"Krone" interview

Brant Bjork: “Sacrifice my whole life to music”

Desert rock legend Brant Bjork has turned his solo project into a trio and released his new album "Once Upon A Time In The Desert".

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Duna, Richard Sibbald)

Californian Brant Bjork made desert rock history as the drummer for Kyuss and later Fu Manchu. The likeable thoroughbred musician has been touring solo for 25 years and is releasing his latest album "Once Upon A Time In The Desert" as a trio for the first time. The "Krone" spoke to him about dangerous nostalgia, betting on one card and why there was never a Kyuss reunion.

"Krone": Brant, "Once Upon A Time In The Desert" is the first album under the name Brant Bjork Trio and you have also resurrected your old label Duna for it. After around 18 years ...
Brant Bjork: I'm just riding the wave that is called my musical adventure. I never planned to go on tour with a trio, but things have fallen into place and it fits. We played a few small shows, that went well. Then a quick tour, that went well too. I love the music we play and I love the guys I've been friends with for a good ten years. I grew up with Mario Lalli. We've been playing music together since we were 13. This band is one that forms at some point when you've been in the industry for a long time.

And then you suddenly record an album?
The album was never planned. But when the time came, I wanted to release it myself and thought of my old label Duna. I had this partnership for many years for a reason and now everything has come together again and feels good. The timing couldn't be better with this band and this album.

Will the label now remain just your personal playground or do you also plan to release other acts and albums on it?
The album was definitely necessary to get the label back out of the water. We want to keep going and release more albums, but there's no big master plan. Whether it's our albums, other people's albums or both, it's going to be fantastic.

What makes this trio so special? You've worked with so many different musicians in different projects over the years. What new things does this constellation bring you?
Things have developed over the years, an old friendship has expanded into a working relationship again. Mario and I have a shared history and our families know each other. It was similar with Stoner and Nick Oliveri back then. We know each other on so many levels that the collaboration just made sense and worked. Stoner was always just meant to be a project that was active here and there. Then I went back to my solo roots and figured I needed a band for live gigs. Corona thwarted those plans. Then Mario came along and asked me why he wouldn't play bass with me and so one thing led to another.

All things and decisions in life lead in certain directions. Just like here.
Exactly, that's 100 percent the case. That's life, isn't it? We have ideas and plans and then everything turns out differently. (laughs) We have dreams and wishes, but we have to accept that they can only be fulfilled to a certain extent. The older I get, the more I'm interested in pure music. I'm not interested in everything else around it. I want to make music with people whose company I value. Opportunities come and go. Doors open and close. You always have the chance to take a step or not. Every single one of my projects has been an active "yes" to an opportunity. I always wanted to try. You can then see whether it works out anyway.

Does each new step in your career build on the previous one? Is your career built on an ongoing process?
I think it's a natural path for artists to respond to what they've created and move on from there. Whether you have a clear profile like AC/DC or an intangible, sprawling one like Frank Zappa. They both actually do the same thing, just in different ways. One stays true to their roots, the other is always trying to find themselves anew.

In places, "Once Upon A Time In The Desert" really sounds to me as if you've summarized your entire career in as condensed a way as possible.
Maybe that's true. It's like in movies. There are the great classics, such as "Once Upon a Time in America". Sergio Leone made that movie and he had to make a lot of compromises to get the cut he wanted. But this story tells you America in just under four hours. Maybe that's what my discography does in a way - that's why I borrowed the album title from this movie. The facts and the folklore blur into a nebulous whole - it's the same with my music.

It's fair to say that you are the most active ambassador of Western American-style desert rock.
I'm a finger of one or two hands full of people who have been doing this for a long time. No one is more important than the other. We just do what we want to do and what flows out of us.

Maintaining the magic of the old desert rock days and combining it with modern recording possibilities. Blending new visions with old - is that the quintessence of the Brant Bjork Trio?
Good question, I've never thought about that. I certainly don't feel responsible to work that way. I feel the desire and the need for freedom in my art - there is no room for any form of responsibility. You must never forget: When we were young and formed Kyuss, we didn't want to live in the middle of nowhere in the desert. We weren't happy there, it was boring as hell, so we made the best of the situation. There was a subconscious spirit that ran through us all and got us into music. The desert rock scene was no different to the first wave of punk rock. It was about being yourself and feeling freedom and joy as an individual. Some people live under the misconception that Kyuss represented a certain sound of the desert, but that was never the case. We were just a band that sounded like nobody else and that was important to us.

Like the punk bands that wanted to stand out in England and America?
A little bit yes. We had such a psychedelic Beatles style. There were projects that were jazzier and more progressive, but they all had this underground context that connected us. In my head, I'm nothing more than a fucked-up underground punk from East London - except that my East London was the Californian desert and my underground punk was the desert sound.

You've always enjoyed making a name for yourself in punk rock and hardcore projects. There is definitely a direct musical parallel to your life.
It's all been part of the story and the journey, if you like. What better music is there than old Ramones or Black Flag?

You've been doing very well as a solo artist for almost 25 years now. Your first album came out in 1999. Do you still have the feeling that the legend of Kyuss will forever overshadow everything you've done since then?
I started writing my own personal story the day I wrote the first riff and the first song. With Kyuss, and later Fu Manchu, I was a musician, part of a songwriting team and sometimes responsible for the production. That was nice, but at some point I realized that it wasn't exactly the music I had in mind. It was time to do my own thing, but I realized that it was difficult, if not impossible, to compete with a band like Kyuss that had made such a strong musical history. In our prime we were certainly one of the best rock bands on the planet and I'm immensely proud of that history.

We made some great albums. In the meantime, I have also established myself as an artist. I have fans who want to hear my songs, who don't know Kyuss inside out and are just waiting for covers. But I don't deny my history and I don't downplay it either. That's all perfectly okay for me, it's just the present that looks different. Of course it often gets on my nerves when people refer to me as Kyuss, but without this band I wouldn't be here today. I'm fully aware of that.

You reached out a few years ago when there were rumors of a Kyuss reunion ...
We tried it, but Josh (Homme - author's note) didn't get back to us. We then had the Kyuss Lives! project, which I loved. We were a fantastic band, played great shows and people loved it. It was proof of how important this band was to them. One night Nick Oliveri called me and read me an interview with Josh. He said that he might be interested in playing with Kyuss. Nick then gave me his number, we spoke on the phone and had a really nice chat - but it just never happened.

I didn't instigate these reunion thoughts, but I called him and thought we could rekindle that kind of friendship from before. We've had so many life-changing moments in life together. Let's go for a beer. Talk. Remember what it used to be like. We talked for 20 minutes and it remained an unresolved "maybe". We both have a good idea of why things got out of hand back then, and it couldn't quite be sorted out. So there is no Kyuss reunion. That's okay. That's one less thing I have to worry about.

Today you're the bandleader and the boss. What Josh always was with Kyuss, you are now with the Brant Bjork Trio. Does this role suit you well?
I'm actually convinced that I'm a pretty effective leader. But you're nothing without a good team. So the most important thing is to work with the right people, then the leadership quality comes naturally. You know what's funny - I racked my brains for a long time about what to call the project. My girlfriend then said to me that I had written all the songs, the music and the lyrics - why the hell shouldn't it say Brant Bjork? That was the beginning of my solo career, which wasn't planned as such. I had a great time with Fu Manchu, but I had to move on musically, that wasn't enough for me. I'm one of those artists who have to record and play when the muse kisses them. I can't always wait for others in a band. Patience has never been my strong point.

The opener of your new album is called "You Are Free". Is there a connection between this song and your desire for freedom?
My lyrics have always been a mixture of reality and fiction. I share my personal experiences and emotions as well as completely fabricated fantasies. Often even in the same moment and in the same song. This song is about a person close to me who has to get out of a difficult position, which is not easy for her. I read somewhere that it is actually much more painful to stay in a situation than to change. You have to actively allow it.

Maybe the album doesn't follow a clear concept, but do you have a kind of physicality that somehow unites or links all the songs on "Once Upon A Time In The Desert"? 
That's hard to say. People always want us artists to explain what we're thinking and what approach we're taking, but for me it's totally natural and completely unplanned. Art is an important part of healing for me. Sometimes I need to express myself directly to help myself. Sometimes I want to have casual fun and invent strange stories. There are always bridges between these worlds, but no clear connections. After so many years, it happens to me that I write lyrics that have already existed in this or a similar form. I only get to the chorus and then think to myself "Shit, now all over again". (laughs) Life is crazy.

"Shit, back to square one" - that's actually a good motto for life itself. Have you learned or had to learn over the years that it's always about new beginnings? 
That's already becoming deeply philosophical, we don't have that much time. (laughs) I basically see myself as a person who has no particular qualifications for anything. I'm not someone who should be given a lot of responsibility, because I think everyone should bloody well live their life as they see fit, as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. Life is hard, that's a fact and we all try to make the best of it. At least that's all I do. I can only look forward, that's all there is to it.

You got into music at a very young age - was there ever a plan B? Or did such an idea possibly solidify during the pandemic, when many artists had the rug pulled out from under them?
I think someone once asked Duke Ellington in the 1950s how he could be so long-lived and successful in the jazz world. He said he never had a plan B and that's exactly how it was for me. As a child, I fell in love with skateboarding and playing the drums. Then I picked up the guitar and formed my first punk band. I quickly knew that I wouldn't become a professional skater because I simply didn't have the talent, so I focused on music early on. I love music more than anything and sacrifice my whole life to it - that's it. I also never stopped or withdrew. I was a failure at school and dropped out after a few classes to have more time for music.

Has anyone ever asked you if you could imagine yourself as a jazz musician?
I love jazz. If a side project came up that went in that direction - why not? But jazz musicians are trained and real professionals. They also know the theory of music inside out - that's not me. But if it's purely about passion, then I can well imagine taking the blues and jazz route.

Let's get back to the album - a song title like "Magic Surfer Magazine" naturally stands out. What's it all about?
You'll laugh, but this song is not based on fiction. (laughs) As a kid I was totally obsessed with surfing, that was even before I discovered skateboarding. Surfing and punk rock. Every week I would scrape together my pocket money, go to the nearest store and buy a surf magazine. Today the kids have their smartphones, for me the magazine was an escape into other worlds. There was almost only crap on TV, a maximum of four channels were okay. The magazine was full of cool pictures, the store was air-conditioned. It was all just right. For me, it always felt like the summer would never end. Once a year I went to the beach with my family and I always dreamed of the surfer lifestyle. The song touches on the nostalgia of when my whole wall was full of posters. I was the kid who lived in the middle of the desert, but whose wall was full to the top with surf posters. (laughs) I still run around in surfer outfits today because I like it so much.

That sounds like a classic 80s upbringing in western America. We Europeans all have a pretty clear idea of it because we've all been socialized with Hollywood films. Are they close to reality?
That's a good question, I can't answer that for you because I don't know exactly what Europeans think. I can only tell you from my past. I was only about an hour and a half away from the beach, but for a child that's a whole world away. You can't just move there on your own if you want to - the distance ratio is completely different. I didn't even make it to the next town myself if my parents didn't drive me. For me, this also put an end to my dream of a surfing career. The sea and the opportunities were too far away and I gave up on my big dream.

So the album is generally very steeped in nostalgia?
A little, not all the way through. But you have to be careful with nostalgia. It pretends to be your best friend, but it can pull you into an abyss because it lures you away from reality. For artists, however, it is quite normal to reflect and take a few steps back in life.