US rock vocalist, Isaac Brock, is one real cool cat, writes Munya Vomo
We all loosely call each other “rock stars” when we do something cool. If you finally get to meet or speak to a real rock star, you will get why everyone tries to be like them. They are the epitome of cool, as evidenced by Modest Mouse frontman, Isaac Brock – who clearly has a shot at a career in comedy. After trying to connect the international call to him for a few minutes, the groggy-voiced singer finally answered the phone.
“I just took a nap and that went good. Then, I was just playing with the dog and that was good. I also had some coffee and that was also good. So yes, I’m guessing that I am pretty good,” he said nonchalantly.
His band will be in South Africa this weekend to play in the fourth Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival taking place in Cape Town and Joburg.
“We are feeling pretty good about coming to South Africa, although when you watch the news you think, ‘oh, is sh*t falling apart down there?’ Then I sat and thought about it and said to myself, ‘if I wanted to watch the news collectively of what’s happening in the States in one day, I wouldn’t come here actually’. We’ve all got guns and they are loaded, apparently. So we are excited to be coming there and I can’t really know what to expect,” he said, pausing for effect.
“We heard that there are some riots there and it seems there may be disputes between workers there and the people from other countries. I gathered that there are some people who are protective about their jobs and then they behave like a bunch of f*cking a**holes,” he added.
During our chat, and thanks to his funny-bone, Brock (pictured, right) went off on a tangent which helped to paint a picture of what goes on in his mind.
“Today I had a chance of being hit by a tornado which is in parts of Oklahoma right now. We can chat, but do not expect the tornado to pick me up, at least not for another two hours. We’ll be fine,” he revealed.
Back to the Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival. We chatted about what Modest Mouse had planned for their shows and again my curiosity was met with more intriguing responses: “We kinda play as we go and so there is no plan. We usually come up with a playlist about an hour or so before the show. This keeps the fans on their toes.”
Since they have a new album out, Strangers to Ourselves, which took eight years to produce, perhaps we will hear a bit of that?
“I don’t know but we might just play the whole goddamn thing, you know. We kind of enjoy mixing it up so we will just go with the moment,” he said.
A true artist never does it for the fame or the money, but instead for the passion and Brock is cut from that cloth.
“I don’t really know how well our latest album has done. I hear good news then I occasionally go out there to look for the bad, which is never a good idea. There was no single mindspace when we were making this album. I went in there thinking I was only going to take a few months, but it ended up being a few years. It was a lot of sleepless nights and at one time I went for about six days working obsessively on 11-hour shifts. It was at that time that I realised that I could die if I kept doing that,” he said.
“So much was going on in the eight-year period between the last album and our latest one. We were touring for three years and I was producing some bands and soundtracks. I also started spending time in the woods, collecting mushrooms. A bunch of the band members also had kids, and I spent time with my girlfriend. I also raise bees,” he added.
Given that the Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival will have a number of dishes on sale, we asked about his culinary skills.
“I used to be quite a cook, but I then got pushed out of the kitchen by sidekicks. I love cooking, but I kinda dropped the ball for about eight years and I am planning on getting back on that horse pretty soon.”
Modest Mouse have had members come and go since their 1993 formation, leaving Brock as the only constant. But for him, change is good.
“There’s always a positive when someone drops out of the band. I get to make the new person bring in a new style. Something that I picked up over the years is that you can’t control people if you want the best result out of them. You can’t control every aspect of music making and when you let guys come and play with you then you have to give them the respect to let them bring in their own input,” he said.
We shifted the conversation to what else Modest Mouse were going to do outside of playing the festival.
“When I was planning on coming to South Africa I thought about coming out and making time for like an additional week to stick around and decide on what to do there.
“I have three days that I can stick around, but it turns out all I want to do is go to national parks and sh*t and when I thought of it, it turns out that I do not want to stick around only to sit in a car for a long drive, to and from. I will probably have one spare day and will spend it trying to find the heart of that place, which I might not find, and I will probably get lost in the process.
“I am just going to scan the situation and see what I can do with the little time we have,” he said. “Also, I have a video that I need to finalise back here, so I have to leave. I was scheming on having Crispin Glover on the video, but the answer so far has been ‘no’.”
• The Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival will take place on Saturday in Cape Town (Green Point Cricket Club (Oval), cnr Vlei and Fritz Sonnenberg roads, Green Point (next to Cape Town Stadium) and on Sunday in Joburg at at Marks Park, Judith Road in Emmarentia, also from 10am. Tickets R395 to R495 from www.parklifefestival.co.za