Introduction
It’s definitely difficult to pick out every little thing that influences you on the path to finishing an album. We pulled from so many different places, books we read years ago, objects we find, something someone said, a good meal with a friend, it all becomes part of the creative process. Here are just a few things that stood out in influencing the making of our first album, I.
Nadia Garofalo
Kim Gordon
Kim Gordon was an influence for us in a few different ways. We are fans of her music, both new and old, as well as her writing.
A few years ago I read her book Girl In A Band, I found myself returning to it multiple times while writing lyrics for the album. She has a quote in the book: “People pay to see others believe in themselves” which helped me with the concept behind “High Wire”. I don’t think this is how she meant it but the quote made me think about the tightrope walkers who walk without nets because it’s more entertaining that way.
I got to see her live last summer, performing from her album The Collective, it was a really impactful show for me. She’s a great example of someone whose work has evolved with them.
Diane Di Prima
Specifically her books Revolutionary Letters and Dinners and Nightmares were both great reads while I was working on lyrics. Her writing style and the way she navigates subjects, from the heavy to the mundane giving each its own weight, definitely inspired the way I approached writing for this album.
Dinners and Nightmares is a collection of poems and short stories, but more than that its memories of her life. It reads like a photo album sometimes, giving care to ordinary things like eating english muffins at the table while in the same piece discussing the realities of being a starving artist in the 50’s.
Revolutionary Letters is her better known work, its a collection of poems/ instructions for radical living. Anger was a big theme for me in the lyrics I wrote for this album. This book was helpful at reminding me to allow space for that anger to exist and inform me. Overall I think it’s a great book for the times.
Flea Markets
We are nothing if not a couple of neat junk collectors, so of course we love a good flea market. They’re great for finding odd things to make noise with, old instruments to deconstruct, or even just observing the wide variety of people and things. Both of which were sometimes a source of inspiration for us.
Brian Fox
Steve Albini
Steve and Big Black are both big influences for the band. Big Black’s dark and menacing sound definitely influenced songs like “High Wire” and “Yikes”. We are constantly aiming for the level of writing that they were at on songs like “Kerosene” and “L. Dopa”.
Beyond that Steve’s philosophies on music, art, and culture resonate with us deeply. I think Steve had a pretty practical approach to making music. Championing things like creative control and an artist’s vision. Like him, our goal is to just make albums on our own terms for as long as we can.
Steve was also kind enough to give us a place to record. Some of the songs off of LPI were recorded at Electrical Audio where I worked for Steve and still work at as an engineer on staff. His impact for me personally is massive. He was a mentor and a friend.
To put it simply anyone who tells you “you should never meet your heroes” clearly never met Steve Albini.
Amitabul
Amitabul is a Vegan Korean restaurant just down the street from our writing and recording space, Altered States. It is a typical after “practice” hang for us where we go feast, commune, and reflect on what we worked on1.
The atmosphere inside is calm and relaxing. Ambient music plays lightly. It is simply put “healing food”. Even though its environment is in clear contrast to the darker tendencies of our music, the food and the atmosphere that it offers were perfect for us. Cleansing and rejuvenating.
Sharing a meal is a important ritual when writing and recording an album. Luckily we have a place as good as Amitabul nearby to do that at. A true hidden gem.
Brian Eno
Who isn’t inspired by Brian Eno? I mean really? He is maybe the coolest person in the world. A lot of his views on music and art resonate with us and inspired the process behind the album. We definitely approach this project from a recording forward perspective, using the studio as an instrument. We experiment a lot and don’t always tie ourselves to specific instruments.
Trying to break out of some of the “rock” band norms.
Oblique Strategies also came into play a few times making this album. For those that aren’t familiar, Oblique Strategies is Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s pack of cards made to help artists overcome “writers block”. It’s filled with vague suggestions and ideas, one of our favorite cards being:
“Not building a wall but making a brick”
About KAPUT
KAPUT is a Chicago based Post Punk/Art Rock/No Wave project by Nadia Garofalo (Heavy Feelings , formerly of Ganser), producer and engineer Brian Fox (Electrical Audio), and M. Sord (Jon Spencer and the Hitmakers).
What’s Your Backstory?
“The Backstory” is a feature where artists share the things that shaped them. I’d love to hear what’s influenced you and your work. If you’d like to share your own story, reach out.
