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Isaac Brock (musician) |
| Isaac K. Brock | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | July 9, 1975 |
| Genre(s) | Indie rock |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Guitar Ukulele Piano Banjo Freak Beak |
| Years active | 1993 – Present |
| Label(s) | Epic |
| Associated acts | Modest Mouse Ugly Casanova |
Isaac Brock (born on July 9, 1975) is the lead singer, guitarist, banjoist, and songwriter for the American indie rock band Modest Mouse, as well as his side project band, Ugly Casanova. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon. His style is notable for his word play, lyrical themes, intense performances, vocal pitching, rhythm, guitar scratching, and unique, lisp-tinged voice.
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During his childhood, Brock and his mother moved around in different offshoot circles throughout the Pacific Northwest. Around this time, Brock's mother left his father for his father's brother. Brock was home-schooled for part of his school career.1 When his mother's house flooded she was forced to move in to her new husband's trailer where there was no room for Brock, so he stayed behind. He lived on the second floor of the flooded home until he was evicted by the police. After a period of living in a friend's basement, he moved into a shed he built on the land next to his mother and stepfather's trailor. It was there that he, Eric Judy (bass) and Jeremiah Green (drums) first started practicing music together.2
Although many of his songs use religious themes, Brock describes himself as "not really religious at all," adding that "I'm 100 percent on the whole Christianity thing being a crock of shit, pretty much." He claims to "toy around with the whole Biblical thing, just as amazing characters."3
His songs have also addressed his substance abuse, as in "The Good Times Are Killing Me." Brock admits to past drug use, and now says that drugs are "just something I kind of have to fight... I just try and make sure that it's not around, or I'm not around it."3
Brock is a former A&R man for the record label Sub Pop; his most notable accomplishment with them was signing Wolf Parade in 2004.4
Brock is currently engaged to Naheed Simjee, who helps run his record label, Glacial Pace.
Brock has said one of his favorite television program is the Colbert Report and he doesn't mind the Grateful Dead, but does not like Deadheads. 5
In October, 2005, Brock started his own record label called Glacial Pace. The label is a subsidiary of Epic Records, Modest Mouse's current record label. The label's first signing was Minnesota singer-songwriter, Mason Jennings. Naheed Simjee, Brock's fiancee, is the current general manager.
In March, 1999, a 19-year-old woman filed a police report accusing Brock of rape.6 Charges were never pressed, and Brock maintains his innocence.3 In an interview with The A.V. Club,3 he claimed:
| “ | It's an allegation that was withdrawn, and of course that didn't get any press. It was complete and utter bullshit, and the whole situation was so complicated that it's hard for me to go into lots of detail. At the time, I figured I'd just shut up and give this young lady enough rope to hang herself, you know? It fucked up my life once, and I'd prefer to just let it go.... Before this all happened, I never believed that anyone would lie about rape. That was my stance: No one lies about this shit. It really made me have to adjust my entire view of people, politics, and my own personal politics. I used to be like, "Kill rapists!" And all of a sudden I have this false allegation against me. I remember totally writing people off that I'd heard had even been in just awkward sexual situations with girls, like "That guy's a fucking prick, I'll never talk to him again." It was weird being on the receiving end of that. A friend of mine who's actually friends with that girl recently told me that she had totally withdrawn having said anything. I only just found out about that myself in the last six months. I knew that basically everyone, up to and including the police, was like, "This is bullshit." This person changed her story depending on who she was talking to. It was really just this fucked-up, weird thing. | ” |
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—Isaac Brock, The A.V. Club |
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In various interviews Brock stated that he served a 10 day stint in jail in Niagara County, New York on an attempted murder charge related to a DUI incident in Oregon. According to Brock, he was driving along when he was passed a whippet of nitrous oxide. When he tried to inhale some, he lost control of the car and crashed it. During the crash his friend dislocated her thumb, which meant, under Oregon law, that because the injury was sustained due to a DUI, the charge was elevated to attempted murder, "which looks pretty bad on paper."27
In his interview with The A.V. Club, Brock described his short jail time:
| “ | When I first showed up, there were people who'd try to make me give them my lunch, and I'd be like, "No, get the fuck away from me!!" That worked. The white gangsters were hilarious. I was in a holding cell with three of 'em, and they're all just telling their superthug stories about how they can outrun all the cops. I had no sense of humor, and I was like, "Why don't you guys shut the fuck up? You're in jail. You apparently aren't so hot at outrunning cops." There was this one dude wearing the uniform they give you, and he was like, "All right! These are my new club clothes!" I'm just like, "You are an idiot. Shut the fuck up right now until I leave. This isn't fun!" Here's the rad thing: One of the dudes, this Little Lord Badass, was on the same cellblock as me, and when he'd get on the phone, it'd be, "Dad, you gotta bail me out of here!" It was awesome. Mostly, I just kept low-key. I had some late-40s, freaky, child-molester-looking dude basically saying that he was going to rape me. I sat down and played chess with him, and he was making all these creepy comments, so I was like, "OK, we're done playing this game." | ” |
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—Isaac Brock, The A.V. Club |
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