- 3 days ago
Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock stopped by KROQ to chat with Sluggo about the band's latest record 'An Eraser and a Maze,' UFO encounters and more!
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00:01hey who said you could watch uh welcome it's uh it's the in and out burger sound space here at
00:06k
00:06rock and today we have isaac brock hey welcome sir thanks isaac brock of modest mouse is going
00:12to sit here with us for a while you're going to be playing right you're going to do a whole
00:15bunch of music and dancing i've got a whole variety show playing here and stuff nice playing
00:20cymbals together first album in five years you got to be feeling pretty good about getting it
00:27out there how what is it like to wrap an album to be done with it and is it different
00:31with each
00:32album when you've put it away and it's all done uh i have a very short memory so i don't
00:37i don't
00:38remember what it was like for any other album besides this one and barely for this one but uh
00:44i mean you know like the hybrid of uh and
00:51relief and anticipation you know like yeah like how are they gonna shit on this one right um no
00:59just kidding yeah yeah uh no uh it it always feels really good i guess i mean or seemingly
01:09in this case it felt really good to be done with it um and then then you look at it
01:15you're like oh
01:17now i now i have no excuse to be in the studio or right like i should probably go home
01:25you'd love
01:26being in the studio then uh well i mean i have a hard time leaving it right you know we
01:32we have our
01:33own space so once i'm there it's uh when you get into the flow of working like 12 to 14
01:39hours a day
01:39um and that's no longer you know no longer they're like oh oh shoot i have to i have to
01:47also be a
01:47other thing and another thing now right you're always stuck finding needing to find a new purpose
01:52and so i i find all these hobbies that i turn into jobbies cool um you know like ways to
02:00feel useful
02:01and things which is basically hobby farming and and uh you know professional compost making or
02:08whatever really truly i mean that's what the that's what the hobby farming turns into yeah yeah yeah yeah
02:14yeah a a field i'm a field of compost right so the good thing about not like having a memory
02:22where
02:22you're going over everything that's happened and you've done or whatever is you're not obsessing with
02:26oh i should have done this little piece in this song i mean do you go back and listen to
02:30the
02:30and the opposite been out for a couple of months now do you go back and listen to the finished
02:33product i mean think oh why didn't i occasionally i listen to the finished product but oftentimes i've
02:41kind of wore out you know sure uh wore out my welcome with it and right exhausted every possible
02:50angle you know like looked at it in every light changed it a number of times you know yeah turned
02:57it
02:58from too loud to too quiet or whatever you know done all this stuff you have those uh middle of
03:02the night epiphanies where you're like oh i just need to make this sound here and absolutely yeah
03:07absolutely and some of them make how do you keep track of those things you don't yeah you just hope
03:12that maybe it was good enough to to stick with you that right yeah yeah yeah so it's on your
03:16own label
03:17actually right which is uh glacial pace recordings which i absolutely love that name you come up with some
03:22of the best names for your albums and for your everything so thanks yeah so um what is it like
03:27having it on your own label as opposed to the general um i mean if if i were to be
03:35completely honest
03:37uh i just farmed out all the all the independent labels and shit to people who are better at that
03:45than me
03:45right so technically it feels about the same as i'm being on a major label because um you know i'm
03:52not like sitting sitting in my warehouse like packaging records and sending them right right
03:59one at a time right as would be the right way you know so like so all the levers and
04:04stuff are in
04:05position and it um it i don't want to get too in the weeds or sound gross but it is
04:13nice to actually
04:14finally know that most of the money comes back to us that seems like a very ideal situation and i'm
04:20like i didn't i forgot that that was even an option i was just i was just glad to get
04:24thanked on my own
04:25records you know well that's kind of the the modern uh what's happened with uh so much so many different
04:31platforms to present the music the new stuff or whatever it seems is that it does kind of more
04:36likely come to the artists that actually created it in the first place technically i need to think about
04:42it like it also like it just like just where in the food chain you're getting effed is uh
04:49it is different and now it's like it's the streaming platform so so all the money's gone
04:54before it gets to the label to to uh yeah for them for them to screw you out of it
05:01anymore
05:02and things so not to get into a specific moment maybe that it was bad but was there a moment
05:08in
05:08time when you said you know what this is what i'm gonna do it's gonna be on my label i
05:13mean there
05:13there was this i had turned in like six songs that were you know like i was working on for
05:19this record
05:20and they were they were kind of in a pretty early state so i'm i'm not sure that maybe uh
05:26the label
05:27i was on heard what i was hearing in the songs but they were like well you don't think so
05:32um and i was
05:33like oh that's not usually how this works i usually like every other time i've turned in a record it's
05:37just they're like we don't get it but okay right and this time they're like they're like we don't
05:42know we don't we don't you know like we want you to succeed we don't think that this is how
05:46it's going
05:46to happen i'm like oh well crap i guess i should probably think about doing something else with these
05:53and and then like very amicably i mean i i liked the label i was on and i'd like the
05:59people i worked
06:00with her but um but i was just like maybe it's time we just part ways and they were like
06:05yeah
06:05that that's okay and so yeah that's kind of how it went yeah so um are there people you want
06:11to bring
06:12on now like you know like i mean clearly you'd work with johnny marr before with a modest mouse product
06:17but i mean any new artists or anybody that you want to bring on to the label or that you
06:21want to
06:21oh no no i have no interest in putting out other bands like i did i did my glacial pace
06:27used to put
06:27out other bands i'm very proud of the stuff we put out but then after a while of realizing i
06:34had
06:34no idea how to actually run a label um in a way where i was like trying to break new
06:41bands is
06:42something that i used to do a and r and it seemed oh you did yeah for like sub pop
06:46years okay wow cool
06:47uh and it seemed a lot easier when there was other people that worked there doing doing these jobs and
06:55i
06:55was i was just not i thought the bands we were putting out were amazing and i couldn't actually
07:01ever figure out how to get them you know like really that much coverage and things i mean i guess
07:09at one point we got one of them via a cancellation got to play like david letterman or something like
07:16that right which is wild i don't remember it was one of those shows right and it literally moved the
07:21needle for them zero like there was there's nothing nothing came of it wow i was like i have
07:28like if that didn't work right right but and you would think that would be like a home run like
07:32there's no doubt would fire it up and every band says that they're going to tour their asses off and
07:37none of them tour their asses off and they all need money for rent and rent and right uh that
07:45drum set
07:45they you bought them that they just sold um and uh you know like i was just then two people
07:53that i
07:54put out had passed away uh both not great ways i just was like i'm done putting out other people's
08:02music it's just too much of a headache so no thanks yeah so speaking of touring you just did a
08:07bonnaroo
08:08and tune how do you feel about festivals do you like being those i liked i like uh i liked
08:13that one
08:14because it rained like crazy yeah you know and the last year we didn't get to play because it got
08:18stormed out we actually like had to book a show in chattanooga the same day on the same day they
08:24get
08:24the word out and that that was fun but like you know bonnaroo got canceled and then this year it
08:29was
08:29supposed to be pretty okay and then it just started dumping rain and they shut everything down there was
08:34rivers and i was like you know golf carts getting washed away i was like i do like this oh
08:38yeah actually
08:39i'm into this and then it cleared up and everything was great and we played yeah uh what do you
08:44like
08:44about it why did you like that i mean i like chaos yeah me too uh and i like and
08:48i i i like you know
08:50like even those like small wins like just feeling like you overcame something right and if it's the
08:56weather that works for me too well especially with a crazy like you see these massive you know stage
09:03overhangs or whatever collapsing lately which oh no you do i have oh my god yeah well no that's not
09:08happening don't worry about it no but yeah like the b-52s lost a whole bunch of equipment and they
09:12were the whole thing just fell everybody was fine and everybody was safe but it's just oh i do not
09:17like that one no but they still went i believe i don't know if it was that one or not
09:21but some of
09:21these they still find a way to like you did go find another venue and put on a show right
09:25but i mean
09:26like the stage collapsing that's yeah like if that happens when you're on stage that is that is so much
09:31worse yeah oh yeah yeah pennywise has had that kind of problem occasionally when people have jumped on stage and
09:37just fuck shit up so okay yeah but whatever i was gonna ask you about that uh the single uh
09:43picking dragon's pockets that's uh really loud it's the first song on the album right and i i think so
09:49yeah and that's your single now right so did you do you i was gonna ask if you like kicking
09:54off an
09:54album with something loud but i don't remember offhand that's the first one i mean it's just fun yeah like
10:02it's just you know like i guess i like kicking off an album with something that has bounce to it
10:06right right right right and whatnot yeah so um uh uh good news for people who like bad news the
10:14remixes
10:14do you have any absolute favorites from that i'm sorry what were you gonna say i was gonna say i'm
10:19a
10:19fucking liar because i also like kicking off records with the most oh really the most boring song on the
10:25record i think i've done that on like two of them maybe really and things yeah uh like the slowest
10:31song so that everything after that is exciting right um so they think they're in a nice chill place and
10:36then all of a sudden i'm just like yeah it's nice get settled in your seat like the overture yeah
10:42right
10:43or something right right um yes i don't know i i don't know why i do the things i do
10:48um you were
10:50asking yeah sorry the uh the remixes yeah are there a favorite of yours on that on those yeah
10:56i really really like the uh jackknife remix of uh shit i think it was uh bury me with it
11:05and stuff
11:06that's it weird to hear other people take your stuff and fuck with it no it's great because i've
11:11heard it the other way so many times and like but you know like by the time 15 or 20
11:16years has gone
11:17on like i'm definitely ready to hear this thing freshened up you know do you listen to it when
11:21you're driving around or do you even listen to the radio i don't i don't ever listen to the radio
11:25i actually do listen to the radio good thank you except for except for when my kids are
11:31except for when my kids are and i'm driving them places they they just shout requests of things that
11:37i really don't want to fucking hear and stuff right and like what what are some other faves of like
11:42could i mean like watermelon meow meow and it goes like this watermelon meow meow hello is there
11:49anybody there and then some techno music comes on or like the chicken song which is just like a
11:53really really relentless ruthless techno song made with chicken noises
12:03um these people do not listen to good music right um and and i don't know why
12:11i i don't just like commandeer the thing and be like we will be listening to cat stevens today
12:17um thanks no uh yeah well that's good though i mean that's cool my dad would let me listen to
12:21the
12:21radio he hated it absolutely hated it but that's how i learned all that 70s jet you know and when
12:27it
12:27was new and and and so that's good that you do i mean you know yeah i i i truly
12:32exclusively listen to
12:34the radio really oh good and some favorite stations around the country well i mean i i only listen to
12:40radio when i'm driving around portland so i can only i can only do that one right right right and
12:44things and it's good radio still in portland there's there's a few great radio stations and
12:49things and uh and then by by accident i found like what i thought was just i was like this
12:54is a pretty
12:54good hip-hop station i was really enjoying it and i was like oh it's a lot of a lot
12:59of songs about
13:00jesus a lot of like i was like i was like ah what what okay and i was like oh
13:05and eventually i
13:06realized it was like the fundamentalist christian version wow of uh christian rap of the of a rap
13:12station which i hadn't really come across i didn't know that existed when i didn't either
13:16now and maybe maybe it was part of the day maybe like yeah like it was a session yeah like
13:23yeah huh
13:23uh well we're not going to be playing any i don't think that's gonna happen so all right this is
13:28kind of weird i saw this i believe like 15 years ago or so that you said you had a
13:32ufo sighting and
13:33i wasn't able to dig into this i mean i i feel that i i saw one once myself and
13:39so usually i can't
13:40find very many people who will admit to that and i don't have things where i say things like that
13:45often so it was weird it took me a long time to admit to it yeah sure or not yeah
13:50and it actually
13:51took me seeing my sighting like i'd mentioned it to like my mom and a couple other people and stuff
13:57but i kind of just i was like you know what i can't summon ufos right so if i tell
14:04a ufo story
14:05and things and like i'm i'm fucking with my credibility and things because like you know you're
14:16gonna have to choose to believe me and i wouldn't believe me because it's you know whatever yeah it's
14:24an annoying type of type of thing it is yes something annoying about it yes like couldn't
14:30you like couldn't it be a more obscure you know like you just pulled it the easiest one off the
14:37shelf right right anyway so i was actually flying in from missoula montana to um uh i guess las vegas
14:47not las vegas fucking phoenix um and that would have been 1997 or 6 or something like that um
14:56and as my plane was landing it was like kind of going towards sunset and i see out out the
15:02window
15:03like this just kind of discolored spot and then i see it kind of move i'm like what the heck
15:09and then
15:09i noticed another one there's like two of these things and they look kind of like the sky like the
15:14background of the sky and they just kind of like occasionally move but not in a way where
15:17things normally move like they were there and then they were somewhere slightly different
15:21or like up and down and so i'd see two of them then i notice a fighter pilot kind of
15:27scrambling
15:28oh really i'm like oh you think it's interesting too oh wow and this kind of progresses to the point
15:34where there's about five or so of these things and wow multiple fighter pilots kind of scrambling the
15:41area a helicopter or two and i'm like okay and then this like these things start lighting up
15:48and i feel like we were in a holding pattern we were like i got to watch this for far
15:52longer or
15:52else time slowed down right and whatnot yeah and you know i remember like tapping the guy in the
15:59seat next to me who was reading a magazine and being like dude do you see that and he looked
16:04out my
16:04window goes oh yeah and then then went back to reading and i was like okay i don't believe you
16:10actually tried looking yeah but anyway so like fast forward a couple years or something i was at a
16:17hotel in florida and i'm watching like one of those like i had for no reason other than the tv
16:22was on
16:23that channel right it was like ufo sightings and it had tom brokaw or someone uh notable but retired uh
16:31newscaster right as the voice of this it wasn't william shatner's right and and i'm like watching it
16:38and they're interviewing all these different families in phoenix and they're like and like
16:43not not just a person not just like some wild-eyed crazy person it was like entire families right like
16:50retired like navy guy and his wife like an elderly couple who were both like oh yeah we saw this
16:57it
16:57was a it was the freaking phoenix lights right yes yeah uh and whatnot but like and i'm like holy
17:03shit like a lot of people saw this thing they did phoenix lights and i didn't know it was the
17:08phoenix lights you were talking about here's the catch so i've seen the same uh that same
17:16basically show twice right but the second time i saw it the they swapped out the reason that the
17:22scientists gave as to what was going on really the first one it had something to do with weather
17:27balloons or something like that and the next one they put in a different clip that had some other i
17:32don't remember what the excuse was but neither of the excuses lined up because they're like well you
17:36see when looking up from this angle at the sky these things would reflect like that and i was
17:42actually at one point like slightly higher right there you go exactly and whatnot yeah and then kind
17:48of gradually moved down the line right and so like none of this like like your perspective
17:54looking up caused these weather balloons right or whatever to do it right that
17:58shit doesn't check out for me then not too long ago like within the last year or two
18:04freaking kirk douglas of all fucking people said he was flying his cessna and like landing his
18:10cessna at the same time and saw that shit at the same time you were had been there that i
18:15was on the
18:15yeah like that he saw from his cessna or whatever and i was like so yeah so yeah i mean
18:21i just can't
18:21imagine how anyone at this point would i don't believe him i think he just wants to be part of
18:25the party
18:26exactly but yeah so i mean how about these ones that are coming out now does it even look like
18:30anything you've seen i don't know man i mean like the ones where it's uh where it is uh from
18:37a fighter
18:38pilot trying to track something right i mean that i it does check out that if i were coming from
18:44another place like the water there's seven it's 75 water we're not the yeah not the most interesting
18:50thing on right on earth we're bright you know like right like intelligence is relative too right
18:57and like like like there's a good chance we're the last fucking thing and what thing wants to talk
19:03the universe has a lot more interesting things out yeah but it's like you know they're like look
19:10earth it's got a lot going for it 75 of it's rad you know it's just covered in water yeah
19:17just steer clear of most of the land stuff so there's these things they are they are annoying
19:22they're gonna bother you they're gonna try and catch you there's it's awful just don't
19:26go to land 50s movie like day of the air stood still yeah tell me about yours yeah oh i
19:31was in phoenix
19:32as well uh yeah my mom had seen one when i was a kid and i'd never really believed her
19:37except that when
19:38she was screaming at me to come out of the house and look it was already gone but as we
19:43were turning to
19:44go back in all these army helicopters went flying in the same direction they were okay yeah and say
19:52and i meant to mention that when we were talking which is that the fucking like that's the other
19:58excuse when they're like it's just the weather balloons or like it was something it was something
20:02from the name they said something from an air force base or something i think that was the others
20:06like that they were testing something they don't scramble their own shit right like they don't like
20:11exactly like when you scramble stuff yeah you're doing that is a maneuver you were doing a thing
20:17yes it costs a fucking lot of yes to get these planes like like you have to check a box
20:24do you
20:24want to spend a fuck ton of money right this moment right right to get those things even right ground
20:29right exactly so the answer was yes yeah multiple of yes and it happened then as well so it was
20:34fascinating to see i then years later i was uh um very sober hadn't been for a while but was
20:41six
20:41months over at home uh in phoenix looked out the window and i saw what i can only describe as
20:47um what
20:48looked like from close encounter is one of those ice cream cones it looked like it would maybe hold
20:52two people at the most okay and it was just floating float on floating towards me but at a really
20:58weird
21:01moving in a way that i've never seen before right it's silent too yeah and i felt like if i
21:07made my
21:08presence known if i waved to it that would be a bad thing to do i don't know if it's
21:13just you know
21:14whatever i decided i didn't want to try and make dissected and who knows you know but uh but i
21:19watched
21:19it and it just it slowly went and but the closer it got i could tell it was bigger but
21:23it still looked
21:24like it would maybe hold two people and just went overhead but there's no way at that point in time
21:28this is
21:2897 anyone was remote controlling it it certainly wasn't a balloon of some sort it was lit up with
21:35lights around it but it wasn't like attracting attention to itself because it was 97 was that
21:40when it was 97 okay i saw the phoenix and all that shit like i don't know like i guess
21:46they were just
21:46checking wow i don't know really they really blew it if they just checked out one place and especially
21:50phoenix i mean i'm sorry phoenix i mean i'm from there so yeah but still yeah yeah i know so
21:56all right
21:57i got one more question for you and this one comes offline i'd ask on uh on the air for
22:01questions
22:01jamie xx on blue sky uh says uh what other genres do you listen to and do you listen to
22:07different
22:07ones on the road and for some reason she threw in classical do you like classical music i do actually
22:13when i'm surfing the radio if i've gotten frustrated with what what songs the the other all these other
22:20stations are playing i'll just be like you know what we're just gonna sit on classical and whatnot because
22:25it worst case scenario i'll i'll get lulled to something right maybe not to sleep but i'll get
22:32lulled right uh cool any favorite genres uh there there are more genres i like than i avoid you know
22:44right and even in genres that i tend to avoid like let's say young country right or new country
22:50whatever they have whatever whatever it is this week yeah yeah and stuff they still occasionally
22:54have a banger yeah absolutely no you know apparently fundamentalist christian raps who knew yeah like
23:01like i'm a bit no i mean i i i find myself in like much like i did as a
23:08kid like i'll just find a
23:11record or an artist and i'll get really locked in for a while and right now i can't leave john
23:17prine
23:17alone okay you know all right and i'll be like yes i'm just having a priney time and i think
23:23uh
23:24i think before that i was on uh rueford wainwright the third which is kind of a similar vibe okay
23:31or whatnot so you just and then that always like ends up being put sort of in in your history
23:35so you
23:36like you hear one of those again 20 years later and you're like oh this was when i was luden
23:40wainwright
23:40loud and wainwright the third i've fucking something else well right on all right palladium october 20th
23:47uh house of blues on the 21st uh the new album and eraser and amaze is out now singles are
23:53getting
23:53played and uh isaac thank you so much for hanging out here okay rock with us thank you man
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