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Brad Rose Interview
Brad Rose is the emperor of Digitalis Industries, which includes several record labels (Digitalis Recordings and Foxglove), a publishing arm (Digitalis Publications) and an online e-zine (Foxy Digitalis) that just celebrated it’s tenth anniversary and is fast becoming a highly-touted companion site for fans of Terrascope online. In honour of the release of Brad’s massive 3xCD compilation ‘Gold Leaf Branches’ reviewed here, we sent Jeff Penczak to the middle of America (Tulsa, Oklahoma to be exact) to get inside the head of this 21st century renaissance man.
Let’s start off with an easy one. You wear several hats as musician, e-zine editor, publisher, etc. What came first and was each subsequent undertaking an offshoot of that?
Digitalis Recordings was the first thing. We (my wife and I) originally released an old solo album of mine under that imprint and set up the Digitalis Industries website. We chose the name Digitalis Industries because we knew that in the future we wanted to get into some kind of publishing. Foxy Digitalis, the e-zine, was the second thing to come along and was just a logical extenstion of the whole Digitalis Industries idea. I'd published a xeroxed fanzine back in the mid and late 90s called Foxy Digitalis, so it seemed like a logical choice for a name.
You openly advertise for musicians to send material in to Foxy Digitalis for review consideration. Now you’ve forwarded a few of these on to me to “consider” and I must admit it can be heavy going. How much material do you receive on a weekly basis and what percentage would you say actually makes it into the Foxy Digitalis e-zine?
Well, there's no way we can listen to everything we receive, but we do try and send all the promos out to our writers, regardless of how bad it looks. (Granted, there are some that we just trash based on the first sentence of the one-sheet … when it comes to promos, it's pretty damn easy to judge a book by its cover). Anyway, we receive anywhere between 20 and 50 promos a week I'd say. Sometimes a little less, but that's a pretty consistent number. At this point, I'd have no idea what percentage makes it in... I feel like it's fairly high, in the 40% range, but I may be way off.
Your in-house labels Digitalis and Foxglove have released some amazing material over the years. Did these start essentially to get your own material released and how do you, as a record company exec make the final decisions on what is release-worthy?
Yeah, they were definitely started in the beginning to release my own music and that of my friends. And then it sort of took on a life of its own. As for the final decision, it depends. Oftentimes I'll ask artists I really like to do a release for the label, so often I won't hear the album until they send me the master. Of course, if I got something in that situation that I really thought was terrible, I wouldn't release it. Thankfully, that's never happened. As for demos and submissions we get for the label, I do listen to all of those (we don't get anywhere near as many demos as we do promos) and if it's something that inspires and moves me in some way when I hear it, then generally I'll talk to the artist about releasing it.
You’ve spent several years amassing a tremendous amount of material for the ‘Gold Leaf Branches’ compilation – 59 tracks to be exact. I’m gonna be anal and asked if you ever thought about squeezing in that last track to make an even five dozen?
Heh - I certainly wanted to make it an even 60, but I didn't receive any submissions short enough to fit in the leftover space. I could have sequenced it in a way to fit an extra track I'm sure, but that would have taken away from the overall collection. So I settled on 59.
How did you manage to assemble such a monumental collection from around the world? Tell us a little about the background and how you got in touch with all the artists and where the initial idea for this package came from.
Well, it took over two years and a ton of emails and phone calls to assemble. I knew a number of the contributors through previous dealings with the label or through interviews for the Foxy Digitalis site, and I just started asking people whose music I liked. It started out as one CD, but then more and more people were expressing interest and coming to me with submissions, and so much of it was really, really good, I just had to expand it.
I've always had this thing for huge, weird compilations, ever since I heard the ‘Abridged Perversion’ CD that Shrimper put out back in ‘94. That compilation opened my eyes and ears in so many ways, that I always looked for similar types of releases. It's just a great way to be exposed to a lot of new music in a short period, and for a music junkie like me it's like 90% pure heroin or something.
Tell us about that unique packaging concept – does every set come wrapped in it’s own piece of parchment, custom trimmed by you?
Every set does come wrapped in it's own piece of parchment. There's actually three different covers, all of them pretty similar … textured paper with a gold floral pattern printed/screened onto it. The handmade paper packaging style is sort of becoming a Digitalis trademark. I hate jewel cases … something about them, I dunno … I just don't like them. So using this packaging scheme was a logical choice for me. And I just love the way the handmade paper looks … it's beautiful stuff and is definitely the direction we're going packaging-wise for Digitalis releases in the future.
I have to ask about that mysterious liner note that accompanies 6 Organs of Admittance’s opening track ‘Thousand Birds’ that says Ben Chasny left the planet on June 26, 2005. Is that an arbitrary date he selected to note that he was sunsetting 6 Organs to concentrate on Badgerlore and Comets on Fire?
I mostly think Chasny was just trying to fuck with people. I’m honestly not sure what the significance of the date is. I do know that Six Organs is becoming more of a group project and he’s starting to do solo recordings/shows just as “Ben Chasny,” so that may have something to so with it. I do know that if he was trying to mess with people, it worked. I’ve received at least two dozen e-mails from fans concerned for his well-being!
You seem to champion the field recordings and experimental avant skronk noise scene in Finland as represented here by over a dozen tracks from the likes of Kuupuu, Maniacs Dream, Keijo Virtanen, Kulkija, Hertta Lussu Ässä, Laura Naukkarinen, Lamppukello, et. al. I’ve always had trouble wrapping my head around these field recordings and other musical endeavours, which, to my ears, seem to shred the musical envelope and sound like a bunch of friends recording themselves rearranging their living room furniture. So I have two questions – first, how did you discover this scene and second, what am I missing – why do I feel like I have to listen to ‘Trout Mask Replica’ three times backwards before tackling the music from what you’ve dubbed “the Great White North?” Help me understand your fascinaiton with this non-musical music.
Well, I was first introduced to the wonderfully crazy Finns through the 2002 Jewelled Antler compilation, ‘Heat & Birds’ (see, more compilations!). Kemialliset Ystävät , Avarus, and Markus were all on there with great contributions. When I heard them for the first time, I fell in love with it immediately. Why? It's hard to say … there's just something so raw and primitive about groups like Avarus that just gets me on such a basic level. There's an almost childlike sort of innocence in a lot of that music (and not just from Finland, either) that I really adore. I readily admit it's not for everyone and can definitely understand why it doesn't appeal to others. But for me, there's just something really wonderful and magical about it.
I noticed that Jan Anderzén and his Kemialliset Ystävät and Avarus projects seem conspicuous in their absence. Was he unavailable or did he choose not to participate?
Jan chose not to participate, sadly. I would have loved to have him on the compilation in some form, but he said he would rather focus on the full-length albums he was working on at the time, which is quite understandable. Maybe next time!
I am familiar with the similarly-themed Norwegian movement based around Tore Boe and the members of his Origami Republika, but they are also unrepresented here. Simply a matter of running out of room, or is there more to it?
I think it was mostly a matter of running out of room. I'm a big fan of a lot of that Norwegian stuff. In fact, I think it's one of the most criminally underappreciated 'scenes' around – a lot of great labels putting out fantastic stuff in Norway.
Another scene that I’m unfamiliar with is centered around a couple of Australian labels that are well-represented here, Kindling and Musicyourmindwillloveyou (MYMWLY). I was particularly impressed with the Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood, who will be gracing the stage at Terrastock VI in Providence, R.I. in April. Tell us a little about this music and how you came into contact with them – had they sent material into Foxy Digitalis for review or did you discover them via word of mouth?
Kindling was introduced to me through Glenn Donaldson from Jewelled Antler. I wrote to Leighton Craig and as soon as I heard his stuff, I was floored. It then turned out that he was a member of Australia's best kept secret, The Lost Domain, who I'd recently heard (via their CD-R on the great Rhizome imprint), and so working together seemed like a natural progression. That's also how I met the magical Stuart Busby – what an awesome guy.
Michael Donnelly, the leader of the MYMWLY crew, and I met because of the mighty Mats Gustafsson [former editor of the essential Swedish fanzine, Broken Face]. Mats and I had just co-released an album by The Lost Domain [‘Home From The Sea,’ 2004] and were both very hyped up on all things Australian. Michael apparently sent Mats a package with some CD-Rs after he'd heard the Lost Domain record. Anyway, Mats told me I needed to check it out and gave me Michael's email address. We immediately hit it off and as soon as I heard Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood and Terracid, I was hooked. Michael is definitely a kindred spirit. Even though I won't be able to attend Terrastock VI, Michael's heading out to Tulsa for a few days while he's here. It's gonna be nuts.
You’ve recorded several collaborations here – Alligator Crystal Moth’s ‘Epicenter Crystals’ with the aforementioned Michael Donnelly (from Kyogle, Australia’s Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood and Terracid), Oxblood Reincarnations’ ‘Milkstone’ with Brad Dixon (head of Banner Elk Recordings), The Golden Oaks’ ‘Grower’s Communion’ with Keith Wood (Hush Arbors, who are represented here by ‘Far Away I Have Been’) and The Juniper Meadows’ ‘A Mess of Cedars’ with your old buddy Chris Skillern. Explain a little about these projects and tell us how these pieces were assembled across such great expanses of time and space.
Well, most of these projects are assembled through the mail and internet by swapping tapes and CD-Rs and MP3s. It all started with The Golden Oaks – that was the first collab project I tried. Keith and I had talked about how it would be great to do some music together and then the idea of swapping tapes and stuff sort of just came up. I had some unfinished pieces of music that I was stuck on, so I sent them to Keith and he worked his magic and then sent me some similarly unfinished stuff, and The Golden Oaks was born. So this is sort of how it has worked with other projects. Alligator Crystal Moth has really taken on a life of its own in that we've probably got four albums of material ready to go. So if anyone wants to release an album, get in touch. Ha!
I should also note that The Juniper Meadows is all done live. Chris lives in Tulsa and we would just get together and press “record” and pick out the best bits. We never really rehearsed.
Doing postal collaborations is a lot of fun, though, especially being in a town with few collaborators. It has helped me grow a lot as a musician, I think. I definitely feel better off for it. Finishing a song can take anywhere from weeks to months (or even years when it comes to my project with James Blackshaw, Sea-Turtle Legions). Though it isn't a total replacement for in-person collaborations. Keith Wood came out to Tulsa last year for a weekend and it was an absolute blast. We recorded hours of stuff that still ranks as some of my favorite recordings I've ever been a part of.
Your North Sea contribution, ‘Guiwenneth of the Green Wood’ reminded me of the ‘Rose Colored Shades’ track on your ‘Full Pink Moon’ contribution to the Folklore of The Moon CD-R series that Timothy Renner has assembled. Was this left over from those recording sessions or something you recorded specifically for this release?
‘Guiwenneth of the Green Wood’ was actually recorded at the same time as another song on that Hand/Eye 3", ‘These Are the Trees Where We Were Born.’ They're sister songs in some sense, especially if you consider that the main lyric of the ‘Gold Leaf Branches’ track is "In these trees I was born." Neither were recorded for either release specifically, they just kind of ended up where they did. ‘Rose Colored Shades’ was recorded a couple months prior to these, if I remember correctly.
I wondered if Timothy’s work with his various folky, nature-loving projects such as Stone Breath and Moth Masque were inspirations for your North Sea creations or if you developed that style of music independent of his material?
I'm certainly a huge fan of Timothy Renner's work in Stone Breath, Moth Masque, solo, and otherwise. He's just an amazing artist and musician who is definitely an inspiration on many levels. I'm not sure how much he's directly influenced how The North Sea sounds, but I do listen to his stuff regularly.
How do you prepare for these different projects and is it difficult to keep each one separate and unique to avoid stepping into each other’s musical paradigm?
Well, it's a very fluid thing that isn't easy to pin down. Much of it can depend on which projects have releases that need to get finished. For example, Autumn Galaxy (a project I do with Ville Moskiitto from Finland) is working on its second album, so I've been devoting time toward that. There's no "set sound" or anything for any of these projects – I like to keep things open. I don't really worry about them stepping on each other's toes. There's always going to be some sort of connection just because the way I approach music doesn't really change depending on the project. I mean, it might slightly be different, but in general I approach everything the same way. But I don't think they really end up sounding much alike at all because of the influence of the other people involved.
Why have you felt the need to have so many different avenues for releasing the many sides of your musical mind. Do you think it has a downside that potential fans may overlook or not be able to locate all the music you want to share with them?
Oh I don't know. I just love making music and trying new things and working with other musicians. I never consciously intended to do so many different projects, it just sort of happened. I'm sure that is a downside on some level and for some people. But I think the upside of there being more music in the world (music I personally think is pretty damn good!) far outweighs that.
Your wife Eden contributes ‘Fall City’ under the guise of Wax Ghost. How is it that the Roses find it difficult to step out from behind pseudonyms and was it difficult twisting Eden’s arm to contribute a track (or was it a forgone conclusion to keep the peace in the Rose household?)
Actually, Eden didn't even know I was going to use that track until I emailed her a tracklist so she could put together the insert. She was pretty shocked! Since she records on 4-track and I have to transfer everything into the computer so it can be digitized, I was able to snag the track without her knowing. She's really happy to be on the compilation, though. Her newest album, ‘Moon & Sod’ [Foxglove, 2005] is getting an overwhelmingly positive response which has her surprised and she's not exactly sure how to handle it. Getting her into making music and making her realize that yes, she can make good music, is probably my biggest feat in the past three years.
As for the pseudonyms … honestly, it's nothing more than the fact that it's a lot of fun to come up with bandnames. I am not interested in being "mysterious" or anything – my name is on anything I release. But yeah, I like coming up with bandnames. It's fun, damnit. Heh.
Now that this monumental undertaking is behind you, what’s next for Brad Rose? Were there musical styles and/or artists that were unrepresented (for whatever reasons) that might form the basis of a follow-up compilation?
Up next is building on the momentum of ‘Gold Leaf Branches’ and getting more CDs out there of artists I believe in. We've recently released new CDs from James Blackshaw [‘Sunshrine’] and Christina Carter & Gown [‘We’ve’], and have some great new stuff on the way (including a [self-titled] Hush Arbors CD reissue which is long, long overdue and a CD reissue one of Tom Carter's most underappreciated CD-Rs, ‘Glyph’). I'm just having a blast. I hope to continue meeting all sorts of great people who are fans of this music or involved in it somehow. At this point, the thought of doing another compilation just makes my head hurt. I'm sure we'll do another one some day, but I'm not sure what the basis will be or when that will happen. For now, I just want to keep putting music I believe in out in the world, listen to Baby Dee records, and continue having fun while I do it. Life's pretty good these days.
© terrascope online, February 2006. Words: Brad Rose and Jeff Penczak. Editorial, layout and graphics: Phil McMullen. Special thanks also to Sinead Williamson.
You can read the terrascope online review of ‘Gold Leaf Branches’ here.