So here I am on a dark
damp wet night in Newcastle entering a bands tour bus to interview
one of my all time musical heroes.
I walk past Mike Dean,
yes folks Mike Dean from Corrosion of Conformity telling me where I
can meet and carry out the interview with – Brant Bjork.
A musical legend
telling me where to go and meet another musical legend. Either very
surreal or the stuff of dreams coming to life right in front of my
very eyes.
We all know who Brant
Bjork is. Drummer of Kyuss and Vista Chino. Ex-Drummer of Fu Manchu,
Producer, Solo Recording Artist and Desert Rock/Stoner Rock Legend.
And there is me. Steve.
Co-Head Honcho of Sludgelord. What the hell am I doing here with
Brant Bjork right before the Vista Chino show in Newcastle Upon Tyne
at Newcastle Academy 2. The very last show of the UK Tour.
Oh yeah – I am here
with my brother to interview Brant Bjork on music, life and
everything in between. So this is what happened when I interviewed
Brant Bjork.
Q1 – Hi Brant.
Thanks for doing this. How has the tour been?
Brant – No problem.
Tour has been great man. Been in the UK for little over a week now
and the UK has been great to us. UK is always great. I always love
coming to the UK to perform.
There always seems to
be a more genuine appreciation for Rock Music here in general. Even
with my other tours such as the solo tours I always schedule multiple
dates as it's always awesome to play live here.
Q2 – Peace has
been out for a couple of months now. Been greatly received from fans
and critics alike. Have you been happy with the responses so far?
Brant – Yeah it's
always nice when people appreciate what you do. It can be a little
frustrating if they don't like it. But as an artist you know I have
been doing this long enough that it's part of making your work
public. I don't create music with the hopes that people will like it.
If I like it then that's the most important thing.
So people embrace it
then that's cool and people who don't then that's fine too. With this
particular record at this moment in time, I'm very content. I knew
going in what the record is and how it is in nature. It will appeal
to some and not others.
Q3 – The Stoner
Rock crowd is loving it and it's great you came back with such a
strong album especially after the legal troubles you guys went
through with Kyuss Lives?
Brant – It is cool the Stoner
Rock crowd are digging it. Yeah it was quite a process and it's
something I have never experienced before, which was very tough
indeed. Strange experience when your passionate about creating stuff
and you have this super negative thing that you have to address
simultaneously..
It can really test your spirits. I am really proud of us pulling through this and what we have managed to create. It was a learning experience.
Q4 – Did you
think 20 years ago when you left Kyuss that you would be in another
band with John?
Brant – No. I didn't.
Going back to the days of origins there is no irony that John, myself
and Nick put the band back together as we were always on the same
page. You literally couldn't have 4 different people in Kyuss. None
of us are similar. But spiritually, philosophically and mentally –
John, Nick and myself were always close enough to always get along.
But saying that I never
thought I would be in another band with John and Nick. John called me
up in 2010 – he didn't call me up to start a new band. He said lets
put the band back together. We waited for years, hoping, assuming and
seeing people becoming more and more familiar of the band and music
we created.
The odds were getting
less and less as the years went by. And that's what makes Bruno
Fevery so amazing. We never guessed we would find someone like Bruno.
So much time had passed. It's cool a musician from another generation
would be able to learn and influence that style of music and be able
to step in.
Q5 – You hit
the jackpot with Bruno joining Kyuss Lives as the guitar work on
Peace is amazing through out?
Brant – Bruno is the
key figure. John called me up in 2010 and said lets get Kyuss back
together. I told him I wasn't expecting this. But I had been slugging
it out for over 10 years with other records and I needed a break.
Wouldn't mind getting back with the band format.
For me Kyuss was
something fully not realised. Lot of work to be done. John suggested
Bruno and I seen him do the Garcia Plays Kyuss Tour. I said lets jam
and see what happens. From the very first jam that day we decided to
make new music. We didn't decide to make a new album 6 months to a
year as Kyuss Lives. It was done within the first 6 minutes of that
jamming session.
Q6 – How did
you get Mike Dean involved as he is from a different musical
background to Kyuss Lives and Vista Chino?
Brant – Yeah. I guess
it does look a strange choice looking in. For me – Chris Cockrell –
original bassist from Sons Of Kyuss – who I was best friends with
when I started the band. Our favourite band that time was Corrosion
Of Conformity and our favourite bass player was Mike Dean.
Nick was a huge Mike
Dean fan. And the whole reason I love Scott Reeder growing up is
because he was the Desert Rock scene version of Mike Dean.
Nick came back to the
band and the lawsuit shook everyone up. The dust settled and we
recorded the record. We were a unit again and everything was looking
good. A week before we were leaving for Australia as this was the
last ever Kyuss Lives tour. Nick got into some personal troubles
again and he wasn't able to go.
At this point between
Nick and Scott I was thinking I may as well shoot for the moon and I
decided to call Mike Dean. Been friends with him for years. I called
him up and he was on a plane within 48 hours. I knew spiritually it
was the right decision and that it would be awesome. And it was and
still is awesome. There is no drama and our schedules were the same
and we committed to this tour.
We will go home for the holidays and see what happens.
Q7 – On Peace
you worked more with John than you did on Kyuss. How did that go?
Brant – Yeah. Well my
writing partner in Kyuss was Josh. So that's what made the music roll
with Kyuss. Plus it was a big part why I was frustrated and left
because Josh didn't want to do that any more.
So I knew coming back
in 2010 I knew I would have to develop a writing partnership process
with Bruno because at that point Nick had already left. John isn't an
instrumentalist. He writes lyrics and comes up with melodies. He
dabbles with the guitar but he doesn't play. I didn't want to write
everything myself. What's the point!!!
Part of my love in the
beginning was bouncing ideas off Josh. That was the nature of our
relationship. We didn't even hang out or anything. Bruno and I hung
out and he came to the desert and by then we were already developing
a writing chemistry. We did this by jamming on the tour bus from
Kyuss Lives. Fleshing out ideas and bouncing ideas over time at my
home studio.
Q8 – You have
had an epic career. Drummer, band member, solo artist and producer.
Which part of your career has been your favourite?
Brant – It's hard to
say. Whatever I am doing at the time is my favourite. There are
elements of my solo career are really rewarding and I love playing
drums being in a totally organic rock band. This is the sort of band
that I thrive on.
There are probably a
lot of other things that I haven't done yet that I will no doubt
enjoy.
Q9 – You have
just finished producing Black Pussy's début album Great band.
Brant – Yeah. I have. I
don't know if Dustin has officially mixing the record. The last I
spoke to him he was just finishing it up. It's a monster record.
Once they get over to
Europe, they are going to turn some heads.
Q10 – Kyuss and
yourself included are considered as major influences on the Stoner
Rock Scene/ Are you happy with that legacy?
Brant – I hear about
it more than I experience it. Every now and a while I see a band and
I can detect a slight influence. To be honest it's kind of rare as I
don't really go out much. (Everyone laughs).
It's flattering to hear
you influenced people to play music. We originally played music
because of other people. We were inspired by other bands ourselves.
It's always nice to contribute to the inspiration of others. But it's
not what fuels me.
It's funny because I
don't know where Stoner Rock begins and ends. People might say Kyuss
were pioneering this thing but I always think of the bands before us.
Saint Vitus for example. They were way before us and they were
clearly doing something different.
For whatever reason,
Kyuss were doing a thing at a certain time that got people curious.
Like a romantic mythological relationship and I understand as we came
from a trippy place. Really where we came from and what we doing in
late 1980's is probably 10 times gnarlier that people actually think
it is.
That's what's crazy
about it. We didn't know any different. We had nobody in the desert
back then. The one thing that bonded us all together was all the
bands were very different and all the people were freaks doing their
own thing. We all thought we were on another planet and no one knew
we were there and none of us were going nowhere.
Q11 – It seems
Stoner Rock scene is growing and younger fans are starting to
appreciate bands such as Kyuss, Clutch, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu and
Karma To Burn?
Brant – That's the
thing I have noticed with the Stoner Rock scene. The scene that I
grew up was Punk Rock and majorly influenced by. Stoner Rock was this
underground movement as well. A lot of people thought Punk Rock would
go away. I am sure the Punk Rockers in 1979 said – This is dead.
Forget it and we will never see it again.
You might not think
Blink 182 and Green Day is punk rock. In their minds they are punk
rock. The kids minds they are punk rock. Millions of record sales
later. To me Black Flag is Punk Rock. It never went away.
I am seeing that with
Stoner Rock – it never went away. A lot of people thought it would
as it's a novelty. It was a cool thing. It was a response to the
Seattle Grunge Scene and commercial rock scene of the early 90s.
But Stoner Rock will
not go away. It kinda seems to grow to. It's not getting huge but
it's bigger than the year before that. To me Stoner Rock is non
commercial rock. Who knows – maybe one band will be able to turn it
into a commercial sound like Punk Rock. Then Stoner Rock will turn
into a whole new meaning. We will have to wait and see.
Bands like Monster
Magnet – I love. I love Fu Manchu and Sleep. Those were the only
bands that was doing it back in the day when Kyuss were doing it.
It's cool that younger
people are getting more into Stoner Rock. To me that was one of the
main factors with Kyuss Lives. Younger people are getting into it.
It's exciting to see younger fans at our shows to fully experience
it.
Q12 – Out of
your entire career – What is your favourite ever record you have
created?
Brant – Yeah. That a
tough one. I like different records for different reasons. I think my
first solo record. It was really an important record for me. That was
a record I didn't anticipate making. I never thought in a million
years I would be a solo artist. That was a real breakthrough and
accomplishment for me.
Q13 – You have
more plans for more records to be released in the future like
Jacuzzi?
Brant – Hopefully
yeah. I have a couple of records. A solo record that I really need to
finish. The basic tracks are done which I last done about 3 years ago
when John called me about Kyuss Lives. I had quite a lot of stuff
planned out.
I had 2 live records, a
studio record and my instrumental record – Jacuzzi. All that I was
working on when John called me back in 2010. I shelved it as I was
exhausted with my solo efforts. It's very rewarding but it takes a
lot out of you. 10 years of my life.
I got married and I was
starting a family in 2010 too. So this was the perfect time to be
part of a band. We will finish off this tour and I will finish off
Jacuzzi and maybe some of the other stuff as well.
Q14 – What can
we expect from Jacuzzi?
Brant – Jacuzzi has
been recorded in my house in the desert. It's very raw and more of my
jazz and funk influences. It's not a rock record. More of a groove
record.
Q15 – On this
tour you have been mixing Vista Chino tracks with Kyuss hits.
Brant – Vista Chino
is just an extension of the Kyuss adventure. We are not trying to
shove Vista Chino down peoples throats any more than we are with the
Kyuss material. Like I said we see the Peace record as an extension
of the trip.
We play 6 new songs and
the rest are Kyuss classics. We weave them together. It's fun to do.
I enjoy it and the crowd response has been great. The new material
sits really well with the old stuff.
Q16 – How did
you decide what Kyuss tracks to use?
Brant – We sat down
and discussed these things through. We are older and wiser now unlike
when we were younger. We were kids, we weren't thinking much about
things and that's why it probably was what it was back then.
Now we are like –
Lets do this. People dig this one and lets do this one because people
like it. A lot of it is because we think the band plays this song
really well and we enjoy playing it. We are not in it to butcher a
particular song because we think it will be artful or the crowd might
like it. Or to be different for different sake.
That was the philosophy
going into Kyuss Lives. We were rewarded already. Lets give the fans
something they want as they have waited patiently for years to hear
them.
Sludgelord –
Well Brant. Thanks for your time on this. Really appreciate you
taking the time out to talk to us. The best of luck with the tour.
Thanks again.
And there you have it.
A truly incredible experience that I will never forget.
I want to thank the
following people for arranging this interview.
Brant Bjork for taking
the time out to talk to us at Sludgelord
Aaron Pickford
(DOUBLEADOOM77) and Andy Turner at Napalm Records for arranging
interview for me.
