Mess Esque with Chris Brokaw

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Mess Esque is the musical vision of Dirty Three guitarist Mick Turner & Mckisko composer Helen Franzmann. Since forming via a lockdown-confined correspondence in 2020, they have recorded & released two records: Dream #12 (Bedroom Suck) and Mess Esque (Drag City/ Milk!).

Together they create a curious synthesis of dream pop, psych soul & ethereal indie rock. Effortlessly balancing bold emotional immediacy with a quietly assured sense of composure, Mess Esque draw the listener into their compelling world of sideways shadows & nocturnal projections. Franzmann’s dream diary reflections & cyclical refrains echo Turner’s tapestry of guitar, organs, flutes & scattered percussion. Melodies arch upwards dramatically before dissolving into diaphanous substratums of whispers & sighs. Songs unfold in their own time, drifting outwards before circling back to find themselves where they left off, each time the same but somehow different. Their self titled album Mess Esque on Drag City Records has been described as “a dreamy visceral masterpiece.”

Chris Brokaw is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, drummer and film composer based in Boston. Chris is perhaps best known for his work as the drummer in Codeine and the guitarist in Come, who made several albums in the 1990’s for the labels Sub Pop and Matador that are considered landmarks in American independent rock music.

Since 2001, Chris has focused primarily on his work as a solo artist, making numerous albums of vocal and instrumental music. This has ranged from full on rock (“Puritan”, “Gambler’s Ecstasy”, “Incredible Love”, “Red Cities”) to explorations of the 6-string and 12-string acoustic guitars (“Canaris”, “VDSQ Solo Acoustic Volume 3”) to the experimental and abstract (“Tundra”, “Gracias, Ghost of the Future”,”The Periscope Twins”).

Chris has performed and recorded as an accompanist to a wide range of musical artists, including Thurston Moore, Steve Wynn, Evan Dando, Christina Rosenvinge, Jennifer O’Connor, Rhys Chatham, Alan Licht, GG Allin, and Johnny Depp.

He has composed music for the Dagdha Dance Company (Limerick, Ireland) and Kino Dance (Boston); collaborated with dancer Jimena Bermejo in a duo for dance and music (New York, Boston, and Belfast); collaborated with playwright Rinde Eckert and director Robert Woodruff on the opera “Highway Ulysses” (American Repertory Theater, Cambridge); performed as one of 77 drummers in the Boredoms’ “77 Boadrum” (New York); and performed as one of 200 guitarists in Rhys Chatham’s “A Crimson Grail” at Lincoln Center, New York. One of his projects, Dirtmusic (with Chris Eckman and Hugo Race), performed at the Festival In The Desert, in Essakane, Mali, and collaborated with the Touareg band Tamikrest on an album recorded in Bamako, Mali.

Currently, Chris performs both solo and with bassist Dave Carlson and drummer Pete Koeplin as the Chris Brokaw Rock Band. He also plays in the bands The Martha’s Vineyard Ferries, Charnal Ground, and The Lemonheads, and in duos with Geoff Farina and Lori Goldston.