Article: Elsa's Doghouse: Steve Brodsky
Elsa's Doghouse: Steve Brodsky
I’ve been a diehard Cave In fan since the early 2000's where you could find me blasting their album "Antenna" full blast at my sweet managerial gig at Hot Topic (also where I met my wife). Force feeding unsuspecting customers songs from my personal library of Converge, Glassjaw & Cave In. Never in a million years did I think that someday I would become close enough to, lead singer, Stephen Brodsky on a personal level that I could just shoot him an email and ask if I could interview him for my dog clothing line’s new web blog.... What a crazy fucking life.
I met Stephen a few years back through his band Mutoid Man & we've been pizza bro's ever since. I was fortunate enough to have designed a few t-shirts for them & Stephen has been a huge supporter of my brand Terrier Cvlt and all of it's insanity ever since. We even had a romantic candle lit dinner at a pizza joint in NYC.
The last Cave In album "Final Transmission" has been time stamped to a personal low point in my life & brought me to such a dark place that I could barely listen to it. Now that I'm feeling like my old self again I was beyond excited to hear that Cave In were going to continue on after that album and bring on Nate Newton (Converge, Doomriders, Old Man Gloom) on bass/vocals. I was stoked! Nate has one of my favorite voices in music and I was eager to hear what these guys were up to.
Since Heavy Pendulum was announced I had been counting down the days to its release. Every single was amazing & it filled me with the same excitement I had for new music back in the day which I haven't felt in years. The album finally came out a few weeks ago & I have been listening to it non stop. It feels like a glorious celebration of rebirth.
Songs like "Nightmare Eyes", "Blinded By A Blaze" & "Wavering Angel" really stick out to me. I've always been impressed by Stephen's vocal prowess but this time around I'm completely awestruck. Lines like "floating, floating untethered" have been permanently etched into memory & I'm so thankful.
First off, Thank you for another amazing record for me to devour while I’m locked away at TC Headquarters. It’s been on repeat since the day it arrived. Heavy Pendulum sounds larger than life & is definitely one of Cave In’s biggest sounding records, was this something you guys set out to do initially & how did you accomplish this in the studio?
From day one of writing a new record with Nate, we knew that we would ultimately end up at God City to document it. We also wanted to rectify the fact that we weren’t able to bring what became the Final Transmission album into a studio, which is something that Caleb wanted from the start of that process. So there is a bit of a redemption story here. Part of the reason the production came out so well is because the band was incredibly prepared with the material that we brought to Kurt, which I think helped him function at such a high level.
Was this writing process any different for you compared to your last few records with Cave In? Your vocals in particular are sounding extra buttery!
Well, the pandemic followed by lockdown of 2020 stripped me of a need for the constant multitasking of all things musically, which has become a big part of my day-to-day as a musician. The silver lining was that it afforded me an opportunity to write several new songs at once with little distraction. The funny thing about the vocals is that we tracked almost all of that stuff outside of God City. Kurt was understandably weary of recording vocals in the studio and pushing air around like that during a pandemic. It’s a real testament to his skills as an engineer that the end result feels as cohesive as it does.
I’m currently obsessed with “Wavering Angel” and “Nightmare Eyes”. Looking back at your catalog, which songs bring you the greatest sense of accomplishment?
I’m probably no different than a lot of Cave In fans to think that Sing My Loves is arguably the band’s greatest song. Being in the rehearsal space with Caleb as he appeared to pull it out of thin air was an amazing experience.
What’s next in the world of Mr. Brodsky & will it include another Terrier Cvlt pizza tour?
As of now, I’ve just been enjoying the process of this new album roll out, and not really thinking too hard about what comes next. It’s actually a nice feeling to live in the present, even for just a moment. I’m down for another pizza tour – maybe in Massachusetts instead of NYC this time? I’d like to hit some good spots that slipped under my radar after living in NYC for 10+ years.
Thank you for your time & for always being so kind to us here at Terrier Cvlt. We value your friendship immensely & are so thankful for the music you have created over the years.
Heavy Pendulum was released May 20 via Relapse Records.
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