Cloud Rat (Rorik Brooks)
photo by Noe Loyola (https://www.instagram.com/n.loyolag/)
1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2020? (In order 1-5)
- MJ Guider - Sour Cherry Bell
- TALsounds - Aquiesce
- Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi
- Pinkish Black & Yells At Eels - Vanishing Light in the Tunnel of Dreams
- Chepang - Chatta
Honorable Mentions (should be in my top 5 but I can't pick lol):
- Silver Godling - Ravel
- Blessed Sacrifist - Loss of Innocence
- Soul Glo - Songs To Yeet At The Sun
- Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full
- Daffodil - i don't know what's wrong
- Sial - Tari Pemusnah Kuasa
- The Necks - Three
- Drew McDowall - Agalma
- Gulch - Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress
- Of Feather And Bone - Sulfuric Disintegration
- clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned
- Primitive Man - Immersion
- Internal Rot - Grieving Birth
- Ripped To Shreds - Luan
2. What band did you discover in 2020 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
I guess I didn't really discover this year, as I was already an acquaintance with Melissa but I had yet to really listen to MJ Guider yet. Sour Cherry Bell has probably been my most played record recently, I really love it and it helped make isolation much more bearable. I went back and picked up her earlier releases as well, all really incredible work.
3. How will you remember 2020? (In terms of music)
I'll remember an unbelievable wealth of incredible sonic gifts being released unto us all, across all genres. Hard to keep up, I'm still years behind as it is lol. I'll remember how many artists, labels, activists, industry folks all came together, even while all were struggling, creating compilations and releases to raise money for legal funds, food drives, disaster relief, healthcare, you name it. And I'll remember how many incredible people supported these causes, especially during such an anxious and dangerous time. I'll also remember that Spotify and other scum like them never stopped fucking artists over while we were all dying and they just kept getting bigger and richer.
4. What can we look forward to from you in 2021?
We're working on a full-length, no idea when that'll be ready though, probably more like 2022. We have a lot of irons in the fire though, working on a bunch of covers and weirdo soundscapes and special compilation stuff -- hoping we can do this all in a timely manner but, yeah. Also working on remastering and then repressing our entire discography pre-Pollinator, as everything is mostly long out of print. Have some ideas for neat alternate artwork/packaging + additional tracks, etc. That'll all be spread out over the next couple years.
5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2021?
I have no idea what's coming up, still working through billions of great releases over the last few years, ha! I'm sure there will be plenty of awesome shit next year though.
6. Trying to put a positive spin on things, what is your favorite development from the global pandemic this year? (Is there a new medium you enjoy, a specific song or collaboration, personal news, etc. that was a bright spot?)
I took a lot of time honing my producing and songwriting skills. I fell back in love with music and am eagerly looking forward to the next time I can play shows and tour -- something that I was becoming pretty jaded about, unfortunately -- lesson learned there, big time. I've grown in many ways, especially when it comes to patience and communication, as helping my five year-old through online school has been deeply challenging but ultimately rewarding. My older child is 16 so handles their own school stuff, although trying to get them out of bed is another story lol. I started a livestream interview series, that's been pretty fun to work on. One other notable thing has been working on long-distance collaboration. I have a few projects going right now, hopefully that stuff will all see release of some kind, at some point.
