Nolan Cook

Nolan Cook
AKA	N. Cook, Oddo, Bob, Eekie
Origin	Houston, Texas
Occupation	Musician
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1999 - present
Labels	Toadophile Records, Ralph America, Euro Ralph, Mute Records, MVD Audio, WM Recordings, Vendlus Records, Crucial Blast, Klanggalerie, Psychofon Records
Associated acts	Land of Thin Dimes, Dimesland, The Residents, Charles Bobuck, Hardy Fox, Ostrich Von Nipple, Bretts Milk, Molly Harvey, Renaldo M
Website	Nolan Cook Music Services

Nolan Cook is an American guitarist and composer based in Oakland, California, best known for his long-standing collaboration with The Residents, beginning with the Wormwood Live tour in 1999, and ending with the Faceless Forever tour in April 2023.

Outside of his work with The Residents, Cook has recorded with his brother Drew Cook in the bands Land of Thin Dimes and Dimesland, and has made numerous guest appearances on releases by artists including Ostrich Von Nipple, Bretts Milk, and Renaldo & The Loaf.

Cook currently works as a remote session player, and launched an official website in April 2024 to promote his services. In September 2024, he was entrusted with the task of selling musical instruments and recording equipment belonging to the late Hardy Fox (formerly of The Cryptic Corporation).

History with The Residents

"Guitar wizard extraordinaire" Nolan Cook was recommended to The Residents by their mutual friend Molly Harvey in 1999, when they were looking for a guitarist to join them on their Wormwood Live tour. Harvey is said to have described Cook as "fantastic".

With his "inventive style", Cook quickly became one of The Residents' core collaborators both on stage and in the studio, beginning with their 1999 version of the Fiddler on the Roof song "Matchmaker". Cook has been featured prominently on virtually all of the group's major live and studio projects since Wormwood Live, including albums such as Demons Dance Alone, Animal Lover, and Metal, Meat & Bone. and live tours including The Bunny Boy, In Between Dreams and Faceless Forever.

The Residents' long-time producer and composer Hardy Fox noted that, by 2017, Cook had been working with the group for so long that "he could be considered a member, were it not for his decision at some point to play with The Residents rather than play in The Residents". Cook's contribution to the 2005 album Animal Lover in particular was once said by Fox to be "critical to [that album's] realization".

Other work with Hardy Fox/Charles Bobuck

A low resolution photograph of Nolan Cook, date unknown (ca. 2003-2006)

Cook's lengthy association with The Residents also led to a long-standing friendship with Hardy Fox, who is known to have referred to Cook by the affectionate nickname "Oddo". Cook would go on to make several credited guest appearances on Fox's solo projects, beginning in 2012, when Fox was releasing "contraptions" under the guise of Charles Bobuck.

Cook's collaborations with Fox continued occasionally following the latter's retirement from The Residents and The Cryptic Corporation in 2016; Cook was credited as a guest on two Bobuck tracks released through Fox's Hacienda Bridge newsletter in 2017, and on the mini-album Nachtzug, released five months prior to Fox's death in October 2018.

Departure

On February 20th 2024, Homer Flynn of The Cryptic Corporation announced on The Residents' official website and social media channels that The Residents had recently asked him to dismiss Cook from the group, on the basis that Cook "no longer fit into their future plans".

A further statement posted shortly afterwards by Cook explained that he had quietly ended his time with the group at "the stroke of midnight" on April 20th 2023, immediately following the end of the Faceless Forever tour, although he later said that he had committed to perform on The Residents' cancelled God In 3 Persons - Live! UK/Europe mini-tour in April 2024.

Both statements suggested that fans can look forward to "fun new endeavors" from Cook in the future. The guitarist's position in The Residents was assumed by a new member, "a woman who is an incredible electric violin player and singer", who made her first appearance with the group the following month.

After The Residents

In April 2024, Cook launched an official website, Nolan Cook Music Services, to promote his services as a remote session player. As well as guitar, Cook also offers sound design, arrangements, drum programming and custom remixes for clients in America and Europe.

In September 2024, the estate of Hardy Fox entrusted Cook with the task of selling a collection of musical instruments and recording equipment which had been used by Fox on a number of classic Residents recordings, including the legendary "Resitar" (which Cook said he would keep).

Credits on Residents releases

• Freak Show (Special Edition) (2002) - on "Benny Live - Icky Flix Tour (2001)"
• Demons Dance Alone (2002)
• Demons Dance Alone DVD (2003)
• The 12 Days of Brumalia (2004)
• Commercial DVD (2004) - on "Moisture" and "Red Rider" (2004 versions)
• The Residents Play Wormwood DVD (2005)
• Animal Lover (2005)
• Best Left Unspoken... Volume One (2006) - guitar on "The Mad Gasser", "Hidden Hand", "Dead Men" and "Jack's Lament"
• Tweedles! (2006)
• Best Left Unspoken... Volume Two (2007) - guitar on "Day 2", "Twinkle 2000" and "Bijou"
• Best Left Unspoken... Volume Three (2007) - guitar on "Lots Of Knots" and "Animal Lover Seven"
• The Voice of Midnight (2007)
• Animal Lover Instrumental (2008)
• The Bunny Boy (2008)
• Icky Flix Live DVD (2009)
• The UGHS! (2009)
• Arkansas (2009)
• Ten Little Piggies (2009) - on "The Voice Of Midnight", "Sad Saint John", "In The Dark", "My Brother's Skin" and "Blood On The Bunny"
• Brava (2010)
• Lost In A Vacant Lot (2010)
• Lonely Teenager (2011)
• Coochie Brake by Sonidos de la Noche (2011)
• Talking Light: Bimbo's DVD (2011)
• Ozark (2011)
• Demonic! The Residents Live In Oslo (2012)
• Triple Dub-Ya: The Way We Were Live In Melbourne (2012)
• D*ck S*ab (2012) - On "Lizard Lady / Hello Skinny"
• "My Window" (2013)
• "Manz Whirled" (2014)
• The River of Crime Instrumental Soundtrack (2015)
• Shadowland (2015)
• Gingerbread Man (2016) - on "The Gingerbread Man (Concentrate) (2000)"
• "Rushing Like A Banshee" (2016)
• dot.com (2017) - on "My Window"
• The Ghost of Hope (2017)
• Loss of the Lizard Lady (2018)
• Intruders (2018)
• Commercial Album pREServed (2019) - on "Moisture" and "Red Rider" (2004 versions)
• Metal, Meat & Bone (2020)
• God In 3 Persons (2020)
• Wormwood Box (2022) - guitar
• God In 3 Persons Live DVD (2023)

Credits on Charles Bobuck/Hardy Fox releases

Charles Bobuck

• Lying Horse Rock (2012)
• CB Suite (2013)
• Maxine / CB Suite (2014)
• "Never Known Questions" (2014)
• What Was Left of Grandpa (2015)
• THIS (2016) - on "Gotta Believe", "Death By Jazz", "Goddamn Chickens" and "The Highway"
• Bobuck Plays The Residents (2016)
• "Fast" (2017)
• "Spike" (2017)
• Egg Booty (2017) - on "Fast" and "Spike"
• Eggs For Breakfast (2018)

Hardy Fox

• Nachtzug (2018)

Solo discography

• From The NC Lab EP (2011)

With Land of Thin Dimes

• Land of Thin Dimes (1999)

With Dimesland

• Creepmoon (2012)
• Psychogenic Atrophy (2015)

Other credited appearances

• Sounds of Vinyl and the Past by The Scallions (2008) - on "53 Years" (co-written with Brian Poole)
• The Black Tower by Harry Elektron (2010)
• Ostrich Von Nipple Contemplates the Cosmos by Ostrich Von Nipple (2011)
• Ostrich Von Nipple Plays Some Shitty Tunes by Ostrich Von Nipple (2012)
• Ostrich Von Nipple Quantifies Absurdity by Ostrich Von Nipple (2014)
• Ostrich Von Nipple Alternates Absurdity EP by Ostrich Von Nipple (2014)
• Swarm Suite EP by Ostrich Von Nipple (2015)
• Eísai Keraía Sto Magazí by Harry Elektron & Sons (2015)
• Daddy's Breath by Bretts Milk (2016) - guitar on "Milky Nipps"
• Ostrich Von Nipple Qualifies Absurdity EP by Ostrich Von Nipple (2016)
• "Can't Stop!" EP by Bexa Lala Army (2016) - guitar
• Funny You Should Ask by XFR 4TA (2017) - slide guitar, on "2020 Vision"
• Mammaries of Mommy by Bretts Milk (2018)
• Hardly Gurning While The World Is Turning by Renaldo & The Loaf (2021) - remix of "Scent of Turnip"
• Liquid Krell Metal by Bexa Lala (2020) - additional raw material on "Lorette for Pigs"
• Home Sweet by Bexa Lala (2021)
• Ostrich Von Nipple Exploits Infinity by Ostrich Von Nipple (2022)
• Vol. 1 by Vincent Presley & The Secret Creeps (2022) - on "Someday You'll Understand"
• Remote Communion by Specimen Box (2022)
• They Blessed The Body Breadcrumbed by Renaldo M (2023) - on "Big Headed Son", "Surreal Love" and "The Window and the Wall"

See also

• Lionel Bob
• Sonidos de la Noche
• Ostrich Von Nipple
• Charles Bobuck
• Hardy Fox
• Snakefinger
• Resitar

External links and references

• Nolan Cook Music Services (official website)
• Nolan Cook at United Mutations