Zadak Brooks - Sound In The Signals Interview

I recently had the opportunity to interview Zadak Brooks. We discussed an early interest in music and design, how design and creative work enhance the musical experience, inspiration, favorite designers and merch, and more. Check it out below.

First, thanks for the interview.

Of course, friend. Always happy to chat!

You have a musical background, but you’ve recently pivoted to designing full time. How did you initially become interested in design?

Correct. Design/creative work was in my family since I was a kid. Dad drew, Mom is full fledged arts + crafts girly, house always filled with sketchbooks. I’ve always loved drawing since I could remember, that was my first ‘in’ in regards to the creative world. I was always able to draw in a sort of hyper realistic fashion, but I had to be looking at something to replicate. Design was a cool challenge to sort of get out of that workflow + learn to create things from my mind while having to problem solve simultaneously. I fully credit my aunt + uncle for getting me into the graphic design side as a whole, they both came from an advertising background + provided me with an old mac they had when I was in highschool. That pushed me to take a design course that started it all.

While that was happening, I started the band Boundaries with a couple buddies in, I wanna say, 2013? I started touring with that band in early highschool (thanks mom) + was exposed to so much life I didn’t get to experience as a kid in small town Connecticut. All that spiraled into me designing all the merch + album art + marketing for the band, doing flyers for local shows + tours, merch for bands we toured with, so on and so forth — the rest is history.

What do you think design adds to the overall musical product and experience?

Design + creative work in general provides the look and feel of a musical experience. You can have a band like KNOLL, for example, with a logo made in Comic Sans — that wouldn’t make sense, it would look silly. Then you start to look into their gritty b+w design work, grainy photography + uncozy videography — it’s meant to make you uncomfortable. It’s weird, it’s dark, but most importantly, it’s cohesive. Sure you can get that vibe across with the music alone, but in regards to the musical product + physical form, design brings all the pieces together. I think design + creative work really helps provide that emotional experience for the listener and show goer. It helps put a look to the sound + that helps provide a feeling.

You recently created the layout for The Test Dream’s ‘Forge And Refine’. Can you tell me about designing that one and what your inspiration was for it?

This was a fun one — before I dig into it, what an absolutely incredible band. Those kids take the OG metalcore ethos and run with it, amazing stuff. Forge And Refine made me feel something while listening through it the first time — that bridge between breakdowns vs. clean parts, gritty vs. pretty. I remember making my partner Kalina listen to it with me over and over again in the car instead of going inside. I wanted to split the album art into exactly that feeling I got, a red/scary looking side vs. a cleaner somber + cold side, while making it cohesive as one. I think we really pulled it off, I appreciate them letting me work on that along with some other layout stuff afterwords.

I really like the merch you designed for Private Mind. How did you end up working with them?

Much appreciated! PM is another band that absolutely rocks, they do them and they do it better than anyone. When I sang in a band called Centralya, we did our first and only stretch of shows up + down the east coast with Private Mind. They instantly became best friends of ours. On that tour we discussed their new record (that has since came out, listen to it!!) and what goes into showing that ethos + vision through graphic design — we ended up doing a spread for their release show together as well as some more stuff currently in the works.

Do you have a personal favorite design you’ve done so far? Why?

This is such a hard question. I feel like I have sort of a ‘dark passenger’/devil on my shoulder that tells me all my work sucks. I also get into phases of really liking a certain style, then hating it almost immediately after, so that favorite fades out. Though, if I had to choose, I’d say my favorite design I’ve done so far has to be the label/identity for Dead Eye Coffee Co. Funny enough, it was a student project I did back in college. It was my first time really tackling something that wasn’t music related at the time and (this is the only time I can really confidently say) it came out fucking SICK haha — I’m pretty sure it won some design awards, neat stuff (shoutout CADC). Music related favorite as of right now, I really like how the Hardway release stuff came out. Really cohesive art across the board, cool logo with some World of Warcraft stuff hidden in there, etc. New band coming out of CT that people should keep an eye out for (mosh pit).

Who are a few of your favorite designers from the music scene? What are a few of your favorite band shirt designs or album layouts?

Within our circle, I would say Kamtin Mohager (@kamtinm), Mortasustain (@mortasustain) and Rui Carneiro (@ruiplrc_design). Some designers I don’t know personally but would love a chance to work with would be Frank Maddocks (@frankmaddocks - deftones, linkin park, etc.), Chase Shewbridge (@chaseshewbridge - loathe, doja cat, nike) and Mike Boland (@thebolanddesignco - slipknot, slipknot + fucking slipknot).

I have too many favorite shirts to count, seriously, cause it’s mostly all slipknot + they have a LOT of merch. Favorite shirts that come to mind are self titled/iowa era slipknot merch — they just put their faces on everything + printed them giant, what a huge flex. I always gravitate towards old school metalcore/hardcore merch as well — tiny print, probably some cool looking illustration that’ll fade out almost instantly in the wash, zip ups with the print across the zipper, come on now.

For album layouts, 5 come to mind straight away:

Slipknot - Vol. 3: Subliminal Verses

Static X - Wisconsin Death Trip

Kittie - Spit

Coal Chamber - Self Titled

Glassjaw - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang EP

All of these layouts have guided me through my graphic design career in one way or another. The simplicity + iconography of Glassjaw layouts, the grit of Slipknot layouts + their use of band imagery, the insane compositions of Static X typography layouts, the weirdo shit thats incased in the Kittie + Coal Chamber layouts — all of it has helped me with my decision making at least once, design wise + when writing music.

What are your goals with your design business? What do you hope to accomplish with your work?

The idea started as a way to sort of ‘legitimize’ my solo practice more — rather than being the guy that ‘freelances sometimes’, I wanted to make it a ‘real thing’. As I started to put the company all together, I started to get a lot more work. Busy is good, but wow my brain lol. This led me to the thought of potentially needing help from a fellow designer or two. With that, the plan of getting a small team of people that I trust dearly to take on some cool designs with me and make it as fun + rewarding as possible came to be.

I worked a big boy design job when I was super young, I forget exactly when. I remember I was greeted by a studio dog, an espresso machine (a nice one) + guitar hero we can play on a projector when we needed a break from the workload. Since then, I can’t really say I ever had that experience in other places. I didn’t need every job I had to have video games available (I have world of warcraft at home), but that coziness was something special that stuck with me. I think that’s the goal — too many people I know have had bad experiences that caused them to quit designing as a whole, like straight up quit forever. If I can provide a place that kicks ass for those designers that I know kick ass, that would pretty much sum up the goal.

In regards to accomplishments, I just want to provide for the people I love. I’m lucky to be where I’m at right now, I’m lucky to be able to doodle in a notebook for a job, I get to make a living being a creative. With that, we get to feed our cat healthy fancy food, put food on my partner and I’s plates, buy my mom cool knick knacks. I love to give back to the people that help me on a day to day basis, so if I can do that, I’m happy.

What’s the best way to get in touch with you for those who want to work with you?

You can hit us up via email at [inquiries@zadakbrooks.com](mailto:inquiries@zadakbrooks.com) / [zadak@zadakbrooks.com](mailto:zadak@zadakbrooks.com) to get in touch with me directly or DM mine or the company instagram (@zadakbrooksx or @zbdco). Email preferred so we don’t lose track!

Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?

Anytime, friend — appreciate you hitting me up to do this! Things to add: stay hydrated (water + coffee of course), play world of warcraft, get off the internet + get some fresh air, be obnoxiously you + design with attitude. Much love!