Track Marks is a weekly questionnaire for people who make music or just love listening to it. The people change but the questions remain the same.
This week we catch up with 29-year-old sound man and show promoter Reuven Cocos. Cocos spent several years booking shows at Stonefly Brewery and later as a founding member of the Tugboat Hustle promotions group.
We talked to him about Jewish funk, his cats and dogs, and his undying love of Phish.
OnMilwaukee.com: What was the first tape/CD/record/8-track you ever owned?
Reuven Cocos: Embarrassingly, the first five CDs I owned are, in this order: Rod Stewart's "Downtown Train," Billy Joel, "River of Dreams," the "Free Willy" soundtrack, Paul McCartney's "Greatest Hits." No comment. Actually, I blame my parents, for not giving me super cool musical influences, and for listening to a ton of 94.5 WKTI.
OMC: What was the first concert you attended?
RC: Bush, No Doubt, and some sh*t ass band called The Goo Goo Dolls. It was 1996. Everyone I knew was going.
OMC: What was the last concert you attended?
RC: The last concert I was at was Cameron McGill and What Army and Miles Nielsen. But I was doing sound. Does that count? Otherwise, the last concert I went to for fun was Phish at Alpine Valley two years ago. I always get sh*t from people because I love Phish. They look at me and say "I never would have known" with a huge look of disgust and disappointment, like I admitted to being a closet meth head or something. There was a certain point in my life where I only listened to Phish, but I grew out of it. And I honestly think it has made me able to appreciate music more, and to be a better listener.
OMC: Who is one popular musician or music act you just can't understand?
RC: I'll answer this question without naming any names. There are a lot of local, regional and national acts I don't get. I see these bands book shows at all sorts of venues around town, from Stonefly to The Riverside, bringing in a gazillion people. I listen to the music and shake my head wondering what it is these people like about it so much. I know I am a music snob. Sometimes I've been called a music Nazi, and I accept that fact, but I think I have a huge tolerance for all kinds of music.
I guess mostly it's poorly put together party music; super basic stuff with little energy put forth and folks just gulp it down. And then I see bands play to 30 people on a Tuesday and have my mind blown. I really think it's the nature of the beast. As a band, you have to hit the right vein at the right time at the right velocity to get noticed, and if you don't, you are this amazing band in your 40s playing Shank Hall wondering what happened.
OMC: Musically what are you into that you're embarrassed to admit to?
RC: Katy Perry? Lady GaGa? I like it. I'm sorry, also Phish.
OMC: What are you listening to right now?
RC: As in this moment? I should be listening to "King of the Hill," but that show was booted to make room for another "Family Guy" bootleg, "The Cleveland Show," which I happen to like. As far as music goes, I am really into Sven Libaek. You'll remember him for his two songs on the "Life Aquatic" soundtrack. He is amazing.
OMC: What song do you want played at your funeral?
RC: "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic. I would like it to be played by a live band while they lower me into the ground. The song really breathes pain, and it's amazing.
OMC: What artist changed your life and how?
RC: Parliament. When I was a youth, I was introduced to the album "Motor Booty Affair" and I had my brain ripped open. I heard sounds I felt, but had never heard put together before. To be completely honest with you, when I was super young and went to temple I would hear these super old prayers sung by an old ass congregation of super elderly people in the funkiest way you could ever imagine. They had no clue. It would make James Brown blush. These old songs have syncopation, and breaks, and rhythms in them that are the foundation of funk. It travels, of course, over time and space and into some folks and manifests itself as music.
Some klezmer music is super close to some reggae music. It's funny, and almost unbelievable, but I believe it to be true. Eventually, I would like to go into the studio with some of these tunes and put them down the way they sound in my head. I think some people will love it, and most will think of it as blasphemy.
OMC: If you could see anyone perform past or present who would it be?
RC: '70s era Zappa.
OMC: If you could spend one day with any artist living or dead who would it be?
RC: Bob Dylan. He has been a hero of mine since I started listening to music. The album "Desire" is still one I listen to regularly, and it has an energy that is hard to find nowadays in music.
OMC: If you were stranded on an island with one record for the rest of your life what would it be?
RC: "Animals" by Pink Floyd. It is one of my favorites. I'd also have to bring my dogs and cats with me. They seem to be the only ones who really understand me.
