The One with Brad Sucks

You’re in for a treat today kiddos.  Today, you don’t just get to sit back and enjoy the latest great read from your favorite internet personality, you also get to hear from an amazing musician, and fellow video game player, Brad Turcotte from Brad Sucks.

I’ve been a fan of Brad Sucks for a long time, and recently reached out to Brad on his own Discord chat server to talk about games, music, and anything that might come up!

–I remember exactly how I was introduced to your music and can trace, what I call, my Brad Sucks musical lineage.  It came through a now defunct online forum for the band sElf.  The brainchild of another one-man band, Matt Mahaffey.  They had a sElfies swap, where two members would send each other a random mix CD of what they were listening to at the time.  That particular swap, I think it was around 2005, had “I Think I Started a Trend” on it.  I loved it, downloaded the rest of the album, and have been a fan ever since.

–What would be the musical lineage for one of your favorite artists?

When I was thirteen or something a friend of mine played Ministry’s Stigmata at me over the phone to scare me. Fan ever since.

–What about video games?  I grew up with gaming. Commander Keen, Mario Bros,. When did you first start playing video games?

 

My parents had a Pong machine, then I moved up to the Atari 2600 and then early PC gaming — a lot of adventure games. Space Quest, Monkey Island, Leisure Suit Larry, etc.

–Has there been any music in a game that has stood out, and stuck with you throughout the game? Something that can elicit an emotional response from hearing a certain musical phrase?

I have a lot of emotional attachment to the music of Ultima 7. I love the beginning of this piece: Ultima VII  – but also the menu music always sounds spooky and iconic to me.

 

–What about in movies?

Arrival had the best soundtrack and sound design that I’ve heard in a long time.

–What game/s are you playing now?

The most recent game I played is Genital Jousting.  Also I was into Subnautica though I may have lost interest.

 

–I saw on Twitter you were “marking out about Ronda Rousey” during Wrestlemania.  Are a wrestling fan, or a Ronda Rousey fan?

Both, I love me some pro wrestling, but I became a big fan of her during her MMA career. She also instagrammed my song Making Me Nervous once so I’m team Ronda for life. I’m easy to buy loyalty from.

 

–There are so many amazing professional wrestlers from Canada.  Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Chris Jericho, Edge, Christian, Dino Bravo, Lance Storm, Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens are just a few.  Who do you feel is most associated with Canada as the best Canadian wrestler?

Bret Hart probably has the title for best Canadian wrestler, but Kevin Owens might be the best.

–You got alot of attention for releasing the sources for your songs for others to remix.  Is there a band or artist you’d love to be able to tinker with their music?

I’d love to get some multitracks for some 90s industrial stuff. Early Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Lard, Skinny Puppy to name a few. Though I mostly like to look at the recordings and see how they work rather than do anything with them, it’s always interesting to see the guts of songs you have strong emotional attachments to.

–My biggest musical regret is not going to see Prince when he toured in 2005-ish?  I had lame excuses like finals or something.  Do you have any musical regrets?

I’ve failed to see so many artists I love I don’t really worry about it. I’m disappointed I’m not seeing The War on Drugs when they come to town in a month because I’m playing Montreal, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.

–Do you gravitate more towards the larger, story-driven, experiences in games?  Or would you rather jump into a quick online match of Call of Duty, Rocket League, or Overwatch?

I did my time on Rocket League, but if there’s not a story or narrative I find it easy to put a game down and never come back.

–If you could live in any video game settlement/setting, where would it be?

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

 

–You recently put out your greatest hits collection “Better Than Nothing” and did a show or two in the US; what’s next for Brad Sucks?

Same as always: try to finish this album I’ve been working on forever — playing Montreal and Toronto soon as well. Doing a tenth anniversary vinyl reissue of my album Out of It also.

LIGHTNING ROUND!

Why not “Brad Rocks?”

Because then everyone would say I suck.

Taylor Swift song you’d be most likely to cover?

Wildest Dreams

Favorite video game of all time.

Ultima 7

Favorite movie?

Tim’s Vermeer

PFK or KFC?

KFC

Team Captain America or Team Iron Man?

Neutral

Fill in the blank “Take off, you _______!”

Hoser

Thanks again Brad for talking to a long-time listener, first-time interviewer.  Check out all of his releases on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, and the Brad Sucks store, as well as one of the best covers of “Goodbye Horses” you will ever hear.  Keep up with all his day to day musings on Twitter (@bradsucks) and sometimes Instagram.