The Inquisition: 083.Glasgow Coma Scale (answered by Helmes Bode)

1. How did you come up with the name of the band? 

One of our friends came across this medical measuring unit for impaired consciousness “Glasgow Coma Scale”. We found this to be the perfect name for performing psychedelic post rock! Nice, too: It evokes associations to the Scottish band Mogwai for which some of us would give their left nut.

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it? 

There is a lot of jamming, but Piotr and Marek are pretty much the riff-generators – with Piotr in particular being inspired right before falling asleep (not in band practice!). That is what “Enter Oblivion” refers to. Then we check which ideas we already recorded that might fit to the current theme. Then we start crafting. Finally, Piotr and Mr. S give the acoustic sound an “electronic bypass”.

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home? 

I come from a trip hop past with Portishead, Lamb, Tricky or Massive Attack and really like the beats and the vibe. But there is so much great stuff out there in a lot of segments. I recently discovered polyrhythmical minimal jazz from Switzerland (Nik Bärtschs Ronin or Sonar) and kind of rediscovered the krautrock origins of our ancestors (CAN or Neu!). Ahead-of-his-time-krautrock-drummer Jaki Liebezeit just died recently! I had my Drum´n´Bass and Hip-hop phase as well with a New York revelation named Dälek. At home there is some headbanging stuff especially on Sunday mornings. I could go on for hours, but would you print it?

4. Which is the one album you can't live without? 

AUDIAC – Thank you for not discussing the outside world

5. What's the first record you've ever bought? 

I fear it was the Miami Vice Soundtrack. Doesn´t sound too much like rock and roll, huh? Well I was young and have no better excuses. Don Johnson with his alligator on his boat just seem to have impressed a 13 year old kid.

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with? 

Them Crooked Vultures would be pretty cool – three legends in one place! Growl – Nirvana / Jones – Led Zeppelin / Homme – Queens of the Stone Age. Maybe this is a little out of reach. But a lot of whishes already came true: Tides from Nebula, Monkey3, Manescape, Mother Engine, Suns of Thyme… My Sleeping Karma is next on the realistic list. I just saw them last week with Green Orbit. Our gig with Long Distance Calling unfortunately was canceled by the club owner two weeks before the concert due to too few sold tickets in advance. The Euros seemed still to have a deep impact on the mostly male rock community when there is a concert on the same day. 

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to? 

Honestly I am not sure about this, since we are not very well known. Is there any post-rock band how really is? I have seen people from New Zealand discussing our music in world wide web, which I think is “sweet as” and “fair enoughski, mate” (to say it in NZ-English)! I love the country so much and even though I´d rather rehearse than perform this would be the part of the world to tour! Just yesterday I also saw a review in a blog from Glasgow which I think is pretty suitable, too. Your post-engineering blog is special for me anyhow, since I have a lot of contact to engineers. I just love their way of thinking and would say that it is an interesting approach to deconstructing post-music. Are you guys engineers in a parallel universe or full time bloggers? Where are you located?

- post-engineering: For a long time now I'm just one person running the whole blog. This is just my hobby and in real life I'm in IT support. post-engineering's name is an inspiration mixing "School Of Emotional Engineering" band's name, which I find great & unique, and the word "post", which has 2 meanings: posting something on the blog and the most genres I'm dealing with (post-rock, post-metal, post-hardcore etc.).

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide on the price or services like spotify?

Yeah, bandcamp is a good thing! We are on there as well. It´s pretty awkward these days anyhow. Our album, that our label fluttery sells, was online for free download on some website only two days after the release and now is also completely on YouTube. But there is an upside since it helps to spread our music. Hopefully the downloaders come to concerts or buy t-shirts which you can´t download yet. If people actually buy the album, we can make another one! But to be honest: A lot of bands I bought vinyl from or went to concerts I discovered through the internet as well. So it´s a janus faced type of thing. If you need people to notice you it is good being spread, even illegally. If you are renown as a band and try to make a living of it, it is probably disadvantageous. Let´s see how things develop…

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

In the studio in Berlin again with the Kowalski-Brothers working with Thies of the Tonbrauerei on our second album. Yes, it will take that long! But that would be twice as fast as Tool, wouldn´t it?

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era? 

Well, with the possibilities of digital media, artwork could be taken to another level. Maybe digital albums should make more use of video or interactive design?

11. What is your favorite album cover? 

Are you asking Narcissus about his favorite reflection? Our artwork of course, thanks to Hummel Grafic Design!

 Despite this I´ll go for Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures and Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma.

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format? 

Have you ever spinned a one and a zero around and had a holistic experience? With digitalization there is a paradigm shift towards dematerialization which is practical physical minimalism. And that could simultaneously be the cause of a countermovement towards haptic audio carriers with a more somatic feel. My first memory as a child is my father sitting in front of his record player totally absorbed by probably Arzachel, Cream or Emerson, Lake & Palmer. I own three different turntables (from an ancient Dual to modern 1210er replica), but I still find that these great devices all don´t work very well while riding the subway through Frankfurt.

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as an artist? 

Great but hard question. There have been many with different bands. Also with GCS it´s hard to pick one. Let me pick two. When we rehearsed the very first time together it was in a microscopic space near the airport on questionable equipment. The two guys threw a killer lick in three-four at me. We didn´t speak, just grinned from one ear to the other. Second moment was our very first gig which happened to be with the great Tides from Nebula from Poland. We only got the slot because we could convince the owner of the club that we had played countless gigs as a band before. First gig with the guys, there was no soundcheck-time, I never had played to a click live before and it still worked out great even though I was stirred up like whipped cream. I also love to recall the unique gigs and times with our band-friends from Manescape and Mother Engine. You guys rock like Carrara! (high-quality marble from Italy – note by the editor). By the way: Thanks for the interview dear post-engineers!

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