By Caoilainn Carson, BEAT reporter
BRUNSWICK, OH- Everybody has their own special bond with a sibling that you just can’t replicate with any other person. For Akron-based musician Brian Lisik, his connection with his brother, Craig, has developed through a shared love of music. From the time they were young, the pair practiced their instruments and made music together, with Brian singing and playing guitar and Craig contributing drums. Neither of them thought their newest jam session would yield a new record, but after multiple laid-back sessions, Brian finally released his latest album, the Slovak Club.
The Slovak Club, which contains seven songs, was released by Cherokee Queen Records on October 30th to streaming services, as well as in vinyl and CD format. The release show will be November 7th from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Rialto Theatre in Akron, supported by musician and friend Rachel Roberts. Mixed by legendary producer Don Dixon, this record was the result of a year and a half of loose jams taken from a low-quality computer and spun into the magic you hear being played.
This album has been in the works since December of 2024. Oftentimes, these little recording sessions weren’t planned by either brother, but more a matter of the two hanging out and deciding to record how their new material was sounding. They would meet at Craig’s house, since he is the drummer and has a home studio, and work through any songs that were developing. “It was very sort of natural and organic,” Brian stated. “We just started working on these things that weren’t even songs yet.”
However, Brian stated there’s quite a difference in work ethic between him and his brother. While Brian tends to be more focused and organized, Craig is much more easygoing. Brian said he would get used to how a song sounded, but when he came back to it, Craig may have added multiple guitar tracks and changed what the song was. But Brian said he was never unhappy with the new track; it just took some adjusting to. “It’s a push and pull, back and forth, brotherly thing, but we got through it and are still speaking,” he said.
The brothers jokingly coined themselves the Slovak Club partly because they do descend from that region of Europe, but also because they recognized this wasn’t a new band the two of them were forming, but just a quirky side project that is the result of years spent playing together. When Brian was driving home from one of these sessions, in the Firestone Park district of Akron, he located an actual Slovak Club that matched this new duo the two of them unceremoniously formed, snapping a quick picture with a colorful sunset in the background that ended up making the cover of the record. “Like everything else, it wasn’t super planned out,” he said. “But, it came out cool.”
Although Brian calls it his ‘secret album’, since he released another live album while sessions for the Slovak Club were ongoing, he still wishes for everyone to listen and enjoy his release, encouraging people to attend his upcoming show. The entire release speaks about his years of musical noisemaking with his brother and the chemistry the two have. He said, “We’re brothers. We speak the same language.”
Caoilainn Carlson, Brunswick High School, is one of over fifty student “backpack journalists” (grades 6-12) in the award-winning BEAT Video Program. The program, celebrating its 25th year, is sponsored by Donut Land, Plum Creek Assisted Living Community, MODA Gifts, Scripps Howard Foundation and the Brunswick Rotary Club. Go to https://www.bcsoh.org/community/new-beat-site to learn more about the Program, or visit https://thebeat.viebit.com/?folder=ALL to view videos produced by the students.
PHOTOS: Brian Lisik performing; The Slovak Club album cover.