5 Questions With: Wormburner

“5 Questions With” is a series spotlighting some of Brooklyn’s most exciting and influential creatives. (You can explore our archive of picks here.)

Wormburner are narrative indie rock luminaries from Brooklyn via New Jersey. They’ve been trumpeted by everybody from KEXP, who have previously anointed them as Song of the Day, to NYC Taper, who describes their (somewhat rare) live shows as a “must see.” In the grand tradition of storytelling songwriters, frontman Hank Henry weaves songs out of wild characters, epic historical battles, and — occasionally — weathered, transient hustlers. You can expect all that and more from their third LP, Pleasant Living in Planned Communities,  which drops September 30 via DIVE Records. Can’t wait? Watch them play some of it live for their record release show, 9/26 at Mercury Lounge.  In the meantime, check Hank’s top Brooklyn picks. After the jump.

Record listened most to in life:  That’s such a hard question because there are so many records I’ve been obsessed with at different points in life.  But one that stands out is an overlooked 1982 Nick Lowe LP called Nick the Knife.  My older brother gave me a cassette copy when I was a little kid, and I listened to it constantly. Then I lost track of it until I found a vinyl copy at the WFMU Record Fair.  The album isn’t even in the iTunes or Spotify libraries, which is crazy because it’s so good and it was so formative for me.  But I did recently stumble across the digital tracks on YouTube.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Brooklyn-based band to look out for:  My current favorite Brooklyn-based band is Parquet Courts.  I don’t know if I can say they’re a band to look out for because they now seem to have gained some pretty widespread popularity.  And deservedly so.  Their songs are hypnotic and I’ve seen them live more times than I can count.  They’re fantastic. 

Fave place to see a show:  It’s a toss-up between Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom.  In terms of configuration, these clubs pretty much feel like mirror-images of one another.  So it’s hard to pick one over another but if I had to choose I’d have to go with Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Fave Brooklyn bar:  That’d be Lake Street Bar.  I’m looking forward to watching a lot of NFL games there this Fall.  And what’s great is that, when the games are over, they turn off all the TVs and play great music.

Go to drink:  Over the past few months my boyfriend and I have spent a lot of nights drinking red wine on our front stoop in Greenpoint.  The weather was fantastic this past summer.  And after the hellish winter we’d all experienced, we really enjoyed being outside in our neighborhood as much as possible.