This time around we feature the collection of Francis Beringer, bassist/vocalist in the Washington, DC based heavy rock band Caustic Casanova.
The first album I ever bought with my own money was…
AC/DC’s classic Back in Black on CD. I bought it with money earned doing yard work in high school. I mark this record as the one that changed music forever for me – music was no longer something I passively consumed after this. Music – specifically heavy music, and especially the almighty riff – was an obsession from that day forward.
The record that made me want to make music was…
This is easy – Rush’s A Farewell To Kings. Rush has been my favorite band since I was in high school. Geddy Lee’s performance on this record made me want to buy a bass and start a band.
The record I’ve played more than any other is…
Because I own it in several formats, and because it’s one of my favorite records of all time going back almost 20 years, and because it’s a great driving record, I’d have to say Permanent Waves by Rush.
The record that always make me feel good is…
There are so many that immediately come to mind so I’ll just pick one – Torche’s Harmonicraft. This one is always on the turntable, it might be the most upbeat, bizarre heavy metal record ever made. I’m extremely into major key, happy sounding heavy music so this will always be a favorite.
The record I turn to when I’m feeling down is…
The older I get, the less I like to dwell on sadness and the more I’m interested in using music to make me feel powerful and confident in the face of an onslaught of existential dread. Again, there are so many records that could fit this bill, but I’ll go with the self titled Queens of The Stone Age debut here. This is another one that’s always on the turntable. It possesses an overly sexed up repetitive groove that somehow seems highly masculine and highly feminine simultaneously. It reminds me of all the beautiful people doing badass things in my life and how much they inspire me. That record and some delicious food is a good recipe for getting out of the doldrums. It’s also an absolutely fantastic driving record. When we’re on tour, it always gets multiple listens.
The record with my favorite cover art is…
Again, so many come to mind, but I’ll go with Hostile Ambient Takeover by The Melvins – I love the pink, grey and red color combination especially. I think so much of Mackie Osborne’s art and package design instincts are so brilliant and so weird. I’m honored that she did the package design for our 2012 record Someday You Will Be Proven Correct. I actually only have this on CD but when and if Ipecac reissues this on vinyl I will purchase it immediately to get the large format artwork.
The strangest LP I own is…
The strangest album that I regularly listen to is a more interesting answer than the “strangest album I own,” because I own a bunch of extremely confrontational noisy music that is super bizarre but isn’t something I listen to more than once or twice a year. M’Boom by the band of the same name headed by jazz drum legend Max Roach is probably the weirdest record I put on all the time. It’s an all-percussion ensemble making truly spectacular music, every single person involved is a virtuoso, and the sheer variety of percussion instruments makes it a full and complete listening experience each time and not just a novelty.
The rarest LP I own is…
I have a rare Song of the South soundtrack LP pressed by Disney, and a rare Black Sabbath Live At Hammersmith Odeon CD (Dio era), but a quick perusal of discogs and racking my brain shows me that at least in terms of value on the open market, my rarest LP is my copy of A Senile Animal by the Melvins on vinyl. Also, phenomenal artwork by Mackie on that one, another record that would be a candidate for favorite cover art.
The last LP I bought was…
Wand – Golem and Dreamdecay – YÚ, bought at the same show. Both bands blew me away.
Caustic Casanova’s latest album, God How I Envy The Deaf, was released on October 18, 2019. You can download it, or purchase a physical copy on CD or one of two different vinyl variants here.
https://causticcasanova.com/
https://causticcasanova.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CausticCasanova/
https://twitter.com/causticcasanova
https://www.instagram.com/causticcasanova/
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