Ryan Weinstein :: Coffin Prick Interview
Photo: Scott Gilmore
Where are you originally from, and when did you first begin connecting with music, more specifically the guitar? Was this something that was relevant to your household growing up, and who were some of your earliest influences during your more formative years?
I was born in Miami, Florida, where I spent most of my youth. It was a great place to grow up at the time. Where the concrete meets the sea, as someone once wrote. The guest point in my life where I connected to any music in any way was through a cassette tape given to me of the film music by John Williams (Indian Jones, Jaws, The Long Goodbye, etc.) I was deeply fascinated by the sound. Grand, emotive, orchestral. Familiar, too, as all of these themes were in the air at that time. My connection to rock music, guitar music specifically, came to me through my mother passing me her LP copy of Jimi Hendrix/Band of Gypsies. Now, this music twisted my cap back. Unbelievable. This was everything I didn’t know what I was looking for. How could I? I was twelve. At any rate… This music was massive for me. Still is. I love Hendrix. This kicked off my love for the guitar. Music was not particularly relevant to my household. My dad wasn’t a real connoisseur of music, and I grew up with him as my parents split before I was one. But at that point in the 80s, there was a very different sort of reverence for the radio that doesn’t exist any longer. There was always a radio station dialed in somewhere. But again, it is not specific to my household. But, my mother was a real rock n’ roll. She saw The Beatles when her class won some sort of contest to see them, but was kicked out of the gig because she went bananas and tried grabbing them in a state of hysteria common to many young girls during the craze. Her favorite was Ringo. Go figure. The music that pushed me to play the guitar at a young age was punk rock and some heavy metal. I loved the energy of it. The Ramones, Slayer, and Dead Kennedys. All kinds of stuff. I started on the bass (an instrument I still often play and sometimes enjoy much more than the guitar). I’m mostly self-taught, save for the knowledge passed on by a few friends early on, but I took one lesson on the bass. The teacher sucked, condescending me during my first lesson when I asked him to teach me something from The Ramones, so I never went back again. We’re both all the better for it. Phew.
When did you first begin going to shows, and how quickly did the gap from learning to play to wanting to perform music yourself happen? Tell me about Cavity and how this Florida-based outfit initially came about. With a number of releases throughout the mid to late 1990s, this eventually led to The Heatseekers. Correct?
I started going to shows early. Eleven or so. Anything I could get to, I would. I have an older sister who was a punk rocker, and secondhand listening through the walls between our rooms got me interested. And she knew where the gigs were. I didn’t have any ambition to be a “performer.” I still don’t. But playing live seemed to be the only way to get anywhere at the time. I joined a few bands in high school, but I wasn’t very disciplined. I was more into being crude on the instrument. Noisy. It wasn’t until I joined Cavity at the end of 1996 that I started to take the instrument seriously. It's odd because the music is just so harsh. But it does require a certain sort of technique to play that music well. There’s a finesse that took me a while to develop. But with this, my first serious group, I was able to tour a lot and see new places. I joined that band because, to a young man like me, they seemed like the best game in town. They were loud, unique, a little scary, and all the members were much older than me. It was an education. Many firsts. Some good, some bad. I left the group a much different person. From there, I played in so many bands in the Miami area. I had a big network of friends, and I like to think I brought something unique to each of the groups I joined up with for any length of time.
Jumping ahead to your most recent project under Coffin Prick, now based in LA, which is experiencing some very exciting times right now. Firstly, tell me about the writing and recording process of your most recent effort, entitled “Laughing / Side Splits” on our mutual friend, Ryan Davis’ label Sophomore Lounge. How did you guys initially connect, and what was the overall approach and vision for these works?
My work as Coffin Prick on my own (I wrote all the music for a group called Coffin Pricks in Chicago some ten years before) was born out of the time we shall not name where we were all out on our asses due to the Covid situation. I was going through some very major life changes personally, and I was coping with the isolation by writing and recording a lot of music. I amassed enough music for what ended up as the “Laughing” record. I was signed up with a label to release it… But they rather unceremoniously dropped me, test pressings in hand. Dejected, I was seeking a home for the record I’d spent the past year making on my own (with much technical help from friends Aaron Fernandez Olson, Laura Callier, and especially the engineer Graeme Gibson). In a conversation with my friend Emmett Kelly, whose band, The Cairo Gang, I served in for many years, he encouraged Ryan Davis of Sophomore Lounge to lay ears on my record. I believe his response was something to the effect of, “Goddamit, why’d you send me this record? I can’t afford to put it out… But I like it too much not to!”. So we did. Ryan is a very cool person. He is straight with me, and this is all I ask from anyone. I live in the wrong city for that sort of expectation. Clearly, “Side Splits” is just a selfish way for me to have gotten some of my favorite creative people to re-interpret the elements of my music from the “Laughing” LP. I still can’t believe it worked out, honestly. Yoshimi from Boredoms/OOIOO playing drums to my music in a studio in Japan? Is Ian Williams working his magic on something of mine? Phew, actually listening to MY music? Yes, please! No one’s bought the damn thing. I’m not sure why. Probably because people have no fucking taste! Just kidding (sort of).
Photo: Lisa Anne Auerbach
Having recently signed with the fine folks over at Temporal Drift this past week, as well as being included on “Cosmic Waves Vol. 1” from Angel Olsen’s new label, something cosmic, how did all these events come to happen and in what ways has this impacted both your career and personal life? I understand you're already gearing up for a new release with TD entitled “Loose Enchantment,” with a single to follow this coming week.
My signing to Temporal Drift happened in a very natural way. I’d become friendly with Patrick McCarthy, one-half of the label’s partners, over the past few years. His wife Jeanine and I are very old friends. When I decided to put a record release show on in Los Angeles a few years ago, she encouraged him to make it to the gig in her place. He dug the gig and told me so afterward, which was a great compliment, as I’d been following along with what Temporal Drift had been releasing. They are interested in less conventional creativity. We’d meet for tea now and again, independent of any interest in my music, just as pals. Over one such tea meeting, I told him I was working on a new record and asked if he’d be open to taking a listen. I guess he liked what he heard, so he and Yosuke (the other partner at TD) agreed that this record could find a home with them. Now we’re making good on that. They have been supremely cool to me so far. A far cry from the standard “I’ll put your record out, but otherwise, you’re on your own” model, a lot of labels seem to be fashioned. Yeesh. So now there is indeed a full-length record on the way. It’s called “Loose Enchantment”. The song of the same name is out on December 13th. The whole record will be out early next year, I reckon.
My situation with Angel Olsen is that she is a very long-time friend of mine. Though we never really discussed music much. At least not making it. But one day she casually dropped into conversation that she was going to be putting the record that ended up being “Cosmic Waves Vol 1” together, and asked me whether I’d be interested in taking part. I was flattered, and agreed that yes… This would be a neat idea. So, I made a new piece of music for it in a very short amount of time. A song called “Blood”. The music itself was quite different for me. Almost pop. I made it, like all of my recordings, in my living room. But was pretty ambitious about some new recording techniques. It was a blast. She also covered one of my songs (“Swimming” from the “Laughing” record). No one has ever covered a tune of Coffin Prick’s, and this set the bar pretty high. She sang the hell out of it. These things really just affect my life in that they allow me to work with people who are interested in having a mutual respect for me. And whether that leads to “furthering my career” or not doesn’t matter. What it means to me is that I’ve been able to do something together with people I trust and that they hopefully trust me in return. You can’t put a price on that… I don’t think?
Tell me about this album and how your overall vision and approach has differed from previous releases in the past? What does your 2025 look like? What are you most excited about and looking forward to in the new year? Is there anything else you would like to share further with the readers?
Photo: Scott Gilmore
This record was made in a little over a year. Fast-ish. The main difference is that I’ve gotten better at realizing what I’m trying to get across and getting it into a recording. This record is a bit of a leap ahead compositionally. I think I took some different kinds of chances. There were plenty of leaps on the last records, but they were just…different. I certainly got better at engineering my recordings, which I don’t enjoy. But who can afford the studio time these days? A shame. Everyone should be able to make at LEAST one record in a proper recording studio, even just with some context and perspective. I don't know. I’m quite proud of this record. Some things approach “singles.” My label thinks so, and that’s encouraging enough to me. One new development in my recording life as Coffin Prick to this point is the inclusion of other musicians in this one. Aaron Olson returns on a mean Harmonica. Alejandro Salazar-Dyer and John Herndon on current acoustic drums. The beautiful singing of Kathy Lea. And a collaborative song with a hero of mine, Steven Brown, from a long, long-time favorite of mine, "Tuxedomoon" Unbelievable. I’m excited about figuring out how to play this stuff with my live band. Even though I make the records on my own, stretching out with my love band is joyful for me. I have been quite lucky to be encircled by so many talented musicians who are interested in playing my tunes. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Buy “Loose Enchantment” next year. Do something good for someone else this year. Be the opposite of whatever these destructive billionaire nitwits are. Can you ever conceptualize a billion dollars? Cripes. Be good-hearted. It’s helpful. Ciao.
