Peter Gannushkin
Brandon Seabrook's work treads a broad swath through contemporary underground music, dealing in everything from avant-jazz with Gerald Cleaver's Black Host and trumpeter Peter Evans' groups, to klezmer with Naftule's Dream, and other projects like Beat Circus, Paul Brody's Sadawi, Tomas Fujiwara Trio,Yen Pox in duet with
Jesse Dulman and collaborations with legends like Anthony Braxton, Elliott Sharp and Nels Cline. His own vehicle, Seabrook Power Plant, with Brandon at the Banjo/ Guitar,
Tom Blancarte, Bass
and Jared Seabrook, drums have released two self-titled albums, fittingly titled Seabrook Power Plant I (2009) and Seabrook Power Plant II (2011), released on Brooklyn’s Loyal Label. On June 24, 2014, cosmic sound imprint New Atlantis Records will release his solo guitar/banjo debut, Sylphid Vitalizers, and the bar for solo electric guitar/banjo composition and performance may never be set higher. A Blog Supreme define the trio sound: “This trio imagines Americana as thrash/doom metal, punk and jazz all
in a crazed state of improvisation, often all in one song. It’s like a
hoedown, except the hooch has been spiked with speed.”
Peter Gannushkin
Sylphid Vitalizers is the debut full-length from New York-based banjo/guitar shredder. Named "NYC's Best Guitarist of 2012" by the Village Voice, his work has been profiled by NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Fret Board Journal, and the UK avant-music magazine, Wire. Seabrook's work typically reflects the energy, dissonance, and hardworking ethos of the creative rock underground, without falling victim to the aesthetic constraints of scene or genre. His works harnessing hyperreal technique and impeccable articulation to stratify ecstatic cacophony, bridging the realms of extreme rock and the classical avant-garde. Recognized by the New York Times as "a man apparently hellbent on earning the title of World's Least Rustic Banjo Player." Seabrook’s aggressive punk appropriation of the four-stringed banjo is abundantly evidenced on all his sound researchs.
Which was the first and the last record you bought with your own money?
"Theater of Pain"- Motley Crue "Stonehenge" - Ruins
What quality do you admire most in an musician?
Imperishability
What are the challenges and benefits of today's digital music scene?
Making money is inexorably challenging. Digital distribution is helpful to a musician in my position.
What are your motivations for playing music?
To push myself into a physical meltdown.
Dream about a perfect instrument
Something new, light, and durable that stays in tune. Someday I shall possess such a creation.
Where are your roots?
My roots are in Pastene food products and BASF magnetic tape mix poems.
Which living or dead artist would you like to collaborate with?
Chuck Biscuits - Henry Miller
What is some valuable advice that someone has given to you in the past?
"Versatility killed the cat" - Dave Taylor (bass trombonist)
Tomas Fujiwara, drums, compositions, Ralph Alessi, trumpet, Brandon Seabrook, guitar
What instruments do you use?
I use an early 90's Thinline Telecaster, a 1927 Bacon & Day Tenor Banjo, Charvel Model 6 guitar. Three or four Arion Sad-1 analog delays, a couple of early DOD Performer delays an Echoplex and a bunch of distortion pedals.
Peter Evans, Tom Blancarte, and Brandon Seabrook. Live at WFMU on Scott McDowell's Show on 8/13/2008 (August 13, 2008)
What do you like the most about being a musician?
Bleeding, sweating, traveling, collaborating, making my own records.
What projects are you working on now and what does the future hold?
I have a couple of new bands, Needle Driver and Vape Drip- both guitar trios focused on compositions we''ll record in 2015. Working on a new solo album that will be ready for release in the spring of 2016. A million other collaborations that may or may not turn into anything. More reading...
