by Matt Dixon, April '06

1. Please introduce yourself and give a bit of background information:
My name is Todd Drootin and my band is called Books On Tape. I make music built almost completely with short samples. I make it a point to not sample phrases from songs - I'm more interested in using other people's sounds than ideas. I use these and other sounds I create to try to create songs with basic rock song structure as opposed to the arching compositions that most people expect from electronic music. I perform live with a table full of gear and keep the music live and active by working with a variety of pedals, knobs and buttons - it is very important to me that people can have a chance to understand at least somewhat how my music is being made.

2. How would you describe your style of beatpunk to someone who has yet to experience it?
Well, I didn't really go through a phase growing up where I listened to electronic music. I played traditional rock instruments throughout my teens and moved to electronics in college because I wasn't able to make music in my house without having the neighbors call the cops. So when I first got a sampler, I didn't know my way around it at all, but the recordings I made had a sound that was raw and exciting to me. The fact that I didn't know what I was doing gave the songs a rough feel, which really appealed to me as it contrasted with the precision of programmed music. I'm years removed from that, now, but much of that still applies. I'm trying to create songs that have the energy and feel of live music while taking advantage of the benefits of electronics. When I have to describe Books On Tape, I usually tell people that it is electronic noise rock. Beatpunk is just a catchy way of saying all that.

3. What do you try to communicate through your music?
Being an instrumental act, I (thankfully) don't have to worry about this too much. If there is a message behind Books On Tape, it might be something like "don't be held back by other people's preconceived notions" because I caught a fair amount of grief in the early stages from electronic kids that couldn't stand my take on electronic music and from punk kids who thought what I was doing was not valid in terms of punk rock. So I like to make fast, punkish songs. and songs that emulate dub, classic rock, big electro rave-up numbers, even folk. It is all fun for me, and when people don't worry about what kind of music I'm making, I think it ends up being fun for them, too.

4. How has the DIY community/ethic influenced you?
To me, Books On Tape is largely a DIY experience. I'm the frontman, the rhythm section, the driven one, the one who wants to quit, the one who drank too much last night, the one who has to be responsible...I know that isn't typically what "doing it yourself" means, but having those roles contributes to the feel of being a DIYy kind of project. My favorite place to play and to see shows is this great place in L.A. called The Smell. It embodies and encourages everything right with the DIY community and it has rubbed off in a positive way on most of the people from this area who are making good music.

5. What drives you to play as Books On Tape?
I guess I just feel like it is what I'm supposed to do. The songs keep occurring to me, so I'll keep making them.

6. What bands/artists past and present have influenced the Books On Tape sound?
I love obscure '60s garage rock - especially girl bands. I love music that is oozing with character, like the Talking Heads and Pavement and Neil Young and, more recently, the Unicorns. I love the production on lots of hip-hop, even when I can't stand the song. I like dub and, lately, r&b oldies, and I really love free jazz: Derek Bailey, Albert Ayler and Sun Ra are some favorites.

7. What has been your most memorable live show to date?
Shows can be memorable for so many reasons, good and bad. I could think of quite a few for each reason, actually, one of my favorites was a loft party in Brooklyn in early 2004 with TV on the Radio, Parts & Labor and Big A Little A. It was probably the most crowded room I have ever been in and, due to the sheer awesomeness of the other bands, a pretty intimidating experience. It was a really great time. The shows that I did in 2003 with Cursive were surreal because these huge shows were packed with kids who probably didn't know their night was going to start with a guy pounding on a sampler and effects pedals, but that turned out to be a great time too.

8. Any interesting tour/road stories?
You see so much weird shit it starts to seem normal.

9. If you could share the stage with any 3 bands past or present, who would they be?
Velvet Underground, Fela Kuti and Jimi Hendrix.

10. What can we expect from you in the future?
I'm about to hit the road for almost a month with my good friends Captain Ahab. I am always in the process of recording new material, but I haven't planned my next release yet. I'm probably about halfway through the next album's worth of material.

11. How can ppl contact you?
site: beatpunk.com
blog: rollerderbysuperstar.com
myspace.com/booksontape

12. Final thoughts?
Canada is always really good to me. I can't wait to come back.