by Kyle Eustice I saac Brock is holed up in his Port- land studio, Ice Cream Party, which is essentially a multi-level play- ground for musicians. Surround- ed by a collection of guitars, an array of colorful pedals and a treasure trove of Modest Mouse ephemera, Brock cracks a Guinness, a beer he says he only drinks during interviews. Before he finishes the first sip, he’s interrogated about when the next Modest Mouse album will be re- leased: “Well, it’s gonna be about an hour behind because of this interview, but it’s coming along well.” His quick wit, typically sprinkled with a tinge of irreverence, is what makes Brock’s lyrics so clever. Even the album titles—The Lonesome Crowded West, Strangers to Ourselves, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank and Good News For People Who Love Bad News— are soaked in sagacity. The next Modest Mouse album, the fol- low-up to 2021’s The Golden Casket, is nearly done; Brock explains he’s tasked with shaving the final project down by 10 songs to make the “best record” out of what he has in his arsenal, although he won’t be taking any psychedelic mush- rooms to complete the process. “That would not be helpful,” he says. “I need to be hearing it as it would be heard… by maybe sober people.” For the past several years, Modest Mouse has leaned heavily into its mush- room-friendly aesthetic. The band’s new collaboration with Souldier, Brock’s pre- ferred guitar strap company, is adorned with images of poisonous fly agaric ’shrooms and eyeballs with multi-colored rays coming out of them—not exactly subtle. Brock, a mushroom connoisseur, admit- The Good Times Didn’t Kill him After All: Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock on Mushrooms and New Music
tedly took a handful of them on Thanks- giving, “laughed a little harder than usu- al” and then went to bed. He had some vivid dreams, but it was somewhat un- derwhelming as far as trips go. It paled in comparison to his first trip at 18, when he wound up with a permanent reminder of that day. “My first time was the best one of the best times,” he recalls. “It was acid, and apparently it was really, really good acid... Continue reading at HighTimes.com
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