Thor's Rubber Hammer (TRHP) is the brainchild of Lars Gotrich. After moving from Athens, GA where TRHP was documenting purveyors of the drone/noise scene, the label migrated north to Washington, DC. Since moving to DC, TRHP has grown to be one of my favorite experimental/free jazz/noise/drone labels documenting the fringes of independent music. For a great introduction to the aesthetic sense of Lars and his tastes, check out the Infinite Fjords Sampler, with tracks from Susan Alcorn, Talibam!, Chartreuse, and more. Lars took some time out to answer a few questions about his label, NPR, the Ecstatic Jazz Duos series, good record stores in Athens, and the next several releases:Sockets: Thor's Rubber Hammer. When and why did you start the label?
Lars: I think the concept started right before I left Athens, GA for Washington, D.C., to do a CDR comp of Athens noise/drone artists, so that was spring '06. 'Deeded to Itself' actually came out in February '07.
Sockets: What brought you to DC?
Lars: An internship with NPR's All Songs Considered.
Sockets: You're not an intern there anymore, right?
Lars: Right. I'm a production assistant for NPR Music, mostly organizing material for the Web site. But I also contribute original content for A Blog Supreme (our jazz blog), All Songs Considered... and -- when they let me -- write about metal.
Sockets: Yeah, it seems like NPR wouldn't be a bastion for some of the outer limits of independent music, but I've been impressed to see some titles you wouldn't think NPR would cover. Are you able to turn anyone on to the stuff you're listening to/putting out?
Lars: Yeah, I've been a guest host on All Songs Considered a few times (here and here, for example). Those shows always seem to do really well because people either really love it or really hate it. ;) It's difficult to write about music that's typically not song-based for an audience that is typically song-based. But I do find ways sneak stuff, especially on A Blog Supreme, where I almost exclusively write about free jazz.
Sockets: Older free jazz or newer free jazz?
Lars: Both. But I am definitely a New Thing lover, especially of the spiritual free jazz variety, like Don Cherry (he's my favorite) and Pharoah Sanders.
Sockets: Oh man – Don Cherry's Brown Rice is one of my favorite albums and Pharoah Sanders’ Black Unity is tremendous.
Lars: Brown Rice is kind of like if the porn industry ever needed a free jazz album, you know?
Sockets: Absolutely. Archie Shepp is one of my personal favorites as well.
Lars: And he's still blowin' hard. I frequently make trips up to NYC for shows, but have not had the chance to see Shepp play. Did you know Marion Brown is still alive? I ran into John Fernandez on a recent trip to Wuxtry Records in Athens and they've been honest-to-goodness penpals for years now. Marion made some stellar records in the '70s... like true freedom in music. I gotta hit that guy up for an interview. He's in a nursing home or something.
Sockets: Oh no. Wow. Was he on Ascension?
Lars: Yeah, he played alto.
Sockets: I haven't been to Athens in years. Is Wuxtry a good place to hit up?
Lars: Wuxtry Athens was my joint 5 years straight when I was in college. I'm glad to see they've gone almost all-vinyl now. If you're ever in town, be sure to look for John Fernandez's recommendations -- he's never once steered me wrong.
Sockets: I might need to find an excuse to hit up both Atlanta and Athens soon... So, tell me about this Ecstatic Jazz Duo series you put out on Thor's Rubber Hammer. How did it come about?
Lars: I love ambitious projects that tie up all the kinds of music I listen to. And while I realize it says "jazz" in the title, I think there's really only one or two in the series that even come close to what people typically think of as jazz. So I wanted to gather up six of the most innovative duos playing what I call "ecstatic jazz" right now, and give them each a side of vinyl to do what they wish. It's turned out to be as diverse as I'd envisioned it -- kind of a cross-section of what's going on now. Talibam!'s contribution is this thoroughly-composed nutjob 18-minute piece -- really unlike anything I've heard from this spazz duo. Almost King Crimson-y. The flipside of that record is Wasteland Jazz Unit, by far the noisiest scuzz I've ever released on TRHP. Two reedsmen dragging their instruments through sewage Borbetomagus-style.
Sockets: When I read that quote on your website from Valerio Cosi, "great jazz deserves vinyl," it made sense to me. Most of the jazz I absolutely enjoy is on vinyl. There's a different atmosphere to it.
Lars: Yeah, I originally thought about doing this series on 3" CDRs with a bunch of different contributors. But when Valerio emailed me back, I was like, "Shit, you're totally right. And, shit, you're gonna bankrupt me!"
Sockets: Yeah - vinyl is expensive, but so worth it. What are the next couple of releases on TRHP?
Lars: Beru - What Would I Do Without You c48: Beru has been one of my favorite discoveries in the past year. She (Jessica Collins, who happens to be the face in the TRHP logo!) makes these long-form folk/noise collages from bits of improvised songs here and there. It's kind of like Vashti Bunyan-meets-Current 93, but not really. I'm really excited to work with her. Apparently, she's starting to record black metal stuff now? I can't imagine. Beru will be on cassette first, with digital later. I just signed a deal with Diogenes Music, who digitally distributes material for Digitalis, Fonal, etc.
Robe - Remains of a Burning World c76: Probably the darkest-sounding release on TRHP, so far. Moody doom-drone duo that's released material mostly on noise labels -- I'm really glad they wanted to work with a mostly avant jazz/ambient label like me.
Mothguts - III CDr: All-out grind-jazz from NJ/NYC. Move over Painkiller, there's a new band in town!
Sockets: Congrats on the deal with Diogenes!
Lars: I'm excited about the digital stuff. I'd been so hesitant about it for years, but it's how a lot of people listen to music these days. If doing digital means more people hear Thor's Rubber Hammer stuff, then maybe I can put more focus on the crazy projects I have filling a Google Doc.
Sockets: It's weird, I think so much of the way people listen to music is in flux right now. I spend a lot of time trying to figure that out. Digital is great b/c you can get a lot out there and it empowers artists/bands. But, I'm a big fan of the artifact of vinyl and even cds.
Lars: Yeah, vinyl sales are up (mostly). People are going back to the format because it represents something physical they lost in the Napster/Limewire years of the early aughties. I seriously doubt most of them can hear the difference since most vinyl is digitally sourced, but whatevs. Maybe it means bands actually get a few more dollars at shows.
Read more...
