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STYLE WEEKLY Article
Scott Brookman...
...uses sounds of the past to create a thoroughly modern musical career.by Ames Arnold
STYLE WEEKLY
17 August 1999Scott Brookman's pop sounds fit nicely into a society where the computer is king and where popular culture casually reinvents itself each day. In a world of Internet marketing and recording downloads, the beautiful mesh of melody and technology on Brookman's recent CD, "For Those Who Like Pop" makes for pure modern music that's derived directly from the past.
Recorded at his home primarily with a synthesizer and a digital eight-track board, and marketed mainly via the Internet, the CD is a clever collection of tunes that Brookman terms "postmodern music." It's not techno-pop, he explains, but rather a healthy combination of humanity, technology and melody.
"It doesn't sound too non-human," the 36-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University adjunct writing professor explains, adding that his goal was simply to make "good-feeling, good-sounding pop music."
Brookman expresses frustration that some still equate "pop" with classic rock or the corporate rock business. For Brookman, pop is an outgrowth of '60s and '70s musical influences enhanced by the development of modern recording and communication technologies.
"It's recycling in a good way, a fun way. You still have to know all the music stuff," Brookman says of recordings that rely on remixes, samples and multilayered effects. He gladly asserts that pop is rooted in "old school tradition ... [but] adding a new spring to it. ... Pop is that free; it incorporates almost anything. The melody is really the thing."
The varying styles included in the "pop" category are more widely embraced in Japan and France than in this country, Brookman says, but thanks to the Internet, it's easy to get the music out to everyone. His songs are not hooked into the exploding MP3 technology that allows listeners to download songs from a Web site without the fuss of going to a store and buying the CD. But his music is posted on several audio Web sites and, like most new releases, tunes from "Pop" can be heard on the popular amazon.com site as well as at cdnow.com and cdu2.cduniverse.com.
"Very little has happened that's not somehow a part of the Internet," Brookman says. Although he has had "limited success with this release through a good old-fashioned direct mail campaign," he says "nearly all of the sales ... have some relationship to the Net either through more obvious online retailer sales all the way down to making friends via e-mail."
The disc is fronted by Twee Kitten, a small California label, and Brookman says Vivid Sound, a Japanese label, wants to release it abroad. Red Eye, a Chapel Hill group, also distributes the product.
Lush with obvious Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach and '60s television- and movie-score influences, Brookman and friends Ashley Bell and Jim Johns weave keyboard effects and drums around layers of harmonies to create a melodious yet eccentric musical mix. Each song is a little world unto itself with its own characters and possibilities.
"Pop is supposed to be [simple]," Brookman says. He explains that the keyboard voicings are influenced partly from Carole King and Todd Rundgren; his multilayered harmonies frequently recall the Beach Boys' glory days.
The part-time professor started playing guitar as a teen and only got serious about keyboards "four or five years ago."
Sick of rock music relying on distorted guitars or acoustic sensitivity - "Don't get me started," Brookman warns with a grimace - he began recording his project about a year ago. There's nothing particularly fancy about his gadgets: the effects come mainly from a 9-year-old Ensoniq synthesizer hooked to a computer with a midi cable. The sonic results, however, are considerable.
He and Bell recently purchased new computers and have plans for more music projects; Brookman hopes to go into music full time, recording CD and advertising projects. Live shows, however, aren't on the agenda. "You're showing up with your computer … what would that be?" Brookman asks with a shrug.
Brookman's not really a part of any hip music scene and that's OK by him. He's content to compose his familiar-yet-new melodies and post his music on the Internet.
"I'm kind of an idiot savant type," he says with a smile. "You can take 'savant' off if you want to."
The Music Link of Richmond
Scott Brookman: The Music Link of Richmond 13 ½ Question Interview. (selected questions and responses from this unpublished interview)
Who are you and what do you do?
I'm a 39 year-old songwriter. I've had several releases for Californian and Japanese labels. I've earned nominal amounts of cash from one film, a Japanese t.v. show, and a PBS kids program. My name is known in the indie pop world, especially among Brian Wilson fans, but my influences are much farther ranging in actuality. Most local listeners can't believe my music comes from this area. The Scott Brookman sound assumes that the stomach-churning "alternative" sound of the 90's never happened. I sing. I don't yell. I write in a pretty old-fashioned 60's and 70's way about pop subjects: girls, longing, odd characters. There's no irony, no world-changing, no agendas, no dear diary. Just fun. (Sadness is present as well, but that is also "pop" when done in the right way.) Harmony is a big deal to me, as is finding the right groove and the right instrument sounds whether through samples or reality. In the past few years I've worked with Tokyo's Eletronico, Los Angeles-based Fur Ones, and will likely record something with Germany's Riviera.
I grew up in Salem where I was in bands with fellow Richmonders Ashley Bell and Jay Lugar, who each appear on my cds, as does another local, drummer Jim Johns.
How long have you been together/playing?
I've been together since conception really. What? Um…I don't have a band, but I was in several in the 80's back in the Salem/Roanoke/Blacksburg area: The Poisonous Sewer Fishe and the Apes of Wrath, a very funny non-power trio. Actually, we did some of my first songs, songs by another bandmate and covers like Grand Funk's awesome 45" "Bad Time" and Bacharach's "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" I haven't played "live" since a poorly-received one-off acoustic guitar gig in '87. I'd like to form a combo in Richmond for recording purposes mainly. I need players with jazz chops who also "get" pop music.
Tell us a funny/sad/horrible story about your band/experiences.
Sad: My brief relationship with an actual Hollywood agent two years ago lead to….absolutely nothing. I had hope, too. All I got was a great list of "almosts." Looking back, I guess the whole thing was a scam. Thankfully, it didn't cost me much money. Okay, not much of a story there. It is sad, though.
Funny: Through the influence of a distant relative, country music legend Bobby Braddock had to sit through my song, "The Undersea World of Sherlock Holmes," which could be described as Anthony Newley meets sci-fi film. Imagine, say, Waylon Jennings, or any vintage country star, with his feet propped up listening to the Doctor Doolittle soundtrack. I think it's funny.
How do you write your songs?
Typically about 2/3 of a song comes in one sitting at the keyboard or guitar. Chords and melody emerge together, though the melody is "the song" because the chords can be changed later. I usually have a few lines of lyrics sort of pre-existing to sing with. It happens all kinds of different ways, however. I had a five-year period where I wrote an average of 15-20 fantastic songs annually. Thank god for old scribbled notes and hastily-recorded demos.
What are your influences?
The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, Todd Rundgren, Carole King, and contemporary pop electronica artists like Pizzicato Five, Fantastic Plastic Machine and others. In the past few years the giants of Brazil's music (Jobim, Edu Lobo and Marcos Valle) have been an influence. I listened to jazz a lot as a youngster, but I also listened to the big British rock groups and country music and A.M. radio pop.
Piece written for Kingsley Abbott's
The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds: The Greatest Album of the Twentieth CenturyThe British music journalist asked Wilson-inspired musicians, including Scott, for a brief comment on the famous lp for possible inclusion in his book. These comments are previously unpublished:
It was nearly twenty years ago that I first heard Pet Sounds. My friend Ashley Bell had read the now famous praise of it by Paul McCartney; that was enough for him and he raced out to buy a copy. He made me listen and we were both instantly hooked. After that I remember making cassettes out of every scratchy Beach Boys record I could find, and then crusing around in my blue '65 Mustang singing along. Since then Brian's music has been a big influence on mine, especially the vocal arrangements, his piano style and chord vocabulary. These days I look to Brian's use of percussion to solve problems in my music. The constancy of the piano in many of his songs frees-up the drummer for those idiosyncratic parts. This tendancy is in full-flower on Pet Sounds, and I encourage everyone who's listening to it for the umpteenth time to pay particular attention to the percussion this time. You're in for a treat.
This Place for Comedy:
Our local paper, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, has, in a weekly supplement, an idiotic column called "Your Two Cents Worth." It is a dry gulch of intelligence, where the barely not retarded citizenry can voice their cliched thoughts and complain about trivial crapola. Obviously, Don Novello/ Lazlo Toth-style prank letters are in order. Scott sent in the following, got one published response, and responded in a brilliant letter than was not published.
Scott's Letter published May 26, 2004
Isn't it weird how hyper-specific greeting cards have gotten? Stores like CVS and the like fill aisles with cards for every conceivable occasion, but also with a card for every possible human relationship : To My Second Best Friend's Aunt on Mother's Day; Congratulations! Fifth Cousin Twice Removed. Your Neighbor's Cat has been Neutered; To My Mother The Car's Favorite Martian on Armistice Day.
What gives, people? Do we not know the relationship we have with the card giver UNTIL we read it on the card? Don't we know that Fitch is Abercrombie's brother without the card itself saying, "From your Brother..." Yet another example of the way corporation's treat us: as the stupid consumers we are.
And here's a puzzler for the ages: why can't you buy a Father's Day card before Mother's Day is OVER? I think most would agree that May and June are out of control in the card and gift giving. You've got Mother's Day, Father's Day, innumerable birthdays, graduations, weddings...I hate shopping for cards and I'd love just once to make a list of all the cards I'll need for the early part of summer, go to one store and get 'em all and put it behind me like Satan. Can't though. Can't get a Father's Day card until Mom gets hers.
--SB, Hanover
Response published June 2, 2004
And this in response to S.B. from Hanover who was talking about greetings cards, Mother's Day and Father's Day. Did it ever occur to him or her that on Mother's Day, they could buy two, three, four or five Mother's Day cards for years ahead? Or two, three, four, or five Father's Day cards for years ahead? They could also do the same with birthdays, graduation cards, wedding cards, grandparents day and secretaries day. And teachers day. And they could stock up on Christmas cards. It's true that you can't buy one card until the other, but that's because the emphasis is on that day. Mom deserves her special day. Dad deserves his special day and so on. Nothing is stopping them from buying at least two or three or four cards at a time, different ones, and just have a special place at home where they keep them and then, when the next year rolls around, Bingo! They're ready. They already have their cards. And that's just my 2 cents.
--RS, Hanover.
Scott's unpublished response:
Thank you to R.S. Heeding your excellent advice, I have already begun hording cards for future use. Though my bank account has taken a hit, I have now stockpiled Mother's Day, Father's Day and Graduation cards for the next 50 years. I have devoted my guest bedroom to this rapidly expanding collection. Though I fear that the breakfast nook and the solarium with soon fill up with cards as well, small price to pay for preparedness and future convenience I say!
However, being so well-prepared raises certain ethical issues. What if, say in 20 years, my parents are dead? What can I do with 30 more years worth of Mother's and Father's Day cards? Are they returnable? Can I send them to people I wish had been my parents?
Also, if my wife and I should ever get divorced and I re-marry, can I give cards I bought for wife #1 to wife #2? What if wife #2 brings pre-exisiting children into our happy union? Can I give step children cards purchased for non-step children?
And, looking WAY into the future...can cards purchased for the (now) undead be given to the (as yet) unborn?
Thank you for making this wonderful suggestion. It has already brought so much happiness to my life.
S.B., Hanover
Here, after noting a snack food mascot's resemblance to a certain rock star, Scott wrote to the company demanding answers.
Date: Wed, Mar 23 2005
Hi:
My family and I have been enjoying all your fine snack items for quite a while now: Tings, Pirate's Booty, Cannonballs, etc...
Let's get to the important question, however.
Why is there are a drawing of 70's rockstar Todd Rundgren on the front of the Tings bag? I'm a fan of his, but I can't imagine why his picture--barring some kind of unstated endorsement--is so prominent on your snack product.
Puzzled but not hungry,
Scott Brookman
www.scottbrookman.comHere, the company responds:
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 10:51:13 -0500
From: "Info Robscape " <info@robscape.com>
Reply-To: <info@robscape.com>
To: Scott Brookman <sbrook@mail1.vcu.edu>
Subject: Re: Tings!Dear Scott-
Thanks for your e-mail. We are glad to hear that you and your family enjoy the snacks. In answer to your question the character may look like Todd Rundgren but that is not who it is. As you know we have many different caricatures on our bags and every so often people will find a resemblence to someone famous or to someone they may know. I hope that you and your family will continue to enjoy our snacks. Have a great day.
Sincerely,
Kelly Fox
"Ever since 1986, we've been dedicated to making the
FINEST, BEST TASTING, NATURAL SNACKS, you can buy."
Dolly drew a groovy mustache on Jeffy in permanent marker in the dreadful comic The Family Circus (4/7/05). Scott was so impressed with Jeffy's new sauve looks that he fired off this email missive. Unfortunately, crossed fingers didn't lead to a response from the Keane empire.
DATE: 4/7/2005
TO: 2familycircus@cox.net
FROM: Scott Brookman <sbrook@saturn.vcu.edu>
SUBJECT: Jeffy's New Look: New Hope for the Undead
Dear Circus:I heartily approve of Jeffy's new look today (4/7/05). I sure hope Dolly can't wash it off! His mustache is very sophisticated, even "European," perhaps like that worn by a lion tamer, lord mayor, card sharp, or obscure surrealist. It's just the look he's needed these past seventy or eighty years. Maybe its a sign that the vampyre's curse is wearing off and he and his family can soon move on from their current status as "undead" to the hereafter--the one where grandpa lives (you know, that place with clouds and robes???) I'm glad to see that the usual gory business with stakes and crucifixes might not be necessary after all.
From Planet Earth,
SB
No response to this one either, a plea for clarity from the TopCrest corporation. Early 2006.
Dear TopCrest:
I recently saw your product TopCrest Reclosable Sandwich Bags in my local grocery.
The photo on the product's box shows a delicious-looking lettuce and tomato sandwich protruding from one of your reclosable bags. In the photo, the sandwich is not entirely inside the bag, which would seem to suggest that it does not fit inside the bag. The photo can be taken to be part of a scenario of dreadful frustration: trying to cram a sandwich into a plastic baggie and seal it and not being able to. Instead it might have been a better idea to use a photo of a mouth-watering sandwich completely sealed within your bag product. That would be more appealing to the consumer.
Also, though the dimensions of the baggies are helpfully listed on the front of your product's box, I'm a little confused on the purpose of this. Should I obtain exacting measurements of my sandwiches in order to best use your product? Maybe keep track of my sandwich sizes for a week and then average the numbers to see if they'll fit inside the parameters? How did you obtain the dimensions for your product? What is considered a regulation-sized sandwich these days? Are there rules governing this sort of thing?
Yours,
Scott Brookman
March 2006 saw an email to Kroger's corporate website from Scott's old nom de plume, Jeff Callahan, re: the sudden appearance at the Carytown Kroger of the kind of enormo-American flag flown at car dealerships, but, curiously, never at actual government buildings. No response here either.
Dear Kroger::
I would like to thank you for the gargantuan American flag!
A few weeks ago, I had gone off my medication and was wandering lonely as a cloud through the upper end of Carytown. Indeed, I was in a sort of amnesica state, and I forgot not only who I was, but where I was. I couldn't for the life of me remember what city, state or even country I was in! As alarming as that may sound, it is pretty common for those of us with this sad affliction.
On this particular day, however, my ramblings had taken me to your parking lot and there, lo and behold, before me was one big-ass American flag! I was saved! I now knew what country I was in thanks to your flag. Soon, other valuable details were remembered and I was then able to locate a pay phone and check in with the medical authorities who were able to assist me.
I thank you personally and on behalf of the multitude of others in the greater Richmond area who have forgotten what country they are in.
Yours,
Jeff Callahan