I caught up with Russ Forster and he discussed his musical past, present and future...
I first discovered Russ last year when he agreed to be a part of a music project/collaboration and he remixed one of my songs. At the same time he explained why it had taken 30 years to complete one of his own projects and so I wanted to record part of his journey with this interview.
Thanks for taking part in this blog Russ and can you tell us about your musical background and describe your sound?
I was an only child growing up outside of Chicago in the 1970s, and music became a great source of escape and solace from a suburban life I despised. I started playing guitar in my early teens and played in several bands as I hit college. The Chicago underground music scene in the early to mid-'80s was where I thrived, but starting in the '90s I backed away from playing in bands and embarked on several solo and duo projects, including Dashing Marbles.
Who has influenced you most in music and what are your most treasured records?
I was quite the precocious record fiend in the early to mid-'70s, slurping up proto-punk like Iggy And The Stooges (Raw Power) and the Pink Fairies (Kings Of Oblivion) right alongside art-damaged work by the likes of Be Bop Deluxe (Sunburst Finish) and Utopia (Ra). Punk was a slow burn for me, but certainly The Jam (All Mod Cons) and The Rich Kids (Ghosts Of Princes In Towers) got me introduced before I immersed myself in Chicago bands like Naked Raygun (Throb Throb) and Big Black (Atomizer).
Do you follow the current music scene?
I have to say that I'm not very tuned into current sounds, finding myself going back in time to music I missed the first time around instead like Bubble Puppy and The Sorrows. I'm definitely Brit-Rock damaged in a big way!
How has lockdown affected your creativity?
I've actually done more collaborating (with no less than the author of this piece among others) since lockdown than before. I taught myself the basics of Garage Band and it's opened up new possibilities of working with others (like Re/Search Publishing's V. Vale) than I had before. It's also helped me go back to my own projects of the '90s like Dashing Marbles and Ohell and finish songs from tapes that were languishing in a closet for 30 years. You can go to https://3peasrecords.bandcamp.com/artists to hear the results (and support a starving artist if you are so inclined).
Are you working on any new sounds?
I feel most at home recording in my friend Willy Seekamp's home studio, so I'll have to wait for the pandemic to ease up before I can start to commit new songs to digital preservation. But I have been branching out a bit by experimenting with short instrumental pieces I call Interludes as part of the Ohell album-in-progress Wild Inertia.
Where Can Folks Find Your Music?
The aforementioned Bandcamp site is a good place to start, but if you prefer Soundcloud try https://soundcloud.com/russel-forster-246300399
Reverbnation https://www.reverbnation.com/musician/russforster
YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-X2EJz7U1L-6lsoz1JsqMw
Let me know what you think at rockandrollnurse@gmail.com
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/3PeasRecords; https://www.facebook.com/ohellband; https://www.facebook.com/thejangled; https://www.facebook.com/rakehellbandsf.
I'm Instagram and Twitter challenged.
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