COTTON — Just outside the unincorporated community of Kelsey, Minnesota — surrounded by tamarack trees and sphagnum moss-filled bogs — sunlight streams through big windows into a wood-paneled room with a wood stove crackling in the corner.
The ceilings are vaulted and high above — an artistic choice made by the two brothers who are building the space as a recording studio.
"Drums, to my ears, sound better in a larger room where frequencies have room to move in the space," said Ryan Dermody, sitting in what will one day be the control room of the studio.
In late October, we (KAXE Music Director Kari Hedlund and Assistant Music Director Malachy Koons) visited the studio to chat with Ryan and his brother Jesse Dermody about their hopes and dreams for the space. For 25 years, they've played music together as The Brothers Burn Mountain, their drum-heavy and psychedelic folk-blues project.
Work on the studio began over four years ago and the brothers are currently in the final phases of carpentry. Soon, they will add the equipment needed to run a studio. Beyond the main building, the property has two secluded satellite cabins that artists can use for a more quiet and solo writing space.
The paths that connect the buildings pass through breathtaking beds of sphagnum moss that sink beneath your feet and seem to swallow any sound. The truly heavy stillness that results is a special thing I will never forget. It's a big part of the draw for the brothers.
"Every little thing that we've found that helps us, we've tried to incorporate in the studio and into the things that we've built on the land," Jesse said. "And then there's the wild nature, which is the ultimate conduit for the human creative spirit."
As the building has come together and neared completion, Ryan and Jesse have held off recording new material for The Brothers Burn Mountain. The vision of what they can accomplish in their new space is too clear to record it anywhere else.
They did release an album earlier this year — a retrospective of sorts simply called 25 — that contains selections from their first releases up to 2022's The Thrill and the Flame. Like countless other artists who have grown throughout their career, the task of listening back to early recordings and their perceived imperfections was a difficult one.
Minnesota audio engineer Tom Garneau (Prince, Low, Charlie Parr), remastered the songs to, in Ryan's words, "help them become a little bit more clairvoyant and resonate a bit better."
Regardless, they are proud of what they've accomplished and that they're still doing it today.
"It's most important that you have a lifetime of creation," Ryan said, "and with my brother especially. Because us as individuals, I think we are pretty strong artists, but when we bring our forces together, we can spur each other on a little bit, and maybe do better work."
With supportive parents and a basement to practice in, the pair grew up in a musical household but did not initially create as a duo. It wasn't until the breakup of Ryan's high school cover band, and a life-changing trip to Brazil for Jesse, that the collaboration took off.
Jesse, the primary drummer in Brothers Burn, was introduced to new rhythms and the music of Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento and more while living in Brazil.
"The rhythm sections are unsurpassed in the intricacy and specific parts," Jesse said. "It'd be like seven different percussion parts, each doing something different timing-wise."
When Ryan picked up Jesse, with a conga drum and a stack of CDs, from the airport, the path forward was clear: The Brothers Burn Mountain was born.
Throughout our conversation, Ryan and Jesse's passion and devotion to music, art and creativity radiated off them. If you've ever had the chance to see them perform, you'll know just what we mean.
When the recording studio is complete, they will have their dream space to carry out their vision of creativity and to share it with others.
"[It's] the ultimate creative space where you can make as many songs in our lifetime as we can possibly make," Ryan said.
"And to help others make their own music and art as well," Jesse added. "We've always had a dream of fostering the creative spirit."
