THE LACONIC

Although there are guests included on the work, THE LACONIC is a musical project that is essentially one person, Chicago area artist Marc Pelath. He produces a unique version of progressive rock. I got to ask him about everything from musical influences to the name of the act, streaming and more. 

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Can you catch the readers up on the history of your involvement in music – sort of a "highlight reel?"

MARC PELATH: I’m a late bloomer.  I took piano lessons for years as a child, played a Micromoog briefly as a teenager, then switched to bass guitar, because I loved Chris Squire and my brother already played guitar.  In my late 20s I bought a Chapman Stick for the usual reasons, then switched to a Warr guitar in my late 30s.  I was always a bedroom player, rarely in a band because of the global drummer shortage,  and couldn’t make much progress at any instrument.  That changed when I looked at the Warr guitar sitting on its stand unused, decided it was now or never, and started taking touch guitar lessons with Markus Reuter, after which I switched again to the Touch Guitars U8, learned to use a DAW, recorded covers for fun, then started composing my own pieces -- at every step, acting like I was a real musician, until I became one.  I released my first album, Integrals, in 2022, which was almost entirely a solo work; my second album, “Amor Fati” (2023), enlisted about a half dozen artists to realize my compositions; my third, “Time and Tide” (2024), a collaboration with KID ARROW, followed soon after; and my fourth and most recent, “Ascension” (2024), expanded on the original set of contributors to “Amor Fati”, to something like fifteen musicians.

WC: If you weren't involved in music what do you think you'd be doing?

MP: Playing video games.  Sleeping.  Starting or reviving some strange new hobby; I used to homebrew and grow carnivorous plants.  I was an avid open water and cave diver until I had to quit for health reasons.  Selling off my diving gear funded a lot of music gear.

WC: How did the name of the project originate?

MP: I’m loquacious on paper but I’m laconic in real life.  “The” was prepended because “Laconic” was already an artist, and the email address was taken - kind of an unromantic story.

WC: Who would you see as your musical influences? 

MP: Tony Banks, Trevor Rabin, Donald Fagen and Mike Oldfield.  And, of course, Markus Reuter, very directly.  I’ve been a huge fan of YES, GENESIS and STEELY DAN, ever since I was late-single-digits in age.  Tony Banks is the quintessential keyboardist for me. Trevor Rabin is the most lyrical guitarist and an admirable singer. Donald Fagen is my role model as a band leader, and all three of them are some of my favorite songwriters.  Of course Chris Squire and Geddy Lee go without saying, but I did anyway.  Mike Oldfield I didn’t really discover until two or three years ago, and Markus is the world’s greatest Oldfield fan, so that was bound to rub off on me.  Now Mike is an influence, but before he was an influence, I was already sort of heading in an Oldfieldish direction without knowing it.

That said, I’ve been surprised more than once to realize who influenced me.  “Equinox” on Amor Fati was influenced by Joe Walsh and THE ALLMAN BROTHERS as much as anything.  “Dust” is inspired by Ennio Morricone, and Paul Simon influenced both “Strider” (Integrals) and “The Mind Freed” (Ascension), albeit indirectly.

WC: What's the best thing that's ever been said about your music? 

MP: Publicly, a reviewer said of “Refuge” that “you won't hear much better music this year.”  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  But I think it is a great track.  The solos at the end are some of my favorites of all time.

Privately, some touching things that I will never forget.  One person I worked with on “Amor Fati” said after listening to “Refuge” that it made him feel 18 again.  It was like he had bought an album he had been anticipating, ran home, and listened with that kind of intensity and openness that comes more easily at that age.  That meant a lot to me.  A well-known contributor to “Ascension” said that I gave him an earworm. These are both people I respect greatly and look up to.  I don’t have a big audience, but to hear these kinds of things from these kinds of people is better.

WC: What's ahead for you?

MP: Fellow touch guitarist and frequent collaborator Tim Gardner and I formed a project called “212°” and are releasing our first album, “Transmissions”, this fall.  It’s influenced by KING CRIMSON, Brian Eno, APHEX TWIN, Markus Reuter, Steve Reich, Phillip Glass, John Carpenter, and science fiction movies and novels.  Sometimes ambient, sometimes raucous, usually epic, it’s super cool.  I remarked today that I wouldn’t have, and couldn’t have, made that album by myself.  We have a great working relationship, maybe because our personalities and musical tastes are similar enough, but different enough that some creative back and forth can happen.  It’s pretty rare for one of us to reject the other’s contributions; usually we take it and run with it, and something interesting starts to happen.

Otherwise, I’m composing and learning more and more composition.

WC: I know many artists hate to have their music pigeonholed or labeled, but how would you describe your music?

MP: Here’s how my cousin August (who does my cover art and plays accordion) describes it: “It’s kind of post prog, with a lot of future synth from the good timeline… Remember what the Internet felt like back when it was good and bright and full of imagination? That, with guitars.”

I describe it as “epic, evocative, eclectic, instrumental post-prog.”  Think “Los Endos.”  To me it’s prog, but not to everyone--it’s too emotional or not technical enough for them.  I use all the time signatures though!

WC: Are there musicians with whom you would like to play in the future?

MP: I’ve been incredibly fortunate so far to work with the people I have worked with: Markus, Gary Husband, Simon Phillips, Fabio Trentini, Luca Calabrese, Aralee Dorough and Colin Gatwood, to name some of the more well-known ones, and the rest of them all exceed me.  My “regular” drummer Juan Dahmen is the drummer I always wanted but didn’t know it.  It’s been like fantasy camp for at least two years.  But one musician I’d like to add, who might even fit well, who might not even be out of the question, is Ant Phillips.  “No Greater Harmony” on “Ascension” is partly a tribute to his sound.

WC: Do you think that illegal downloading or streaming of music is a help or hindrance to the careers of musicians? 

MP: People can legally stream music without the artist seeing a dime of it.

WC: In a related question, how do you feel about fans recording shows and trading them or posting them online?

MP: The recording itself is what bothers me.  Ever been to a concert where half the people are holding phones above their heads?  It’s intolerable. (Preach on!--Dr. M)

WC: If you were a superhero, what music person would be your arch nemesis and why?

MP: Chuck Klostermann distinguished between “nemesis” and “arch enemy.”  The latter is someone who is your enemy but who is also much like you, and if circumstances were different would be your friend.  The former is someone you loathe deeply.  My arch enemy would be Jordan Rudess.  He’s probably a great guy and is inarguably a stellar keyboardist, but his aesthetic is sort of the opposite of mine.  My nemesis would be Tom Morello.  

WC: If you were to put together your ultimate band (a band you'd like to hear or catch live), who would be in it and why?

MP: That band already existed, I just didn’t get to see them: GENESIS, sometime around the Duke era.  I’m not going to assemble something from parts.  I hate supergroups.  They’re always a step down from the bands from which they draw their members.  Even if I design my own it’s still going to suck.

WC: If you were in charge of assembling a music festival and wanted it to be the ultimate one from your point of view who would be playing?

MP: A great variety would be, in no particular order, FROST*, ECHOLYN, Mike Oldfield coming out of retirement, Devin Townsend, and to shake things up a bit, THE CURE, TEARS FOR FEARS, ANCHOR & BURDEN and LEVEL 42.

WC: What was the last CD you bought and/or what have you been listening to lately?

MP: I just pre-ordered “Songs of a Lost World” by THE CURE.  I was converted to a fan, finally, when I took my daughter to see them on their last tour, and the new songs were a big part of that.  I said “I didn’t know THE CURE was epic!” and people were like “duh.” “Nothing Is Forever” is the saddest song I know; I can’t hear it without weeping, even sobbing.

WC: Have you read any good books lately?

MP: “Echopraxia” by Peter Watts, which is hard science fiction, a sequel (sort of) to “Blindsight”, which is one of the most existentially horrific books I’ve read, and did I mention it’s hard science fiction?  So it scares you with science, not the supernatural.  The album “Transmissions” is tinged with the conceptual aroma of those two books.

WC: What about the last concert you attended for your enjoyment?

MP: By the time this is published, TORTOISE.  I lived in Chicago when they were most active, and had no idea.   By the time I learned about them, which was very recently, I thought I’d never see them.  Then they announced two dates.  But at the actual time I’m writing this, STICK MEN was the last concert.

WC: Do you remember the first concert you attended?

MP: YES, “Union” tour, 1991, Allstate Arena, in the round.  So many people were on stage.  They played “Awaken”.  I was ecstatic.  I tried to see them again on that tour, but our car broke down on the way to the show.

WC: Have you come across any new gear recently that you love? 

MP: Unquestionably the UDO Super 6 synthesizer.  Great design.  Beautiful, rich sound.  I understand it’s based on the Jupiter 6, and then it has stereo processing that adds another dimension.  I read the manual, and the operations made sense.  There’s no menu diving.  So it’s a joy to use.  I haven’t found a bad patch yet.

WC: Do you have a musical “guilty pleasure?”

MP: I don’t feel guilt about any of it, but I’ll play along: 80s movie anthems.  Stuff like “Man in Motion” from “St. Elmo’s Fire”, “You’re The Best Around” from “Karate Kid”, the theme from “Beyond Thunderdome”, “When The Going Gets Tough [The Tough Get Going]” from “Romancing The Stone”.  Both “Ghostbusters” soundtracks.

WC: What has been your biggest Spinal Tap moment?

MP: Probably when I watched “Spinal Tap” with my family a few weeks ago.

WC: If you could sit down to dinner with any three people, living or dead, for food and conversation, with whom would you be dining?

MP: My father, his father, and his father’s father.  I miss my dad like crazy, and I never got to meet my paternal grandfather or great-grandfather.  I nearly invited Marcus Aurelius but none of us speak Latin.

WC: What would be on the menu?

MP: Freshly-caught walleye, beer. pie and buttered pecan ice cream.

WC: Are there any closing thoughts you would like to get out there?

MP: I know attention is in short supply these days, but if anything I’ve said resonates with you, have a listen.  Somebody out there needs to hear THE LACONIC, and it might be you.  But I’ll keep writing and recording in any case, because I need to hear it myself.

THE LACONIC