When Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock agrees to a chat, you know it’s not going to be a paint-by-numbers promo piece. Between stories about chasing down long-lost fiddle players, curating a festival in his hometown, and trying to limit himself to fewer than six tracks of cup-dropping noises, Brock lets us in on the chaos and charm of his creative process.
We talked about the upcoming Psychic Salamander Festival, revisiting The Moon & Antarctica in full, and why music should never get fucking boring.
Racket: How are things with you?
Brock: In this state of the world? Yeah. But I’m good. I was just a road warrior — got on the bus at 3 a.m. to drive to L.A., woke up at 8 a.m., and headed over to the studio where I’m mixing. Just doing the thing.
Racket: Rad. Let’s talk Psychic Salamander. You’ve played and headlined more than your share of festivals, what was the impetus for creating your own festival?
Brock: The conversation had been batted around for quite a few years. The folks putting this on are people I’ve worked with before — they do ThingFest and used to do Sasquatch. When they said, “Hey, do you want to do one near your hometown?” I was like, “yeah, that sounds like a great idea” and here we are.
Racket: So hometown roots were a big part of why you picked Carnation as the venue?
Brock: Well, I’ve been to my fair share of festivals, like you said, and most of them take place in kind of lifeless fields. Carnation already has a lot of other shit going for it — built-in entertainment, brewpubs, miniature trains. Can make a day easier, you don’t have to just wander around a fun. Seems like a nice, fun place.
Racket: I worked Coachella for a couple years, one as the pinball tournament emcee — the side entertainment — so I get it. There’s plenty non-music things to do there… at the music festival. But now that you’re handling logistics, has this proven to be more or less what you expected?
Brock: Oh, this is great. These guys have done this before, no hiccups. They know how to put on a big kinda show, and my people are working with their people really well. I don’t delve into that side of the business much, I am not qualified.
Racket: With your role, do you get a say in lineup choices?
Brock: Oh yeah, absolutely. Like any lineup, you start with a longer list, then whittle down depending on who’s touring, who’s available. You end up with the cream of the crop of who’ available. I’m really happy with how it worked out.
Racket: What’s the criteria for you? Acts you’ve seen before? Ones you just want to see?
Brock: Only who I listen to. Legacy acts like Yo La Tengo or Built to Spill, these are the things I still enjoy listen to. Over the years I’ve stayed pretty checked into music. Everyone on here was someone I definitely wanted.
Racket: Speaking of music, let’s talk about The Moon & Antarctica. You’re playing it in full — why now?
Brock: 33 1/3 just put out a book about it, and it’s been on my mind. It’s time was due, I’ve never played the whole record live. It just seemed like its time.
Racket: Did you have to relearn any songs?
Brock: Still relearning them. I’ve got less than two weeks to get it down. I still need to figure out “The Cold Part.” And I can’t track down The fucking fiddle player who played on that record. I tried LinkedIn to every way I possibly could, including paying for one of those “find people” apps.I have not been able to get ahold of Tyler Riley.
Racket: Going back to the venue for a sec, how do you balance the idea of a music festival and the small town/farm aspect — making sure there’s a net positive effect?
Brock: Remlinger Farm knows how to take care of themselves. There’s a hefty tax to make sure money goes back into the park, so it’s covered.
Racket: Nice. So when fans come, what do you hope they get out of the full-album performance versus just hearing the hits?
Brock: I’m only doing it one night. One is a grab bag of songs we love to play right now.
Racket: You’ve been in the industry a long time. How has album production changed?
Brock: Modern production has option fatigue. The deeper you get, the harder it is to get back to where it just felt good. Old Pro Tools had limits. Now I’ve got six tracks just of me dropping a cup on a table. Back then, we maxed out at 24 tracks — no mug track. I like little noises, but it can get bonkers. Music can get cinematic sounding now because you can dive into an endless world of textures and can have endless tracks.
Racket: The Psychic Salamander Festival precedes your ice cream floats cruise. Is this part of a strategy of immersive experiences or are you just fiddlin’ around?
Brock: You know, most of these were brought up as “wouldn’t that be funny?” Same with the cruise. Once you’re engaged, you make it good. Seems out of left field, Curating a festival is awesome. We curated one All Tomorrow’s Parties in L.A. — amazing lineup, I think it was one of the worst selling All Tomorrow’s Parties, but it was still a goddamned blast. I guess it falls into the category of “Why the fuck not try to do this.” If it’s fun and works out, great.”
Racket: I’m a huge fan of “why the fuck not” as a strategy. Amid all of these projects and years in music, are there still moments that surprise or inspire you?
Brock: Yeah, I get inspired all the time. That has to happen, otherwise there’s no point in doing it. The people I play with, we’re doing this because something is going to happen that I wouldn’t have thought of myself and I get to react to it. Technology keeps advancing, too. I’ve updated my software 50 times during this project. I’ve found new pedals that never existed before.
Racket: I just introduced my five-year-old to Guitar Center. He keeps telling me we should get pedals for my acoustic guitar.
Brock: If it’s got a jack on it, why not?
Racket: Gonna need an amp, too. It’s going to be an expensive hobby once we start down that route, though.
Brock: Music shouldn’t get fucking boring. There are so many directions and so many ways to do it. It’s music, it’s fucking great. It’s its own force of nature and it’s fucking amazing.
Racket: I think that’s the poll quote right there — “Music shouldn’t get fucking boring.”