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Press: Long Beach Lifestyle Magazine
Writer: David Carr
CD Review: The Brook Lee Catastrophe - "Mistakes Pt. 1"
Date: January 1st, 2006
The Brook Lee Catastrophe:
A Fine Mess Indeed
If you get a chance to meet and talk to Brook Lee and Paul Mitchell (The co-founding members of the Brook Lee Catastrophe) you can’t help but feel like you are talking to a couple of veterans in the Long Beach local music scene. While Lee and Mitchell appear to be young, both have logged a serious amount of time in the local scene. Lee and Mitchell met at the Orange County Music Awards after Lee had already released two independent discs on his own. The duo became fast friends and before you could blink Mitchell started producing Brooks 3rd disc which led to Mitchell becoming a full member of the “Catastrophe”. “We literally ended up recording 35 songs”, Paul states. “We were looking for the best 11 tunes and a huge amalgamation of musicians from different Long Beach bands came through to work on the 3rd disc……some folks just started showing up more than others and they became the core members of what was to become the band, The Brook Lee Catastrophe and their debut disc Mistakes PT. 1.”
One listen to the bands disc and you are immediately drawn into their “low-fi” approach to music making. The song structure and melodies are reminiscent of everything from Bob Dylan and Lou Reed to Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash. “We really set out to make a kind of headphone record,” explains Brook. “I have always been influenced by the singer-song writer vibe and Paul brought the experimental rock edge to the disc…..that is where the mashing of the styles comes from.” Mashing of styles is one way to describe the mix of music on Mistakes PT 1. It is truly an ambitious, original set of songs. There is a story teller styled atmosphere that the band creates with a back drop of music that will at once remind listeners of Van Morrison and Wilco without being derivative. When it came time to record their debut disc the band found themselves recording in an apartment in Long Beach relying on their collective experiences in former bands and side projects. Lee pontificates that while recording their disc the band was simultaneously looking for a record deal. “We actually tried to get a record deal in order to release the disc. We talked to someone at a major record label and they told us to try and write something that was a little more pop oriented….something that they could sell. We tried and that experience helped us to see that, that was NOT the direction we wanted to go in”. After this experience, the boys settled into the mindset of making a disc full of songs they could honestly be proud of.
Instead of knocking down the doors of major labels, The Brook Lee Catastrophe is using technology and their live shows to help spread their low-fi, indie gospel. The band’s disc can be purchased on their website, Tower Records.com, it can be downloaded on I-tunes and it can also be found locally at Fingerprints in Belmont Shore. Upon its release, Mistakes PT. 1 became the highest selling cd in Fingerprints in its first two weeks outselling local bands as well as established artists such as Bob Dylan and Fiona Apple!! “The more we align ourselves with independent record stores and play shows up and down the west coast, Mitchell states, the more we can get the disc out and put this music in people’s ears”. Another goal Brook and Paul have for the band is to hopefully display their talents at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) music showcase in Austin Texas.
The group enjoys being a part of the Long Beach music scene and they hope to see the scene here get bigger. For now The Brook Lee Catastrophe is gearing up to play as many shows as possible to establish themselves as a premier act in the Long Beach/OC scene. With a singer/songwriter feel and a stripped down musical sound, The Brook Lee Catastrophe is indeed the type of mess that is not to be missed!
For more information, log on to www.brookleemusic.com.
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