions of Mr Whicher”, “Mr Selfridge” and many years ago Gussie Fink-Nottle in “Jeeves and Wooster”. He has also filmed over 150 Commercials all over the world. He has directed the European premiere of Sternheim/Martin “The Underpants” at The Old Red Lion Theatre and written three plays: “Being There with Sellers”, “Bedding Clay Jones” and “Sexing Alan Titchmarsh”.

#MenFromTheMinistry BrianCooke WhiteBearTheatre Review

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vinylexams · 5 years

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These Arms are Snakes - Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @bubblegutz @stevesnere @erindavidtate @i don’t know ryan’s insta but tell me and i’ll tag it etc ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m going to do something I don’t often do and post 3 records in a row from one of my favorite bands. Go to the store, buy a hat, and get ready to hold onto it because we’re gonna listen to These Arms Are Snakes tonight. Oxeneers, their first album, came out when I was hilt deep in college grieving my mother and experiencing life as an out and proud gay man for the first time. It was loud, it was mathy, it was weird, and it made me wish I had more pedals and a MicroKORG of my own. It sounded like nothing i’d heard before, frantic and somehow still fun, screamy but not metal, and entirely unapologetic from start to finish. This album is the auditory equivalent of Mick Jagger’s weird-ass chicken walk being run through multiple DL-4s and tube screamers. I got so into how dark and intense the lyrics were that for a while I pretended I knew how to write a story like Steve Snere, their flamboyant frontman (spoiler alert: my lyrics sucked big time). I later found out that Brian was gay and wasn’t ashamed of it and as a young guy in a band in a dark red state, I’ve gotta say that was huge for me too. I spent a couple of years absolutely canonizing this album and studying the drum parts so that I could steal them for the pop-punk band I was playing in (hint: it didn’t work) and I made everyone that hung out with me listen to it whether or not they were wired for the task. After my partner and I started collecting records, this was one of our first honest-to-god white whale albums and I remember convincing a guy it was a shitty record so he’d sell it to me for $50 instead of $100 bucks. (Sorry dude, it’s actually a total fucking ripper, I just didn’t have $100). If you don’t know this album, please go remedy that. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #seattle #thesearmsaresnakes #briancook #stevesnere #jadetree #vinylexams #vinyl #vinyljunkie #onmyturntable #nowspinning #nowplaying #vinyligclub #vinyllovers #vinylclub #vinylrecords #vinylcollectionpost #lp #records #nowplaying @secondnaturerec @jadetree (at Seattle, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwLvhCMg1WM/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=eva1wsw77i0u

#seattle #thesearmsaresnakes #briancook #stevesnere #jadetree #vinylexams #vinyl #vinyljunkie #onmyturntable #nowspinning #nowplaying #vinyligclub #vinyllovers #vinylclub #vinylrecords #vinylcollectionpost #lp #records

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