Profound Lore Records is one of those labels that, in my opinion, can be trusted almost blindly to release quality records. Whenever a new release is announced, I feel compelled to listen to it because they rarely disappoint. Even if I’ve never heard of the band before or if it’s not in a genre that I usually listen to, I will always give it a chance. When a label releases quality records one after the other like that, you learn to trust the musical tastes of the people behind it. You get excited about what comes next. It’s like having a friend you trust suggesting new music to listen to, from time to time. That is why we are very excited to discuss music with Chris Bruni, the one-man-operation behind Profound Lore Records.
-Cédric N.
profoundlorerecords.com / profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com
Name five songs that you consider “perfect songs” and explain why or what they mean to you.
RUSH – Subdivisions
I think this is the defining song where its core message says that it’s okay to be different and be that outcast, to defy societal expectations and go against them. This song is the anthem for this and not some stupid punk or hardcore song or whatever.
RED HOUSE PAINTERS – Katy Song
One of the most devastating and soul crushing songs ever written and also one of the most dangerous songs ever written.
TEARS FOR FEARS – Woman In Chains
I think this has to be one of the most epic, glorious, and forward thinking progressive pop songs of all time. This is pop music taken to the next level unparalleled.
NEW ORDER – Dream Attack
It’s one of the best New Order songs alongside True Faith and Ceremony, but this is an underrated gem by New Order, a song probably no one talks about when discussing New Order’s highlights from their repertoire. BTW if you were to ask me my top ten New Order songs Blue Monday wouldn’t make the cut.
QUEENSRYCHE – The Mission
One of my favourite metal songs, just thunderous, anthemic, one of the most epic choruses in all of metal and also one of the best metal vocal performances ever on this track. I’m not sure how many people recognize this song in particular among Queensryche’s body of work though, but it is one of their best songs.
Which music genre do you listen to the most? List your five favorite albums in that genre.
Well I guess metal and heavier music by default. But I’d say my top five favorite metal albums would probably be:
JUDAS PRIEST – Sad Wings Of Destiny
CELTIC FROST – To Mega Therion
MORBID ANGEL – Blessed Are The Sick/Altars Of Madness (TIE)
MERCYFUL FATE – Melissa
VOIVOD – Dimension Hatross
Your five favorite rappers of all time? Name one song that best exemplifies what makes them great.
EASY-E – “Real Muthaphukkin G’s”
FUTURE – “Thought It Was A Drought”
DRAKE – “Practice”
KENDRICK LAMAR – “The Art Of Peer Pressure”
Dr. DRE – “Nuthin’ But A G Thang”
What’s the album you’ve listened to the most in your life? Do you still listen to it?
I mean I can say any of these favourite releases of mine I listed, but when it comes to the albums I’ve listened to the most I usually am reminded of the albums that I grew up with and helped shape and define my musical upbringing to what I have become today, albums like METALLICA’s Master Of Puppets, or any of the first three MORBID ANGEL albums. And indeed I still listen to these albums since they are pretty much timeless.
Five hardest riffs of all time?
The very opening riff of the song Black Sabbath by the band of the same name.
Opening series of riffs on the METALLICA song The Thing That Should Not Be.
The riffs on the GODFLESH song Like Rats.
The riffs on the SWANS song Half Life.
The riffs on the MORBID ANGEL song Maze Of Torment.
What are some of your favorite song lyrics? Lyrics that have been important to you or that had an impact on you?
I think NICK CAVE is pretty much the best lyricist ever and the songs of his that lyrically has had the most impact on me is probably the songs Are You The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?, Straight To You, and Sorrow’s Child. My other favourite lyricist is Mark Kozelek and pretty good chunk of RED HOUSE PAINTERS lyrics have had an impact on me. And of course Robert Smith, most notably the lyrics to the songs Cold and Pictures Of You have had an impact on me in some way.
Do you have a favorite setting or place to listen to music? How does the setting influence the type of music you’ll listen to?
I mostly listen to music in my office out of my house (where I work out of) really since I tend to spend the most time there. Also nice to listen to music on long car rides and road trips too, especially driving amongst nice scenery, to make the trip and drives more tolerable.
Do you have an absolute all time favorite band or musical artist? What makes them so special to you?
I guess have a royal rumble match with THE CURE, RUSH, RED HOUSE PAINTERS, NEW ORDER, JUDAS PRIEST, MORBID ANGEL, VOIVOD and SLOWDIVE and see who ends up the last one standing.
What are your ten favourite albums of all time (all genres)? Name a standout track on each of these albums.
As of right this moment:
- (Tie) THE CURE – Pornography (standout song – Cold)/THE CURE – Disintegration (standout song – Last Dance)
- RUSH – Signals (standout song – Subdivisions)
- JUDAS PRIEST – Sad Wings Of Destiny (standout song – Victims Of Changes)
- CELTIC FROST – To Mega Therion (standout song – Dawn Of Megiddo)
- RED HOUSE PAINTERS – Red House Painters 1 (aka Rollercoaster) (standout song – Katy Song)
- (Tie) MORBID ANGEL – Blessed Are The Sick (standout song – The Ancient Ones)/MORBID ANGEL – Altars Of Madness (standout song – Chapel Of Ghouls)
- SLOWDIVE – Soulvaki (standout song – When The Sun Hits)
- MERCYFUL FATE – Melissa (standout song – Into The Coven)
- VOIVOD – Dimension Hatross (standout song – Tribal Convictions)
- NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – The Boatman’s Call (standout song – Are You The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?)
Do you remember the first time you really appreciated an album or a song?
My very first exposure and impression to music was the first time I appreciated music ultimately; I had older cousins and when visiting them as a kid I’d get exposed to stuff like RUSH, VAN HALEN, GENESIS, DURAN DURAN, etc. because they’d always be playing their records and I was very impressionable to all this music. And then heavier stuff would creep in as well too and I’d get exposed through that, stuff like MOTLEY CRUE, WASP, TWISTED SISTER, OZZY, etc. But more or less, for the heavier music, the first time I would really appreciate this stuff was being exposed to all these metal videos as a kid that would make a huge impression on me. When I first saw the videos for songs like Number Of The Beast, Bark At The Moon, Love Machine, We’re Not Gonna Take It, Too Young To Fall In Love, Looks That Kill, Breaking The Law, etc. that was the gateway that sucked me into this world.
What were you listening to in elementary school? then in high school? (Your favorite bands/records back then?) How much of that music is still a part of your playlists today? How have your musical tastes evolved since?
Elementary school I remember listening to stuff like DURAN DURAN (still listen to them), MOTLEY CRUE (still listen to them, only the first two albums though), U2 (not much of a fan anymore but I dig all the old-school pre-Joshua Tree stuff), OZZY OSBORNE (still listen to the classic stuff today, most notably the Jake E. Lee era), GUNS ‘N’ ROSES (not much into them anymore but they were vital in my musical upbringing), EUROPE (just the Final Countdown album of course and I still like to jam some tracks off it today), AEROSMITH (not into them anymore), AC/DC (only jam the Bon Scott era mostly), DEF LEPPARD (still listen to the old school stuff), VAN HALEN (first four albums, always), METALLICA (don’t really listen to anything past Master Of Puppets these days), NEW ORDER (always listen to them, pretty much everything), and of course the stuff I’m a little embarrassed admittedly to say I listened to as well during elementary school but can look back to and at least have a good laugh at, crap like BON JOVI, POISON, WARRANT, etc.
High school is when my musical tastes got more extreme, stuff like SLAYER, PANTERA, SEPULTURA came into the picture and then thrash, death, doom, and black metal pretty much took over for me in high school when I discovered all this stuff in the early ‘90s. And I still love it all to this day. Well not PANTERA anymore but I also did get into some shitty music as well too in high school on top of listening to all this cool brutal and extreme death and black metal that was consuming me. And of course my musical tastes have evolved since especially by doing the record label it has changed my whole view and perspective on music more than ever.
What beloved music do you share with your parents (or children if you have kids)? Any specifics memories?
I don’t really share any music with my parents or family or anything like that. My father was always into classical music, which led him to putting me into piano lessons as a kid. So I was musically trained in playing classical music and have played all the great composers (BACH, BEETHOVEN, MOZART, LISZT, etc.) when I was a kid and went pretty far and accomplished a good amount during my training (I quit in 1996 when I finished high school to go into university). I think this is the only kind of music I can connect with my parents.
Most memorable show you’ve ever seen? What makes it stand out?
Three usually come to mind immediately: METALLICA/GUNS ‘N’ ROSES in 1992 just because it was my very first show ever, the first time I saw MORBID ANGEL live in 1995, and the first time I saw NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS live in 1998 (with the classic BAD SEEDS lineup of course) in a smaller club setting where I was literally right up at the front for the entire show.
Do you have any songs that are meaningful to you because you associate them with important events in your life?
Not really to any specific events in particular, but I’d say songs like Drop, Bubble, Grace Cathedral Park and Katy Song by RED HOUSE PAINTERS for example are meaningful to me just because these songs tend to trigger these kind of feelings that conjure many visions and emotions I have towards life in general, how I view it, how I view the passage of time, how everyone you encounter in life comes, goes, and ages within this passage.
Is there any classic / universally acclaimed artist that you missed out on when they first came out and discovered way later? Any artist that you didn’t like at first and learned to appreciate over time?
I discovered HUSKER DU, or more or less got into them way later even though I had always heard of them. So when I recently got into them a few years ago, I really got into them pretty hard. Same with BOB MOULD’s solo work as well (the only work of his that I was remotely familiar with was Sugar).
Also I’ve never liked or been into any of DANZIG’s music growing up. But I think I’m finally learning to, and making the effort to at least appreciate the How The Gods Kill album a little bit more now. So there’s some progress I guess there.
Do you have an artist that you love in a genre that you don’t usually listen to? What makes them stand out?
Yeah I mean I love PULP and I don’t really listen to Britpop much, if at all.
Do you have any controversial/unpopular music related opinions that you would like to defend?
When I was younger I was never into LED ZEPPELIN admittedly and never thought that much of their music at all (I was more BLACK SABBATH and RUSH instead). I guess because everyone in high school, even those who weren’t into rock music, liked them and they were one of the cool bands everyone had to like. And as much as I have progressed a lot as a music listener since, still to this day I’m still not really into their music. But I won’t say they are overrated or anything like that.
If you could create your dream band (with any musicians, dead or alive), who would play which instrument?
Geddy Lee – bass/vocals/synths (sometimes even all at the same time)
Alex Lifeson – guitars
Neil Peart – drums
What albums have been on heavy rotation lately?
MONEN OF XEZBETH – Ancient Spells Of Darkness
UNIFORM – The Long Walk
TONY MOLINA – Kill The Lights
INEXORUM – Lore Of The Lakes
STEVE HAUSCHILDT – Dissolvi
HELENA HAUFF – Qualm
What are some up and coming artists that you would recommend?
PISSGRAVE
Is there a band that you’ve discovered live recently that blew you away?
I recently saw UNIFORM and DREADNOUGHT live for the first time and even though I had already been familiar with their material, their performances pretty much floored me.
What are you listening to right now, while answering these questions?
BLACK SABBATH – Cross Purposes
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