Bookin' It With The Mound Builders's Brian

The Mound Builders

After many splits and other releases, Lafayette, Indiana's The Mound Builders have released a full length, self-titled debut.

You can snatch that up on beautiful colored vinyl HERE. It's also available on CD and however these kids today are listening to music.

In the mean time, let's talk about books! Brian was even kind enough to give me a pre-interview answer which sums up this introduction nicely.

Brian here from The Mound Builders. Thanks for asking about our reading habits. Reading plays a pretty big part in what we do. We draw inspiration from ancient history, life in the midwest, and the mysteries of the cosmos. 

We all read quite a bit on these topics and it seeps into our lyrical and musical content.

1. I try to read at least two books per month, and mostly fail, what's your goal and reality?

For me personally I am right at that two books per month rate, give or take a book here and there. I have been making my way back through the Dune series again here lately. 

Frank Herbert had so much to say about the nature of mankind and society that is still relevant today. I often wonder if he himself was prescient in the same way as his main characters.

2. Encyclopedia Brown and Choose Your Own Adventure books were a big part of my childhood. What did you read back in Elementary School?

My favorite childhood book was Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I loved the artwork and the fantastical journey that Max went on. 

I was also introduced to The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien in grade school. That had a profound impact on my young mind and I think I try to write certain songs with The Mound Builders that capture that sense of an epic journey.

3. It's no secret that I think Harry Potter is an amazing saga, but it wasn't until after the movie for Chamber of Secrets was released that I began reading the books. What was the big thing you were late on?

The biggest series of books that I was a little late in discovering are the cyber punk novels of William Gibson. The opening line of Neuromancer is a classic: "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." 

Paints a pretty bleak picture right from the start.

Jim from The Mound Builders turned me onto a book called Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. 

Some of that influence made it onto our new album. Ryan from The Mound Builders turned me onto the Kurt Vonnegut novels. There is a track on the new album called Vanished Frontier that was inspired by a line from Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

4. My local library is amazing and I'm there pretty frequently. What do you like about your library?

My family and I love our local library. My wife Katie and I have two young girls that enjoy all of the programs available at the library. 

We recently attended a program featuring local author and artist Ben Hatke, author of modern classics such as Little Robot and Nobody Likes a Goblin.

5. Comic Books. Which ones are you reading?

I am not currently reading any comics but I grew up on the old Marvel Star Wars comics as well as all of the classic Marvel characters. 

Hulk was a favorite of mine as a child. In the not too distant past I worked my way through the Dark Tower comics by Marvel.

6. What author can you just read again and again?

Frank Herbert, J.R.R. Tolkien, and William Gibson as mentioned previously. Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Douglas Adams, and H.P. Lovecraft to name a few others. 

The Mound Builders have a song called The Mound which takes direct inspiration from the story of the same name which was co-authored or ghost-written by Lovecraft