Debut Horseback (AKA Jenks Miller) LP Impale Golden Horn will see a vinyl release Oct. 23 jointly through Three Lobed Recordings and Divide By Zero Records. Impale‘s patient dronescapes have been released twice on CD (once by Indy Music Editor Grayson Currin’s former label Burly Time Records) and are digitally available through Relapse Records, but have not been pressed to vinyl yet. This reissue, replete with darkly intriguing art by regular Horseback cover artist Denis Forkas Kostromitin, aims to rectify that situation. Interestingly, this comes on the heels of a Merge Records announcement that it will reissue the debut LP from Miller’s other band the equally celebrated Mount Moriah on vinyl as well.
We spoke with Three Lobed’s Cory Rayborn about the Impale Golden Horn reissue.
Indy Week: Could you tell me a bit about this release?
Cory Rayborn: Ha the inspiration for this one may or may not be interesting. Jenks and I have discussed working on some projects together for the last few years. Around March 2011, we decided that we needed to do at least one Horseback record together, but that it would be a ways down the road as Half Blood was not yet finished/ released at that point. My wife and I were on a trip down to the Outer Banks about a month after he and I had agreed on the “new” record, and Impale had been playing for part of the trip. I started thinking while we were driving about how it was crazy that this one had been put out on CD twice and never on vinyl. When we next stopped the car, I shot Jenks a text and asked him if he had any plans/ desire to do a vinyl version of Impale he quickly responded that he did.
I’m interested in the new packaging and artwork, notably. I’d like to hear about how all that came together.
Since Impale was finally getting on vinyl, it made sense for us to be able to retcon it a bit and get Denis involved. That was Jenks’ first suggestion and Denis was very open to the idea. Jenks facilitated discussions and within little more than three to four days, Denis shot the very illustration we are using along this way. We were very pleased with the results it fits so nicely into the overall look and feel of all of the other Horseback covers. The presentation of the artwork goes another level further still in the final silkscreened form its simplicity as a pen and ink illustration plays together nicely with the creature, the moon and the chipboard stock.
Since you’re co-releasing it, could you tell me why this is a significant or worthwhile record?
This is pretty simple Jenks is a significant genre-spanning artist both in and out of our region. This was evident all the way from the start with Impale, which was a bold and clear artistic statement. The threads that weave through his entire oeuvre are just as clear and visible here as they are in the other Horseback releases, Mount Moriah, etc. For that very reason this record had to be available on vinyl.
With the Impale Golden Horn vinyl coming out, are you thinking of doing another Horseback record, or a reissue of earlier stuff like Approaching the Invisible Mountain?
Yeah there will be a new Horseback LP on Three Lobed in 2013 (date not yet pinned down) consisting of entirely new material. Jenks has been hard at work on it and it will be spectacular. I don’t have any other hard and fast details on it at the present since it is still a ways off, but the tidbits I do know about it at this point are very exciting. There aren’t any other active Three Lobed/ Horseback plans at the moment, but that certainly does not preclude anything else from coming to light!
Can you tell me about some previous co-releases between the two labels and why they work so well together?
Impale marks the fourth project between Divide By Zero and Three Lobed. The other three are Rhyton’s The Emerald Tablet (released earlier this month) and two releases for Hans Chew (a full length album and a 7″ single). I’ve known Jon for close to 20 years and we have an excellent rapport and similar musical tastes. To the degree that I could help a close friend sincerely interested in releasing records get distribution, exposure and the like, I am certainly happy to do so.
Were there any hurdles with the release, considering this is a Relapse record now? Is that why there’s no download coupon?
No real hurdles per se. Since Relapse has the album up for commercial download and the CD release we couldn’t really offer download coupons. That’s about it. Jenks spoke with the Relapse folks and they were totally fine with the release taking the form it is in.
