Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Brokaw.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up just outside of New York City, in Scarsdale NY, and started playing guitar when I was 12 and drums when I was 13. I became deeply invested in both rock and punk rock music. As both a player and listener I later got into country, classical, folk, blues, metal, and experimental music, but rock and punk rock were always my foundations. I went to Oberlin College (majoring in English) and moved to Boston after graduating in 1986. It took me a few years to find my footing, but in 1990 I began playing guitar in the Boston band COME and the New York band CODEINE.
I shuttled between the two cities for a couple of years on the Greyhound, recording several albums for the Sub Pop and Matador labels and touring internationally. For ten years I supported myself financially working in food service (5 years in a restaurant near South Station, five years for a caterer in Somerville) while I toured and recorded. Making a living in a rock band seemed out of reach, which didn’t bother me – I was ok with the balance.
I worked for 2 more years in local record stores (Mystery Train in Central Square and Other Music in Harvard Square) and in 2002 reached a juncture where my band EMPTY HOUSE COOPERATIVE was making music for a new opera, “Highway Ulysses” at the American Repertory Theater; I also released my first solo album ‘Red Cities’, and was touring behind that, as well as working as an accompanist to EVAN DANDO and drumming in THE NEW YEAR for our first album on Touch and Go – and concluded that I needed to quit my day job and pursue music full-time.
That’s continued to be a fun dare to myself – how long can I keep this going? – And I’ve supported myself through music ever since. Primarily this has been through touring; I’ve played extensively in the US, UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, Russia and Africa, around 100 shows per year for many years. In the last two years, I’ve been deliberately scaling that back (or attempting to), focusing more on teaching guitar and drums privately and scoring films (I’ve scored eight feature films to date).
I’ve recorded over a dozen solo albums, currently play in a few rock bands (THE LEMONHEADS, MARTHA’S VINEYARD FERRIES, CHARNEL GROUND) and work in several duos: one with Seattle cellist Lori Goldston (NIRVANA), one with Chicago guitarist Geoff Farina (KARATE); a new collaboration with Boston dancer/choreographer JIMENA BERMEJO; the duo SUNSET TO THE SEA with Maryland guitarist JEFF BARSKY; HIDDEN TOOTH, with Somerville musician DAVID MICHAEL CURRY; and in a new duo with Irish guitarist MATTHEW NOLAN performing live scores to the silent films of Peter Hutton.
I’ve also begun working on a new project with the multimedia artists Iver Findlay and Marit Sandsmark in Stavanger, Norway. I moved out of town for several years – two years in Brooklyn, and seven years in Seattle – but returned to Cambridge in 2017.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t think my struggles have been particularly unique or interesting. It’s not easy to make a living playing music. It helps to be alert to different ways to hustle what you do, and I probably learned that more as I went along. I’ve been extremely fortunate, for the opportunities I’ve had to collaborate with some amazing artists and for the work we’ve produced and the actual day-to-day work that’s resulted. I’ve been very stubborn.
My interests in lots of different music have probably enabled me to work in a variety of contexts, and for me, that’s been fulfilling; it makes my year more interesting and varied than if I’d focused on just one thing (which I’d heard was the key to success). I think this matches what I’ve seen around me both in and out of the arts in recent years, where people are juggling several jobs or concerns.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
As a teacher, I think I’m pretty easy to work with and can intuit pretty quickly what a student needs. I try to find a balance between pushing a student and giving them some comfort food. I love to get a student playing their favorite songs. I like working with students of all ages.
As a film composer, I bring skills as a working rock musician to bear that seem atypical in this field (though that’s probably changing). My working model is overwhelmingly analog, and I am more likely to find an odd bit of sound design through rubbing a contact mic on a plastic bag than through samples. I tend to play all the instruments on a score myself, though I’ve hired string players and pedal steel players on recent projects.
I enjoy working to serve someone else’s vision on a film, though my own musical personality generally comes through (and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with people who value that and have sought me out specifically for that).
I think I’m a good and sympathetic accompanist. I’ve done this with THURSTON MOORE, CHRISTINA ROSENVINGE, RHYS CHATHAM, ALAN LICHT, GG ALLIN, JENNIFER O’CONNOR, STEVE WYNN, EVAN DANDO, and others. I really enjoy working in that role.
I think my own solo work as both a ‘singer/songwriter’ and instrumental music composer has qualities that are unique and interesting. Honestly, I don’t know which of these I’m ‘best’ at or most proud of. I guess I try to work continually at developing all of them.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I learned a great deal from playing in the band Codeine with Steve Immerwahr and John Engle. Those guys really changed how I looked at the construction and architecture of rock music.
I think that my collaboration with Thalia Zedek in the band come was/is my most special and exciting. Good collaboration is alchemical, and I think that our bond is singular and rare. I’m excited to be touring the US with her this fall, and even working together on some new music.
Clint Conley (Mission of Burma) was and has been a great friend and supporter to me in my life; I was proud to collaborate with him for a few years in our band Consonant.
Through Consonant I met the late, great poet Holly Anderson, who taught me so much about a myriad of poetic forms. Our collaboration of text and music “THE NIGHT SHE SLEPT WITH A BEAR” is certainly one of my proudest achievements.
I’ve worked with the Chicago musician Douglas McCombs for about 20 years now, in the bands PULLMAN, BROKEBACK, ELEVENTH DREAM DAY, RHYS CHATHAM, FLASHLIGHTS, ALAN LICHT, AND THE PRICKS, and most recently in CHARNEL GROUND.
Doug is a consummate professional musician, someone I find exemplary in carrying oneself with class, rigor, humor, and style while remaining inquisitive, enthusiastic, exploratory. I’ve worked with Evan Dando since 2001, who has been a fun, mercurial, constantly challenging collaborator and boss. He’s taught me a lot about music, art, and showbiz.
My best friend David Michael Curry has taught me a lot about art and about life, within and out of our work together in an EMPTY HOUSE COOPERATIVE, HIDDEN TOOTH, and WILLARD GRANT CONSPIRACY.
My new partner and collaborator Jimena Bermejo is teaching me a lot about dance and movement. Good working and life skills I hadn’t processed much before.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chrisbrokaw.com
- Facebook: Chris Brokaw
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