Brad Barrish

House favorites, Travis have released “Love Will Come Through” for the Moonlight Mile soundtrack. While the track is only available as an audio stream for now, on November 15th the band will release the song as a downloadable track for a “minumal fee,” with all proceeds going to benefit the Spinal Injuries Association. This particular charity was chosen because of (drummer) Neil Primrose’s spinal injury, which he sustained during their recent European festival tour.

It’s always nice to find people that are as geeky and snobbish about music as I am. I stubbled across Braquage last week and was instantly a fan. I immediately emailed VP, having never spoken with him before, to let him know that I liked his site. As fate would have it, his girlfriend had turned him on to Jeans And A T-Shirt a while back and he was a fan. After some back and forth over email, I thought he would make for a great interview. The following interview was conducted over AOL Instant Messenger on August 4, 2002.

Brad: Let’s start out with some background. When and why did you start Braquage?

VP: I started the website back in 1999. Originally, some friends of mine and i wanted to start a magazine that flirted with the ideologies of the situationist movement. We just wanted to create something experimental. Put out perhaps 2 0r 3 different formats of the same magazine a few times a year, with photos, writings and band interviews

Brad: So it started as a print thing?

VP: Yes, exactly. Our intention was to create a fanzine that was almost like a book. something substantial. Eventually, people started to flake out on the idea, some good friends of mine were having trouble with their relationship. So they parted ways and I lost 2 more people who were into the concept.

Brad: What’s the story with the name of your site?

VP: Well, braquage is a strange little french word. We were sitting around a friend’s place back in fall of 1997 listening to the Stereolab album, Dots and Loops. The first track on the album is called “Brakhage,” after the filmmaker Stan Brakhage. But a french friend thought it was “braquage.” Braquage means “the act of making a sudden movement in the opposite direction,” “the act of being set against something.” it also means “an armed robbery.” I instantly became fascinated with the imagery that this one word could generate.

Brad: More people should put as much thought into their sites. Is it fair to assume that music is a major part of your life?

VP: Well, sure.. but then again… more people should have names for their sites that others can pronounce…wahey! Music is definitely a big part of my life. I’d say most important, probably. Many weekly rituals are built around music

Brad: Like Jeans And A T-Shirt :)

VP: Fantastic name. My attire of choice.

Brad: Tell me about who you are listening to as of late?

VP: I’ve been criticized often for not listening to too many new bands. I’m not too into this new wave of garage-y stuff that’s coming out. So I’ve started to rediscover stuff i listened to when I was back in middle school and high school in the late 80’s/early 90’s. So i’d say The Stone Roses, Ride, The La’s. Definitely The Smiths, and anything by The Jam or Paul Weller, in general. But new stuff…I definitely love The Coral, Electric Soft Parade, The Music’s new LP is great. The new Primal Scream…I could go on forever. There’s 150 albums worth of favorites on my iPod at the moment. Of course i must mention the new Queens Of The Stone Age… ha ha ha!

Brad: It should be noted that I did not put you up to saying anything about QOTSA. I am pretty with you on the whole garage-y thing. The Strokes are overrated gasp! If I have to sit through Meg Whites terrible drumming…just, someone get me a gun…

VP: Oooof..yeah…she’s pretty average…but i do quite like The White Stripes. I went to see Interpol last night, and afterwards people asked what i thought. “BETTER THAN THE STROKES.”

Brad: Laughing You think Interpol falls into the garage-y category?

VP: Nope, not at all.

Brad: Oh, ok. I was ready to argue…

VP: I just think they’ve got good taste in who they rip off.

Brad: Indeed.

VP: This band called The Stills, who opened for them, were brilliant too.

Brad: I like Interpol’s album a lot, and despite what I said about The Strokes being overrated, I liked their album the first hundred times I heard it.

VP: Yeah, the Interpol album is great.

Brad: Do you see a lot of shows?

VP: An offensive amount of shows.

Brad: Ha. Some would say the same about me.

VP: My girlfriend goes to more than I do though.

Brad: Wow, she’s a keeper.

VP: Ah yes, she is. I’m willing to take a day off here and there..

Brad: What’s been the best show you’ve seen this year?

VP: There have been so many. I’d have to say Oasis. 13th August 2002 at The Beacon Theater in NYC. Probably my favorite because I had front row seats to it. I’d put Doves up there, as well as Super Furry Animals and the South/Elbow tour.

Brad: You like the Brits quite a lot.

VP: Yeah. Brits and Swedes.

Brad:The Hives or ABBA?

VP: Umm, not The Hives so much. More like The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, another reason why I loved that Oasis show. What was your favorite show this year?

Brad: Who’s interviewing who, mister? Kidding. The Elbow/South tour was amazing, but The Hives at The Roxy was one of those shows I walked away from and was just smiling. I was so fucking happy…It was a totally infectious show. Seeing And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead was pretty fantastic as well. While it wasn’t my favorite show, seeing Chris Martin duet with Mos Def at the Aimee Mann/Beth Orton Amnesty International show was incredible. Oh, and Superdrag.

VP: Wow, all of those shows must’ve been quite amazing. I certainly left The Hives show smiling too. Seeing Chris Martin cover “Songbird” [from the new Oasis album] was excellent as well. I’m glad people still talk about Superdrag.

Brad: I think they are one of the best rock bands making records.

VP: FACT!

Brad: What is it about music that excites you? Like, why all the effort, money spent, etc?

VP: As much as I love the music itself (meaning the collection of sounds), I love the instruments, the imagery, the fashion, the packaging, the venues, the history and the culture. I love the change it can infect, be it political, social or simply on one’s moods.

Brad: Very nice, concise answer. How about some easy questions? First album you purchased?

VP: Ever? I think it was The Beatles 1967-1970 double LP. The first album I was ever given was rapper’s delight. (Ha ha ha. Absolutely no clue why.)

Brad: First concert attended?

VP: 1988. Run DMC/Public Enemy. The Front Row Theater. Cleveland, Ohio.

Brad: WOW!

VP: Yep. Plastic uzis and everything…

Brad: Top 10 favorite bands/artists of all time (in no particular order). Off the top of your head. Don’t think, just answer.

VP: The Smiths, The Jam, The Beatles, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, The Stone Roses, Aphex Twin

Brad: 4 more…

VP: Radiohead, The Who…I’m missing one, right?

Brad: Yes, one more…

VP: Joy Division

Brad:Good list.

VP: That’s the toughest question you’ve asked.

Brad: Oh, c’mon…

VP: This just in from my girlfriend: “QOTSA at 20, thats really good”

Brad: As in billboard???

VP: Yep.

Brad: I’m telling you, they are going to change music…

VP: I hope it’s them and not The Strokes.

Brad: Amen. I think that’s a good note on which to end.

VP: Fantastic. Thanks brad!

Brad: Thanks for your time. Merci beaucoup.

VP: Je t’en prie.

Just a quick note to let all of you know that a new site has launched. It’s called Thursday Three. Why should you care? Well, because it’s a site I co-founded with Chris Sprouls from Neckdeep.net and it’s cool. Get involved and spread the word.

Thursday Three has officially launched. phew

1) Is the 7% drop in CD sales over the last year a result of people downloading music? I think that downloads have something to do with it, sure. I also think that consolidation in the music industry is to blame as well. Less music is getting to consumers and a lot of what is getting to them, they aren’t buying. In short, how about throwing some money at the developing artists. Take a few chances and cut Celine Dion’s budget by a few million and spend the money on development. I’m oversimplifying, but you get my drift.

A perfect example is Queens Of The Stone Age. Instead of charging even $15.99, Interscope (Universal) is selling the album cheaper to the stores, who then turn around and pass the savings on to consumers in the form of a new release by a developing artist priced at $7.99 - $9.99 (depending on where you shop). The result? The Queens Of The Stone Age album debuted at #20 on Billboard. Duh.

2) How much music do you download per month? How much do you buy? You’d think the number would be staggering. I actually think it’s such a pain in the ass to download music, that I don’t do it very often at all. Trying to find a complete album take too much time. I’d just assume skip a meal and buy the album. So, to answer the question more directly, I download very little and easily spend over $100/month on music.

3) Do you copy CDs for friends? Do you ever feel guilty about it? Yes, I copy CDs for friends, on occasion. 95% of the CDs I copy for friends are bootlegs and unreleased stuff that you can’t get in stores. If I copy an album for someone, I may feel a little guilty about it, but I’d like to think it will result in them buying something else.

Chris and I have been working on getting Thursday Three ready for launch. If everything goes as planned, which it likely will not, the site will launch this week. At the very latest, the site will go live next week. This means two things:

1. The Internet will change.

2. Friday Five’s suck factor will be magnified.

As part of what Thursday Three is all about, we are looking for sites to feature each week. In order to qualify, you will, of course, have to be a participant. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll have our people get back to you.

The latest monthly mix has been posted. Comprised of almost all new music, this one is sure to be just as much of a party pleaser as the rest. It’s got a lot of rock, so play it loud (especially the Queens Of The Stone Age track). We’re mad for them. There are a few songs on the quiet side thrown in to…well, you know, mix it up a bit. Get to downloading and buy the albums. All of them.

There are many great music sites that update their content on a daily basis, though there are only a select few that I visit. One of those sites, which I have plugged in the past is Pitchfork. Their reviews are some of the funniest, and sometimes the snobbiest out there. That’s one of the reasons I like them so much. What inspired my little post about them, you ask? It goes like this:

Vincent Gallo: Recordings of Music for Film

Hack director, shoddy actor and utter non-musician Vincent Gallo shits his wettest mess yet: a Warp-endorsed collection of “music” from his “films.” In brief: Fuck you, Vincent. Just fuck you.

That’s damn fine journalism (and that’s just the blurb on the main page). Pitchfork takes great pride in ripping bands apart. They do it with such comical precision. It’s always personal and dammit, I like it.

Heather & Jon got married in Yosemite. Congrats kids.

1) How are you feeling right now? I’m feeling a bit on the tired side at the moment. I spent the entire day in front of my computer (shocker, eh?). Actually though, I haven’t just been sitting. I’ve been working on a couple of web sites. One of them is thursdaythree.com and the other is for cash. I’m happy, inspired and feeling pretty damn good. Thanks for asking.

2) What makes you sad? I could probably write a book on this question alone. What comes to mind when I think of the word is intolerance, ignorance, fear and the fact that human beings, for the most part, are not kind to one another. It makes me sad that people walk around unconsciously, not giving a thought to how their actions effect the Universe. I guess that’s not so much sad as it is disconcerting. I’ll just leave it at that, otherwise you’re going to get an essay.

3) Do you ever feel like being sad inspires you more than when you are happy? Absolutely, though I feel like both extremes inspire me. Sadness tends to inspire me to sit around, write about what I’m feeling and just kind of move through it. It almost always inspires retrospection and I tend to ask myself a lot of questions about why I am sad. On the flipside, and even though it’s not part of the question, happiness is very inspiring as well. It manifests in different ways though. I write more when I’m sad or feeling down. That’s something I need to work on. Who the hell wants to be sad all the time? I do like a little of both though.

The moment that “Millionaire” kicked in, my mind was blown. Everyone in the immediate vicinity was gawking at the asshole (me) playing music at an obnoxious volume. What they didn’t understand was that I was listening to the best album of 2002. The race is over. Nothing is going to touch Songs For The Deaf. This album is masterful, loud and most of all, it rocks harder than anything that’s been released in recent memory. You can argue with me all you want, but I’m just going to turn it up and drown your worthless opinion out.

How am I supposed to convey exactly how astonishing this album is? I can’t. As I sit hear and write this with Queens Of The Stone Age encompassing every bit of my sonic space, I am literally at a loss for words. I could make some feeble attempt to dissect the instrumentation and tell you that everything sounds just right, but you need to listen to this album.

Aside from Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri (the constant members), the skills of Dave Grohl and Mark Lanegan help to make this album nothing short of incredible. Dave hits with such force and love, you’d think he’d been saving up his wad for this record (oh right, he does have that other band). And Mark Lanegan…well, no one can come close to the spooky, nearly sub-sonic quality that is his signature.

I must confess that I’ve had this album in one form or another for several months. Since the day it was handed to me, I have listened to it several times a week, sometimes all day. I didn’t expect to be so blown away by the final version, but I am. And honestly, I won’t name bands or albums, but there’s only been one other band I have felt so passionately about. My hunch is that Queens Of The Stone Age will change music. If they don’t, well, then they will continue to make some of the most towering music in rock. And I do mean R O C K.

[Note: Get the album ASAP. The limited-edition DVD that comes with the album has some amazing live footage, especially from the Troubadour show they played earlier this year. Also, put the CD in your computer and it doesn’t work, that’s because you have a copy protected version of it. It seems that Interscope/Universal are trying out some new technology to keep people from ripping the album. If you end up with one of these albums, promptly return it and say it’s defective. Fuck Interscope and fuck Universal. How dare they.]