A few Thursdays ago, I got out of the godforsaken house, headed to The Tap Room on Locust and saw the best show I could have hoped for, namely, Nathan Cook’s Bruxism series, which featured three acts that will definitely have me back again. Brett Underwood roamed about the room with other poets before the show, with his inimitable smile and graciousness. I mention Brett for a simple reason: he’s a staple figure at the Tap Room, and goes out on nights off to witness wonderful shows such as Bruxism. He gets off his ass, and is a part of something. And the trio of performers that night took my breath away, along with the community of artists and listeners who came out in support of the on-going series. Yeah. I grind my teeth as well, according to some doctors, due to angst and that sort of thing. But seeing acts such as Stone Lobster—a combination of synths and saxophones—the pain recedes and I go out of the Tap Room with a joy into the cold. Albert Kuo performed an astonishing rendition of Vivaldi’s Spring, and Louis Wall’s three-part drum and synth performance opened the night with such precision and power that left my dumb mouth open. Wall’s interaction with the audience was genuine, and his abilities as a drummer put one in the mind of Ginger Baker or Glen Kotchke. I spoke to Bruxism’s founder, Nathan Cook. He is as gracious in person as he is in print, and it’s such a damn fine thing he’s doing:
How did Bruxism begin?
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It started as a collaboration with Tiffany Minx at Apop Records on Cherokee Street. I approached her to see if she would be interested in co-curating a concert series with me and hosting it at her shop. My intention was to create a more regular and stable outlet for the artists whose work didn’t always mesh very well at rock clubs. Many of these artists were doing amazing music that wasn’t easily categorizable, or was considered a sub-genre on the margins such as sound art, electroacoustic, or free improvisation for example. St. Louis really has an incredibly rich and dynamic underground art and music community.
Who are some of the artists that have been with the project?
Each concert features three artists per night, so since #13 just passed, that means almost 40 artists and groups have performed for the series so far. It has also been an outlet for my personal work often in the form of collaborations with other artists or solo as NNN Cook. The series has presented electronic and synthesizer artists such as Raglani, Jeremy Kannapell, Kingston Family Singers, and Kevin Harris; the sound and performance art of Derek Dadian-Smith; noise from Chris Smentkowski and Ajay Khanna, free improvisation from jazz and classical artists like saxophone player, Dave Stone or cellist, Tracy Andreotti; and the electro-acoustic sounds of Regicide Bureau, who has been involved in the international cassette culture scene since the ’80s. The February 25 show will feature Rich O’Donnell, the director of the Washington University Electronic Music Studio, who was principal percussionist for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for several decades, as well as a screening of video artist Van McElwee’s work who is Webster University professor of electronic and photographic media. For the March 31st concert, I will be bringing in Chicago-based sound artist Jeff Kolar, director of the experimental radio broadcast platform Radius.
How long has Bruxism been running?
The first concert was on January 31, 2014 at Apop Records and ran for the rest of the year.
When Apop closed at the end of 2014, Tiffany booked the last Bruxism at Foam, and opted out of co-curating. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep it going for another year, because it was a series tailored for the Apop community but it was interesting to see how the venue change brought a new audience and tone to the series. The second season was at Foam for all of 2015. The first two seasons were bi-monthly, but now season three is on a monthly basis falling on the last Thursday of each month at The Schlafly Tap Room for the rest of 2016. The goal has really become to present avant-garde music to a wider audience instead of just a particular scene. Thanks to everyone who has facilitated these events and all the people who have attended them!
Where does the title, so to speak, come from?
Bruxism is a condition where one involuntarily clenches and grinds one’s teeth. Some psychological causes are “emotions, such as anxiety, stress, anger, frustration, or tension,” according to the Mayo Clinic. It often occurs while sleeping. I felt like many people could identify with those very common problems. Ultimately though, I chose it to symbolically correlate with an instinctual and subconscious drive to share deeply personal thoughts and feelings through the creative process, and through the manifestation of some kind of artistic output that communicates those ideas. Specifically, in my practice, it might be about the transmutation of destructive or negative energy into something fruitful or positive, other times it might be to intentionally present something chaotic and unsettling to convey the frustration of social injustice or the ugliness of the current political climate.
You draw on a lot of different forms of media, at least in the zine. Could you talk a bit about how the zine came together and the process behind making it?
I’m interested in the art of publishing, and how it can be used as a vehicle to share information within communities. The zine and the cassette are both symbols of independent publishing, because one doesn’t need permission, approval, or acceptance from mainstream sources to produce or distribute them. They represent the unfiltered interests and thoughts of the individuals who make them, and the communities they are involved with. Because of that, I decided artist interviews would be included in every issue. Another important aspect is the documentation of past concerts and exhibitions, along with the processes behind them. It is an effective way to publish atypical writing, research, and photography that wouldn’t normally draw interest from the usual media channels. As a graphic designer, mainly for New Music Circle, I don’t often get the opportunity to experiment or break design rules. The Bruxism zine is an outlet for that, with photo essays, the re-contextualization of images, connections between subcultures, commentary on the pitfalls of the digital landscape we are grappling with, and more generally investigations of the esoteric and obscure.
Bruxism made me go home and make poems. I think that that is what such variety shows, for lack of a better term, are for. It’s good to kill the cellphone, watch Brett moving about the bodies in the room, and to take in music that isn’t classifiable, at least to me. I thank each artist for their efforts and time, and will see them all again at the Tap Room.
Bruxism #14 happens February 25 at The Schalfly Tap Room, and features Rich O’Donnell, Van McElwee (video), Benjamin Kaplan, plus the release of a new (free) tape from NNN Cook. Bruxism #15 is March 31. Jeff Kolar (Chicago) and Vernacular String Trio perform; the show will include the release of a free new zine from Strong Force. Bruxism #16 happens on April 28, and is a cassette release show for Rhizomatic St. Louis Vol. 4, with performances from various artists featured on the compilation. The cassette is free, with a digital download included for those without tape players. For concert updates and release details for the rest of the season, visit close-far.com, schlafly.com/tap-room, and facebook.com/SchlaflyTapRoom.
