From the album 'Kook II' (2019)
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ABOUT THE BAND
KOOK has wrapped up the recording of our second record, titled KOOK II. We’re looking for a label to work with who appreciates our odd brew of influences and the music we produce. We’re a hard-working, organized, and promotion-savvy band who appreciates every facet of producing underground heavy music, from songwriting, tone, performance, and production to artwork, promotion, networking, touring, and live performance.
ABOUT THE RECORD
KOOK II was tracked in February 2018 (with additional vocal recording in May 2018) at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland CA. Legendary engineer and producer Billy Anderson caught us the last time we played in Portland and approached us after the show to tell us he’d like to produce our second album. We of course jumped at the chance to work with a man who has produced some of the greatest heavy records of all time (Sleep, Neurosis, the Melvins, Mr. Bungle, Bell Witch, and many more), and is still working with vital bands to produce amazing music.
Primary tracks were laid down over 5 straight days, with the engineer we worked with for our last record (Chris Hughes) assisting Billy. From the moment we heard the first drum tone, we knew the final product was going to be great. There were some very magical moments that happened in the studio…strange alchemy and spirits that resulted in this record…and we’re beyond proud of what we created. Over the months that followed tracking, Billy took the raw tracks back to Portland and made the recorded versions of these songs as epic and powerful as they are when they’re played live. Once Billy wrapped up the production, we handed them off to his regular mastering collaborator Justin Weis at Trackworx in San Francisco who did (as always) an amazing job.
As children of the 80s, we all have strong memories of the cold war and the constant looming threat of nuclear war—it left an indelible mark on our collective psyche. As the planet sits on the edge of political, environmental, and social disaster, we experience daily the emotions we felt as children, but with the unfortunate weight of real knowledge of the depth of the problem. Both albums are actually part of the same original concept that we started writing around…an exploration of literal and psychological apocalypse.
The last surviving members of the human race are leaving earth after a cataclysmic event…as members of a religious cult who were in regular contact with aliens, our heroes knew what was coming and tried to warn the rest of the world. Ultimately their warning was ignored, and tgey were the only people to escape a dying planet. Are they a group of deranged cult members experiencing a psychotic break (or something worse) and entering a fantasy outer-space world, or is this all really happening, and is there a difference? We’re inspired by classic science fiction (Philip K Dick chief among our influences) and insane real-world events (like the Heaven’s Gate cult). The goal is to explore how human beings cope with the painful reality of modern existence in a world constantly on the brink.
As much as we weave together the artwork and story, the music of both albums is woven together as well. The first song (Escape Velocity) actually starts with the final riff that closes out the first record (in an acoustic outro over an excerpt of a news report about the Heaven’s Gate cult). We already have the opening of the third record written, which starts exactly where the final song on this record (Chased by Monsters) leaves off. There are other musical themes that appear across both records, and that will continue…this is a story that hasn’t ended yet.
