Sam Hooker’s Tarpit is playing at ess bee see on tuesday. That’s tonight!? Buffalo MRI, ANGELA SAWYER, and Joss are also playing. Read this, then go to the show, duh!
Alison Kozol: Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed.
Tarpit. What does that mean to you?
Sam Hooker: I thought Tarpit worked well with the music I was making, reflecting on feeling stuck in your mind and body as the world moves by, slow and strange. I was 18 when I started using that name, I just thought it sounded cool, too.
AK: What are your favorite acts from DETROIT? What is the music scene there like?
SH: My favorite band in Detroit right now is THANKS USA, a trio comprised of Bill Corrigan, Tyler Hicks, and David Hurley. I think Bill is one of the most talented and creative musicians in town, I’ve always enjoyed hearing him play. This band needs to cut a record as soon as possible. Tyler’s solo work as CRODE has also been incredible lately, some of the best solo tape music happening right now.
The underground music scene in Detroit is massive and varied. There’s so much going on and always something new lurking just out of sight. My experience revolves around creative music at TRINOSOPHES, punk gigs at THE PRECINCT, and jamming, hanging, and occasional shows at the MUG/Destroy Compound, where I live.
AK: Siqest piece of equipment U own?
SH: My Library of Congress tape players for the blind see heavy use. Nearly every out there tape jammer has one (or two, or three) and there’s a reason. They’re fairly simple but open up so many possibilities for playing sounds musically.
AK: Dream piece of equipment??
SH: An infinite and invincible set of patch cables.
AK: Best show u ever played?
SH: One of the most memorable shows I ever played was at Brian Schmidt’s house in Brighton several years ago. Brian put on a string of shows at his place that forever warped my underage brain. The one I played was the second gig I went to and one of the first few Tarpit gigs. I had built a barely functional tape guitar which ended up being mostly used to fend off the storm of projectiles thrown at me by a fully on blast crew.
AK: How would you describe your current set?
SH: The set I’m playing on tour is more of a return to my older Tarpit style, no guitar, less songs, more abstract. I was really into trying to build songs out of the sounds I used, now I’m working on breaking them back down.
AK: What do you see when u stare into the abyss?
SH: There are a few places I try to reach while I’m playing that have been stuck in my head for years. There’s an empty marina made of blue stone bricks, an imaginary turn off a familiar street explored alone.
AK: Whats the weirdest thing u heard l8tly?
SH: The weirdest thing I’ve heard lately is the re-boot of the first two WASTEDYMPH tapes from 8 or so years ago. Wast Nymph was/is Dominique Alexander, who’s touring with me now as BUFFALO MRI and Jh Bastien, who plays as FATTER DUST. It’s truely impossible to place, “what are you thinking?” music, strange keyboard and guitar jams, surreal commercials, bonkers cut up tape samples and who knows what else. Very strange, funny, and well done.
AK: What is ur vice?
SH: I like a relaxed, extended morning, like the one I’m having now.
