Graham Reid | | 4 min read
The Great Repeat
Six months ago on the release of his second album Industrial Consistency – which we essayed at a bit of length -- we thought we needed to know more about Luke Scott who goes under the moniker Admiral Drowsy.
Well, perhaps it's Drowsy by name and drowsy by nature but we never heard back from him after we sent him a questionnaire.
We assumed he'd nodded off and forgotten about it.
But lo! Suddenly half a year on we have heard from him and we are very glad we have.
His two albums – both on vinyl – had a strange appeal and with the most recent we concluded that he was “someone 'of' rock culture but not 'in' it. He's somewhere else, and it's a place well worth discovering”.
Check out our reviews of Industrial Consistency (which we also spoke about in a podcast) and his previous album The Gutter Boy Speculates . . . but before you do, here is who he is.
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The first piece of music which really affected you was . . .
I’d probably say an album by Charlie Kunz named ‘The World Of Charlie Kunz’. Charlie Kunz was an American born pianist. The album was on cassette and had belonged to my great grandfather who I never met. It was in the possession of my grandmother and when I’d stay over I’d listen to it when I went to bed. At a guess I’d have probably been around four years old. I adored that album.
Your first role models in experimental music were . . .
I mean I’m probably a late comer to more out and out or eccentric experimental music but I would say that there are perhaps a few artists that could be deemed experimental within their genre that fostered a desire to investigate further. For instance John Martyn’s album ‘Solid Air’ is not an experimental album but he flirts with tape delay on that record which he was certainly experimenting with alongside his more traditional folk sound. Probably his finest album.
I sometimes mention The Verve to people, The Verve pre-Urban Hymns that is. They released an album called ‘A Storm In Heaven’ a sonic masterpiece, dark shoegaze, overdriven heavy reverb guitars, wailing vocals. The Verve at their purest for me.
Did you grow up listening to rock music, and if so who or what bands when you were 14?
I didn’t really grow around music. My grandparent took me to church and took pleasure in singing hymns for the singing of it but I stopped with all that when I was about nine years old. I’m the oldest of eight (it complicated…) so I didn’t really have that influence of older siblings' musical tastes to pick up on.
I left school at sixteen and worked a factory job for a while. I got friends with a chap who used to copy me CD’s of loads of great music, stuff like The Stooges, The Doors, Neil Young, R.L Burnside, Red Snapper to name a few. I owe a lot to that guy.
If music was denied you, your other career choice would be . . .
Hobo
The three pieces of innovative music from any period (yours, or by others) you would love everyone to hear are . . .
Off the top of my head I’d say anything Nils Frahm is doing deserves your ears, an artist called Dean McPhee who plays these long form solo guitar pieces which are incredible he’s also formidable live and finally an album by Gnod called ‘JUST SAY NO TO THE PSYCHO RIGHT-WING CAPITALIST FASCIST INDUSTRIAL DEATH MACHINE’.
Any interesting, valuable or just plain strange musical memorabilia or instruments at home ...
I own a Lyra 8, a bizarre synthesiser in which you play by connecting a circuit by pressing what looks like two watch batteries.
The best book on music or musicians you have read is . . .
the most recent would be ‘Sing Backwards And Weep: A Memoir’ by Mark Lanegan. Harrowing story of addiction and coming back from the absolute edge.
If you could get on stage with anyone it would be?
Tina Turner.
The three films you'd insist anybody watch because they might understand you better are . . .
‘Dead Mans Shoes’ by Shane Meadows, ‘This Is England’ by Shane Meadows and ‘Uncle Buck’ by John Hughes
The last CD or vinyl album you bought was . . . (And your most recent downloads include…).
One piece of mainstream pop music, royalties for life, never have to work again. The song by anyone, yourself included, which wouldn't embarrass you in that case would be . .
Does ‘Dirty Old Town’ by The Pogues count?
The poster, album cover or piece of art could you live with on your bedroom forever would be . . .
‘Nevermind’ by Nirvana
You are allowed just two albums of any genre to take on a month-long retreat, they are . . .
‘On The Beach’ by Neil Young and ‘Music For Animals’ by Nils Frahm
David Bowie sang, “Five years, that's all we've got . . .” You would spend them where and doing what?
I’d like to spend the first three years collecting stories and field recordings from around the world then leave myself two years to put it all together.
People often speak of certain instrumental pieces as “music for imaginary films”. Is there a piece of your music you could say would fit perfectly in THAT film?
‘The Great Repeat’ is a piece from my second record I would like to think would work in that capacity. It's probably the piece I'm most proud of to date.
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You can hear and buy music by Admiral Drowsy at bandcamp here
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