https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Rob Zim of Rrrags

Posted in Questionnaire on November 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Rob Zim of Rrrags

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Rob Zim of Rrrags

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I play the bass. As a teenager the only videotape I had was the Who’s Tommy (apart from some porn of course). I must have seen it at least 100 times. Entwistle’s enchantingly playful and creative bass lines made me play the bass. I remember every single note, I wish I had half his talent.

Ron from Rrrags has been a long time friend and I played in several bands with him before. We always went to the Roadburn Festival and stayed over at our friend Bidi, who is unfortunately not with us anymore, through whom we met Rob Martin. We decided to jam together and the satisfying outcome was the base for Rrrags. It is fun to play with Rrrags since there is a lot of space for improvisation and every concert is an adventure.

Describe your first musical memory.

Roger Glover’s ‘All you Need is Love and Understanding’ was, I believe, the first animated videoclip in the early/mid seventies when I was about three years old. When it was on television I pushed my face to the screen and immersed in the music and visuals. There was a singing frog, I loved it so much. Only 30 years later I found out the singer was Ronnie James Dio, which was also the first metal concert I went to as a teenager. That was weird.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

As a musician, playing Hellfest for 10.000 people was cool. But playing an improvised 75 minute Kraut/jazz/psychedelic jam session for a few hundred people on the Roadburn 2022 festival with my friend Ron from Rrrags and Ingvald and Ask from Kanaan was a highlight in my career. We had played two nights with Rrrags already and I was already home and all my gear loaded out when they phoned me to come back and do the gig. The audience was pretty baked from three days Roadburn and it went down very well, a full house was really digging what we did. Of course we did not record it, even though we were prompted by Roadburn’s house recording technician Marcel van der Vondervoort. We still forgot and maybe it is better like this, probably in the memory it’s better than the reality haha.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I have hardly any principles and and can relativize almost anything but my belief in evolving intelligence is tested on a daily basis.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I don’t think art progresses to a higher level. Rather it meanders parallel to life and changes and reshapes accordingly. I have the feeling that art is quite immersed in daily life at the moment. Advertisement videos are weirder than video art 30 years ago and a lot of street art is more exiting than modern art in galleries. It is easy to express yourself, due to software like GarageBand and photoshop/illustrator and AI filters and apps on the smartphone. Art is utilitarian and not idealistic. It doesn’t lead to a better life or something.

How do you define success?

I think to be successful is to get recognition, for being good at doing what you are passionate about. This can start already on a tiny scale, with few people.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Anything of U2. I have an allergy.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I explored all of the arts I am interested in quite extensively already and kind of did what I wanted to do. That is quite a relaxing situation to be in. No Ambition, No Frustration is my motto. I just want to make and play music but that is nothing I did not do yet.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

For me the Only function of art is to levitate one’s mind somewhere where there is no troubles and challenges, only ecstasy. Art does that, it can make you forget about all your problems. Especially music since it hits you unconditionally, it needs no explanation or context. For me music is the highest form of art.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I look forward to my next voyage. Don’t know yet whereto it will be but I love travelling.

https://www.facebook.com/rrragspower
https://www.instagram.com/rrrags/
https://rrrags.bandcamp.com/
https://www.rrragsrock.com/

https://laybarerecordings.com/
https://www.facebook.com/laybarerecordings/
https://www.instagram.com/laybarerecordings/
https://laybarerecordings.bandcamp.com/

Rrrags, Mundi (2023)

Tags: , , , , ,

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Samantha Marandola & Andrew Marandola of Oldest Sea

Posted in Questionnaire on November 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

oldest sea

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Samantha Marandola & Andrew Marandola of Oldest Sea

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

Sam: I put my current emotional state into sonic form. My music is highly autobiographical, and the process of writing and performing it is like a form of self-therapy.

Describe your first musical memory.

Sam: I was laying on the couch with my dad watching a Roy Orbison concert on TV. If my memory serves me right, it was not long after he died and they were airing a bunch of his filmed performances. I’d never heard a voice like that before. It was so ethereal and I was completely mesmerized. I was only 4 or 5 years old.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Sam: I think my earliest musical memory is probably also my best musical memory.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Andrew: I’m never married to any set of beliefs. I do not take offense to my personal ideas being challenged. I embrace the possibility of being incorrect.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Andrew: Artistic progression leads to more questions than answers. Writing and imagining is a never ending labor.

How do you define success?

Sam: When you feel like what you’re doing has purpose and meaning, then that’s what I consider to be success.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Sam: There’s this really gory scene in the movie Bone Tomahawk and the visuals haunt me to this day.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Sam: I’d like to eventually score films.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Sam: I mean, art elevates. I truly believe that the action of creating something from nothing raises the collective vibration of the world. You make the world a better place when you make art.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Sam: Oh man, I’m in my late thirties so the things I look forward to usually have something to do with home repairs. We’re getting our deck replaced soon and wow that’s pretty exciting.

https://www.facebook.com/oldestsea
https://www.instagram.com/oldestsea/
https://oldestsea1.bandcamp.com/

https://darkestrecords.bandcamp.com/

Oldest Sea, “Sacred Destruction” official video

Oldest Sea, A Birdsong, A Ghost (2023)

Tags: , , , ,

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Darkplace

Posted in Questionnaire on November 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

darkplace

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Darkplace

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I define this project as an art project. After 5 years of Music theory and audio technology studies, together with a lifetime in the music business it all came to a halt. I just couldn’t bear to make another album let alone release it. Releasing an album is sometimes the same as killing it. Before an album is released it can be whatever you want and the possibilities of success are limitless. But when you release it, it’s all there in the views and listens. There is no mystery in releasing music anymore. you can see exactly how it’s going, so can everyone else. This is when I turned to painting. To be able to create again without ambition, hopes and dreams. I wanted nothing with my painting, it was just an outlet… But then it became more. One year after making my first painting I got accepted into an art school. I went there during the pandemic and it was lovely. This is when the idea for this project was born.

Describe your first musical memory.

My first musical memory is “Eye of the tiger”. My mother and father were not at all music listeners but I was old enough to figure out how to turn a cassette on, and I found a cassette with only this song on. And I played it on repeat. Back then, repeat meant you listened, then rewind, then listened again.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

This is a tough one. It is usually not the epic “party” moments that are the best and long lasting ones. One memory comes to mind. I was at my first music festival in Sweden with a camp-site and all.
I was 18 and I remember I just met a new person and the sun was setting. The whole forest where the festival was held shined golden red and Air was playing in the distant main scene. They played their song “Sexy Boy”. And usually when you hear a song you love you kinda waste a bit of time running towards the concert trying to get as far in as possible. Not this time. It was just so beautiful being this far away, seeing the whole spectrum of the festival and having a moment.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I don’t even know if I have any firmly held beliefs, I have values and opinions but a belief is something else. I try to be open but at the same time I am very closed in a sense. I know this is a none answer but yeah finding it hard to come up with a firmly held belief that then also got tested. A belief most likely gets disproven if tested because a belief needs to be believed and therefore have no proof.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Progression is needed to keep it interesting. One of the coolest things is when you can age together with an artist you love. A decade later neither you nor the artists are at the same place as you were but it can still be a perfect match.

How do you define success?

I used to count the streams and views. And count the crowd and number of shows played. Now I think I try to own my “success” by measuring things I can control. With this album, my success is that I actually finished it. I made the album and I animated the whole album and it took me 2,5 years of hard work but I did it. My goals are local. Like with my oil painting, my only goal is that I want to paint a 1000 paintings before I die. They don’t have to sell or be admired by anyone else. Just… 1000 oil paintings.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I was there, in the early years of the internet, where horrible videos were on rotten.com etc. Maybe it’s all still there but yeah, I saw some stuff there I wish I hadn’t.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I would like to make an animated movie, with dialogue and all. Same style as the music videos.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

The most essential function of art I think is to make you feel something. Different kinds of art have different kinds of delivery but it’s all about feelings. A painting can give you an instant feeling, the second you look at it you feel and think something about it. Music can be instant or it can grow, you can even hate it at first. Same with movies and books. Same goes for all art.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I look forward to going to Poland this weekend to see the Beksinski painting up close, he is my favorite painter.

http://www.instagram.com/darkplacemusic
https://darkplacemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://darkplace.se/

http://icea.se
https://www.facebook.com/iceaofficial
https://www.instagram.com/iceaofficial

Darkplace, About the End of the World (2023)

Tags: , ,

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Joey Kaufman of The Holy Nothing

Posted in Questionnaire on November 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the holy nothing

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Joey Kaufman of The Holy Nothing

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

The Holy Nothing feels like our collective second chance at being in a band. We all spent our 20s playing in local bands and touring around by the skin of our teeth. THN feels like we all finally knew what we were doing and how to go about it in a way that was good for everyone. The whole point from jump was “if it isn’t fun, we’re not gonna do it.” So far, it’s been just fun.

Describe your first musical memory.

I lived in this old farmhouse when I was a kid. I remember my dad used to put music on in the house. The earliest memory I have is hearing The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia by Reba McEntire. I was super intrigued by the story telling aspect of it. That’s something I’ve chased as a songwriter and something I hope to explore way more of moving forward.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Honestly, it was fairly recent. Again, I’m sure into story telling and thematically-driven music. So bands like My Chemical Romance were HUGE for me. So seeing them on their reunion run with my chick was insane. The most special moment though was them closing Riot Fest with the song Cancer. It wasn’t in the setlist or anything. They just did it. We just held each other and sand along all teary eyed and shit.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

In regards to music? The whole amp modeling, processor thing. It seems super convenient and would probably save my lower back from spasming all the time. It seems really sick. But I just can’t get over how sick amps and cabs look and sound. Rock and Roll don’t need computer amps.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I feel like I’ve seen it go into so many different directions. Hopefully it leads to folks trying new things despite what they’ve created in the past. I hope it just makes our band want to outdo ourselves for ourselves. Nobody else.

How do you define success?

When my two friends and I can hear or see something we did together and go “yeah, this creates an emotional response”. I just want those two dudes to be hyped on what I’m doing the same way I get hyped on what they’re doing.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

My chick works in the medical field so she’s fascinated by like horrific medical related Instagram accounts and shit. So like seeing a dude get de-gloved or some shit. I’m not into that.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I want our band to be viewed as an art project more than a typical rock band. There’s a ton of visual related stuff that I’m really excited for us to pursue that will be accompanied by our music. I feel like music videos are there to supplement the music. I’d like to do things the other way around where we create a visual and the write music to that.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

For me, it’s to just create emotional responses. Finding things that feel like they’re speaking directly at you.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

The final season of Letterkenny. Those guys feel like family to me and my favorite part of the holiday season is watching them.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093190566481
https://theholynothing.bandcamp.com/

The Holy Nothing, Vol. I: A Profound and Nameless Fear (2023)

Tags: , , , , ,

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Stephen Sheppert of Radiant Knife

Posted in Questionnaire on November 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Radiant Knife (Photo by Greg Travasos)

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Stephen Sheppert of Radiant Knife

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I’d describe our music as prog influenced sludge with some sci-fi and possibly dark wave elements. Prog in the sense of math-rock/noise rock influence akin to Don Caballero, Dazzling Killmen, Breadwinner, Loincloth, and not necessarily tech-metal wankery.

Describe your first musical memory.

One that has stood the test of time is many mornings my father would play the record “The Wall” by Pink Floyd. I distinctly remember the song “Another Brick in the Wall” playing as I got ready for school. He had a music room full of vinyl and a decent sound system that would fill the house. “Hey teacher, leave those kids alone” as I walked out the door.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Any time I’ve made connections with other musicians via the riff without speaking. It feels like a form of telepathy that everyone should experience. It’s one of the unique things creating music can provide through making art with others.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

These days overt self promotion has become the norm, fueled by a fake it till you make it mentality. Being bombarded with that mentality through modern media is a test.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

In some ways it can result in more technically proficient and developed song structure, but in some cases regression can be progression as well. In many cases stripped back roots of music in its rudimentary form can more effectively convey a message or connect with listeners. Really depends on how you define progression.

How do you define success?

Created unabated art walled off from influence of outsiders, metrics, and all things business.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

The daily news, any day of the week or anything spewed from mainstream media.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Possibly a blues influenced album that embraces time signature changes and off timings. An off timed vibe based in pentatonics.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To the artist the essential function is release and realization of something tangible, formed from emotions, moods, etc. To the person, aesthete, etc. experiencing the art it could be a connection through a similar way of thinking, or lasting impression from a different way of thinking.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

These days I look forward to family time and time spent with lifelong friends. The reality that life is fleeting becomes more evident the older we get. The Beatles weren’t wrong with “All you need is love”.

http://www.linktr.ee/radiant_knife
http://www.facebook.com/Radiantknife
http://www.instagram.com/RADIANT_KNIFE
http://www.radiantknife.bandcamp.com

Radiant Knife, Pressure (2023)

Tags: , , , , ,

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Nathanael Larochette of Musk Ox, The Night Watch & More

Posted in Questionnaire on October 30th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Nathanael Larochette (Photo by Jonathan Lorange)

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Nathanael Larochette

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

For over 15 years I’ve been primarily creating instrumental acoustic music, particularly of a finger picked nature. It all began as a teenage obsession with heavy music that eventually sparked a deep fascination with the acoustic interludes that sporadically appeared on my favourite metal records. The first time I remember being completely blown away by acoustic riffing was when I first heard the intro to Blind Guardian’s “Time What is Time”. The next stage of my musical evolution occurred while learning the acoustic parts from Opeth and Agalloch songs while discovering dark folk classics such as Ulver’s “Kveldssanger”, Tenhi’s “Kauan” and Empyrium’s “Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays”. Other artists and influences have since shaped my sound and playing but these experiences and records formed the blueprint for much of what I do.

Describe your first musical memory.

I’m not sure if I can pinpoint my first musical memory but one of my earliest would be hearing my father playing the flute. He had a demanding job as a plant manager for Michelin but always loved art and music so in his spare time he took jazz flute lessons and I remember hearing him practicing in his office. I started playing violin when I was four so some of my earliest memories of playing music would be childhood violin lessons and recitals. In terms of listening to music, the Gameboy soundtracks for Metroid 2 and Kirby’s Dreamland became burned into my memory after playing those games for hours as a kid.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

One of my best musical memories to date would be recording my interludes for Agalloch’s fourth record “The Serpent & The Sphere”. I discovered their classic “The Mantle” in early 2003, around the time I got my first guitar, so it was surreal for me to be in the studio with them recording my music for their new album in 2013. Although it’s one of my best memories it was also quite stressful because I was so nervous. Honestly, I think the time spent hanging out with the band in the studio and watching them record was the highlight for me.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Whenever I see humans mistreating other humans it tests my firmly held belief that we are good by nature. Although tested, there is far greater evidence supporting this belief despite how often we are told to think otherwise.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I like to think that artistic progression leads to a deeper understanding of oneself and a deeper sense of humility because regardless of how much you do or how great you are, there is always more to learn and more work to be done. These experiences will hopefully lead to a deeper sense of gratitude for having the opportunity to express yourself through art which should ultimately lead to a deeper sense of compassion for others.

How do you define success?

Having the opportunity to continually focus energy on fulfilling work is a true measure of success for me. In a broader sense, I believe the heart of success is a balancing act that involves the simultaneous development and nurturing of one’s emotional, physical, spiritual, interpersonal and financial health. Time and again we’ve seen so-called “successful” individuals excel in one of these aspects to the total neglect of others with predictably tragic results. I believe the first and most difficult step is succeeding in treating ourselves with kindness which is a lifelong process that is too easily overlooked. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been working hard to prioritize my emotional and physical wellbeing because no amount of social or financial recognition will matter if we aren’t comfortable in our own skin. This is especially true for artists living creative lives in the digital age.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Human beings dehumanizing their fellow human beings.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I’d love to score films and video games someday.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

I think the most essential function of art is to offer momentary relief to the artist and those experiencing it.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Any opportunity to spend quality time with my family.

[Photo by Jonathan Lorange.]

https://www.facebook.com/nlarochette
https://www.instagram.com/n_larochette
https://www.nathanaellarochette.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@n_larochette
https://www.nathanaellarochette.com

Nathanael Larochette, Old Growth (2023)

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Helena Goldberg of Akris

Posted in Questionnaire on October 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

helena goldberg of akris

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Helena Goldberg of Akris

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

What I do on a daily basis currently encompasses a pretty broad range within a personal, musical and community leadership spectrum. I’m a single mom of a 9 year old girl. I own a music school, and get to teach piano, voice, composition and theory, serve as CEO and co-founder of Green Sloth Records, a student led nonprofit record label, perform as pianist for The Main Street Chamber Orchestra, and served on the executive board of Berryville Main Street since June 2023, a branch of the larger National Main Street organization whose ideals of bringing small town communities together by promoting teamwork through events, programs and initiatives align with so many of my fundamental underlying themes in my music itself.

Striving to be an example of a strong female role model to my young daughter, teaching music, being able to continue playing classical piano with an orchestra and my Dad conducting, and moving my nonprofit in the direction of larger community activism projects — these are things that truly fill my life.

However, “what I do” would be nothing without Akris.

To define it for myself today, it is my spirituality. It is my church- it connects me to something ancient inside me. It helps me put one foot in front of the other on days when nothing else can.

Performing with Akris is when I am able to enter a transcendental meditation state. I do wade through fields of emotion when I’m there performing- usually I am sucked up out of my body into the roof or ceiling of the room watching. There are many times I am not actually seeing the room I’m performing in at all but seeing a place at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean. There seem to be ancient ruins there and very tall shadowy figures. I know they love me and they’ve been with me my whole life.

I am able to express and feel my own personal pain, grief, and absolute excruciating, bone crushing loss but then I find through the music itself the presence of actual beings who I have had experiences with in real life, in visions and in dreams. They are there, in the room, brought down with me during an Akris set and it’s then that I know it’s all going to be ok in the end.

How I came to do it? You were THERE right at that time JJ! There I was, fresh out of the Manhattan School of Music conservatory and I started jamming with Viveca Butler while living in NYC around 2006. At the time, this first incarnation of Akris was called Aquila – because of the uncanny coincidence of our matching swooping bird tattoos and matching dreams about these possible other dimensional beings- the constellation “Aquila” which means swooping bird was a logical choice.

I have to stop myself here though and ask for a second how did it come to pass that I went from practicing 6-8 hours/day in a classical competition piano course at one of the top schools in the world, receiving my degree in classical composition, to playing bass and developing a band so influenced by the heavy music genre, and I have to give credit where credit is due to someone who I really owe these beginning moments of inspiration to.

It’s been extremely difficult for me to talk about until now because of the nature of the circumstances surrounding our relationship, his sudden rise to extreme fame and our subsequent break up which was and still is to this day one of the hardest things I have ever had to cope with in my life.

Truly my first bass teacher, I’ll go ahead and say the love of my life at least up to this point and longest relationship I’ve ever had was with James Richardson of MGMT, whom I met when we were classmates at MSM, dated and shared a home and a dog with during all my years of living in NYC.

He was the one who introduced me to heavy sound, first through multiple sans amps of which I’ve used like 5 through the years. He’s the one who got me my first EHX bass microsynth, something that truly defined my early sound.

As an 18 year old involved in the world of classical music only- he was the one that played me Babes in Toylands “Fontanelle” for the first time and completely blew my mind apart.

I learned bass on his Rickenbacker, thunkin out lines to Dead Meadow and 13th Floor Elevator songs. I had never even listened to Led Zepplin or Black Sabbath before him. He truly opened that door for me into the world of heavy music for the first time.

When I started jamming with Viveca he enthusiastically encouraged us to go in the direction of being a loud, heavy bass and drums two piece – around this time Big Business released “Here comes the Waterworks” and I remember listening to this and having long talks with James about it being such an inspiration for vocals and bass tone.

MGMT was just starting to blow up in Brooklyn at that time around 2006/2007 and Aquila even played several “secret” shows at Glasslands with them and the other buzzy band of that time Chairlift.

This was around the time I was obsessing for the first time with the entire Melvins discography, Karp, Bretwaldas of the Heathen Doom,… . and then “Blood Mountain” by Mastodon came out. I poured through all of Mastodon’s earlier releases at that point and knew I was finding a way for what I truly wanted for our sound.

We went to the Mastodon/Neurosis show at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple — hoping to meet the Mastodon guys we hung around backstage and ended up becoming fast best friends with Ben Teeter and Chad Davis from US Christmas, who were in the band at that time and opening that show.

They invited us to come play in Hickory NC and those first tours down south introduced us to other extremely inspiring musicians and bands as we met and shared the stage with Joel and Chris from Subrig Destroyer/demonaut, Sea of Bones, Armazilla, Weedeater, Rat Babies. These bands from the southeast, throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee were always so incredibly kind, impacted Akris’s sound tremendously, were there and still are there for me — and I’m so lucky to still call them and so many more from those early times friends to this day.

Describe your first musical memory.

I was 3 or 4, and my older brother had started taking piano lessons ahead of me. Both of my parents are classical musicians, and decided my brother and I would take piano as part of our education until we graduated high school.

They signed my brother up with the most feared (still to this day) chain smoking, piano studio competition winning teacher in the Northern Virginia area.

I remember my brother being scared s-less going up to her piano with his beginner book and opening it up, and playing something with a picture of a cat.

I was so little I had to jump down off my chair but I definitely ran over and bombed their lesson to play the cat song and see the picture- luckily I didn’t get in too much punitive trouble but I did start lessons the following week. definitely influenced how I teach piano today especially to little kids and being aware of how much a visual like that can link to a musical memory!

Describe your best musical memory to date.

I have to give an honorable mention, maybe it’s cheating but its right up there-

– Anytime I get to play with my Dads orchestra it’s extremely special and rare. This is for several reasons- one being that as a pianist, we just don’t have the opportunity to play with an orchestra as much as other orchestral instruments do. Playing amidst an orchestra is just straight up THRILLING. Add to the mix my Dad, who was Leonard Bernstein’s assistant conductor in the ’70s and had a regular weekly spot at Carnegie hall with his orchestra, The Endymion Ensemble, is the conductor- it’s such an incredible experience because I get to spend the time with him, observe what an awesome leader he is as a conductor of that many people, and learn from him about these great works of music

However I think the winner for me of the best musical memory to date was probably recording the Akris self titled album at Chris Kozlowski’s Polar Bear Lair with Sam Lohman on drums. Over the course of a couple months, several sleepovers, friends like Ron “Fezz” McGuinness, Dave Sherman, Scott Nussman and the legendary Steve McKay coming in for guest recording appearances, Chris and Sam helped capture a piece of my literal heart and soul.

I was and still am crushed by Chris Kozlowski’s passing. From the time I first started having recording experiences with this band until today I have never worked with an engineer who seemed to care about, and GET… . ME, my sound, and my music like Chris did on that album.

Not only that but in re-studying the album again this past year to prepare to develop several sets of these older songs, I realized the intricacies and genius of Sam Lohman’s drumming style. The fact that it is nuanced by his jazz and noise influence, bringing in elements of the same energy evident and needed to support groups like Acid Mothers Temple and Hawkwind, while still being directly supportive and intertwined with the bass makes this such an extremely special album and the best musical experience of my life.

Sam is now spending more time in Japan with his daughter which is wonderful- we have been in communication about continuing to play together in some capacity in the future, which I truly hope for. I also hope that, while I may never meet another sound artist like Chris Kozlowski, that I can find an engineer someday that is kind, respectful, and truly cares as much as he did.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

This past year Akris went through a major lineup change and speed bump in the release of a project that has been about 13 years in the works- “Wake the Sleeping Village”. You may remember having released the prequel song and music video to this in “Brown”- Akris had a plan at that time to record the music that had already been written by 2015 for WTSV, shoot the sequel short film and release the work as a concept album with a fully illustrated storybook.

Instead, “Your Mantis” was released, comprised of older Akris songs and a few shorter ones written in 2015, which unfortunately can no longer be found online anywhere that I am aware of. The members of Akris who were playing drums and guitar from 2015-Feb 2023 stated to me that I was to take down all materials involving them, refrain from naming them, and to disregard this would result in legal action.

The WTSV album actually initially had been recorded with this lineup by a studio engineer in Baltimore in February of 2020. An artist was also hired around this time to begin work on the storybook, which shifted into a prospective comic book.

I still have so much love for these individuals who were my friends and bandmates for SO long. However ultimately, there were choices that were made starting from around this time and worsening with extreme isolation in the pandemic that has culminated in quite simply, currently, one of the worst depressions I may have ever dealt with in my life.

Telling these longtime friends I didn’t want to play with them anymore, and knowing that we had a product ready to be released, was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my entire life. However I knew that the sound of the album felt, synesthetically, like disrespecting myself. And while I have GREAT appreciation for the comic book artist, he was chosen by my previous bandmates and it was again made clear to me in our last conversations that I would need to find another artist for the project to avoid legal repercussions.

Jason Fletcher (Gradius) stepped in on drums to play several shows with Akris temporarily over the spring and summer while a short North Carolina tour was booked in October but my depression continued to worsen as thoughts of giving up started to ring out louder in my head.

One day pretty recently my brother called.

I think he may have caught wind that I’d been having a harder time than usual lately with depression and anxiety..

I love my brother and I know he was offering me a way out. Just, a logical, rational minded human beings take on this stage in my life.

He said “ You know, Helena… .you don’t HAVE to do Akris … you CAN just … let it go? You’ve got a lot going on right now with the school and the nonprofit and Mary, maybe just let it go and you’ll feel better.”

Up until that second- I had been considering just letting it go. More than ever. Letting EVERYTHING go. Just big old, total complete give up on music. Just be a mom and that’s it, throw in the towel on life, I’m done.

But… I found myself saying… “actually… I think I would… NOT feel better if I gave up Akris. I think actually I NEED Akris. To FUNCTION.”

Somehow it miraculously worked out within the next few hours of that conversation for Zak Suleri (Foehammer, Et Mors) to be able to do the October tour with Akris.

This short mini North Carolina tour is not in support of a new recording or release. It’s a homecoming. It became clear to me the moment my brother verbalized the option of giving up, that I couldn’t.

As long as some venue will let me have a stage somewhere, and as long as someone will beat two sticks on something with me I now know – I may have those thoughts again, and those difficult moments where it does seem like giving up is the easy way out. But there is something in me that has NO way out other than Akris and I just can’t survive without it.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

This question is so individualized and subjective for each person. Generally I feel that it leads to an understanding that you will always have new opportunities for learning and progressing further.

This does relate in a way to my own personal take on what artistic progression has been like for me; it’s been an unraveling rather than an enlightening process.

My artistic progression has led me to the brink of absolute no return and when there are no other options and no other ways forward I realize progress doesn’t even matter. It’s just simply having the ability to listen, feel and look for the sounds that exist inside me, or are being given to me from a spiritual place, and then attempt to express them. Artistic progression is knowing I have to do this for the sake of myself and in my belief that I am not alone.

How do you define success?

This QUESTION JJ!

You WANT me to say happiness don’t you?? That WOULD be the thing to say wouldn’t it?

I mean, that would be nice. I guess I’ve come to the point where I’m just really thinking about relationships.

Here’s a question I’d love YOU to answer sometime JJ – how much does a band’s conventional success (like, getting to the point where you’re actually lucky enough to be getting paid something, you get to have promoted touring and play actual well attended shows) do you think depends on the good relationships and communication skill set of the band members?

[Depends entirely on the band, but that kind of broader success often requires those elements, absolutely, unless you have enough money to just do whatever you want anyhow. I’ll note that’s not necessarily my definition of success. –ed.]

I think- a LOT. How many bands can WE ALL NAME right now that we LOVED that broke up forever because of bandmate communication issues or squabbles.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot because as I move forward into a potential new Akris era I try to ask myself have I been doing things the wrong way in this regard- have I counted on bandmates too much to be more than business professional work colleagues and be more like friends? Is that appropriate and ok in a band setting? Is it needed?

I think when you’re out there in the middle of nowhere on tour in the dead of night and something goes wrong… or when you’re on stage giving it your absolute ALL cause your entire LIFE hurts and that stage is your only safe space … I think you do need a bandmate there that’s also a friend you can count on.

Success for me would be continuing to cultivate the kind of bandmate relationships where communication could be easily expressed in a constructive way, from a standpoint of kindness and support.

I think with that success, anything can be done.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

No matter what bad memory I come up with … the unwanted, or scary, or gross, or even life altering things I have SEEN that come to mind as examples… after a few moments I realize I never would take it back. I would never wish I had not seen that thing.
I DO feel certain images, if we are talking strictly visuals here. Of course- maybe the most unproductive of these examples… I can’t even write too much about cause I will literally go pass out and barf, but if I see anything too gorey, or too leg/arm choppy, it may be over for me.

“Master and Commander” for example was truly a waste of a money ticket because at that amputation scene I was a goner, barfin in the movie theater trash cans, passing out on the movie theater floor.

But even in those examples – I still learned something about myself. That’s what makes this question so hard. I don’t know if I’d wish that experience away because it helped me learn something about me.

Any bad example I thought of here was like this. Some of the most pivotal moments in my life, where if I hadn’t seen something, maybe there would have been a more lucrative outcome- i realize there’s always a sacrifice of something from my present life that might have been lost.

Truly one of those, every bad moment leads you to where you are today, kind of scenarios.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Akris’s next multimedia release, Wake the Sleeping Village. Even though this music was written almost 9 years ago and I’m dying to write and release NEW new material- I feel like I can’t until this is released. It’s just the next part of the Akris storyline and there’s something in me that really has to keep things chronological.

The 12-14 panel storyboard, illustration notes and film outline (and the actual dream I had in 2011) begin with the robed travelers picking up where they left off in the “Brown” video and traveling through an undefined eternal landscape of time. They eventually come to a wide open field with mountains in the distance – a tiger that fills the sky suddenly appears over the mountain range and the travelers know this is their purpose.

They help each other fly up into the mouth of the tiger, discovering an inner world within. Eventually they come out upon a mountain ridge to discover a village buried in snow- as they make their way down, they are invited in by a sleepy villager and reveal a surprising twist that wakes the entire village.

One major theme of the album aligns directly with the passion I have always felt about touring specifically through small town communities. It’s been my intention to include a letter to the reader within this book stating that if they live in one of these communities, particularly one that is underserved, to reach out to Akris and we will work towards putting their town on our future tour list.

I have mentioned synesthesia a couple times already here and this project is extremely synesthetic for me. This is one of the reasons why I ultimately, physically, could not support the release of materials that had been completed as of February 2023. There are visual artists who absolutely align with the sound and feel of this work for me, and my hope is to work with my friend and California based artist Skillit (Sean McEleny).

This project will be a multimedia release marketed not as Akris’s next album of music, but as a Story Book with Music and short film.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

After having taught the methodology for answering this question for almost two decades; thinking about this, meditating on it, researching it scientifically and spiritually my entire life; the best answer I can give is that I think art functions to help us as human beings express emotion — whatever that may mean subjectively to the individual.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

My nonprofit organization is in the middle of approvals process meetings for a monument recognizing the 4,735 formerly enslaved individuals (according to the 1860 census) in Clarke County VA that never received acknowledgment for their lives.

I heard about this shocking statistic while listening to a speech given by a dear friend of mine, civil rights pioneer Dorothy Davis, at the Juneteenth celebration this past year. I have gotten to know Dorothy and the rest of the congregation at St Mary’s Episcopal Church very well over the past 3 years of being the pianist and music director there- it’s an extremely historic African American church located here in Berryville.

My students actually raised close to $2,000 over the course of their summer program for the cause and presented before the Board of Supervisors- since then I established a Descendants Committee to make decisions about the prospective monument, and we now have about 12 representatives from different areas of the county.

The initiative has now passed the first three approvals meetings and is on its way to being presented before the Bishop of the Episcopalian Diocese of Virginia (this is due to the vote by descendants of location choice being on St. Mary’s church grounds). They have delegated myself and Dorothy to represent the committee in Fredericksburg before the Bishop after which time it will go before the Architectural Review Board.

It’s crazy to me that this had never happened in 160 years and I am VERY much looking forward to the ongoing process- even though we have already met with some extremely difficult opposition, the fact that it’s got momentum is absolutely groundbreaking.

https://www.facebook.com/Akrisband/
https://www.instagram.com/akrisband/
https://akrismusic.bandcamp.com/

Akris, Your Mantis (2016)

Akris, “Brown” official video

Tags: , , , ,

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Berto Cáceres of Spinda Records

Posted in Questionnaire on October 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Berto Cáceres of Spinda Records

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Berto Cáceres of Spinda Records

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I basically make people aware of the music that other people do – as simple as that! Sometimes by releasing an EP or an album and trying to get them in as many shops as possible; sometimes by booking gigs; sometimes by knocking on media’s doors and being a pain in the ass asking them to review such and such, to interview this or that band; but always being very persistent – that’s the key!

Spinda Records started ‘cause of two reasons: I used to have a 9-5 day job in a marketing department in a completely different industry, but then I became a father of two and my priorities drastically changed, so I wanted something that I could do at home and see my little ones more than usual. Music had always been something very important in my life, so I felt the need of give it back something in return. And running a DIY label from my basement seemed like a good idea as I could be helping local bands to put out their music whilst being at home and see how my two girls were growing.

Describe your first musical memory.

Well, music was always there, since I was very little. I perfectly remember my mum singing Tom Jones and Nino Bravo (a Spanish singer from the 70s) or me joining her while singing the soundtrack of the film ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’. Then there was my older brother who used to lock himself in the loo with the acoustic guitar to play 80s Spanish pop music. I never understood at the time why he had to do that, but it is obvious that he was trying to get some natural reverb.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

This is pretty much impossible as there are so many. I will mention just a few…

The Summer of 96 when my life changed forever thanks to the older brothers of my friends, who shared with us dozens of mix tapes with many bands from the Seattle scene, britpop, German power metal, California punk rock and melodic hardcore, Spanish ’90s rock and hip-hop. My friends and I spent the whole Summer in my dad’s garage listening to those cassettes on the boombox, learning the lyrics and taking the decision of growing our hair as our new idols.

Then it was a mind-blowing experience when in 2007 I had the chance to see Héroes del Silencio live in a venue for an audience of 75k people. They were my favourite band by that time, they split up in ’96 and they were back 11 years later for just a bunch of gigs in different countries. I cried a lot that night.

Another good one took place in January 2018, when I got in my hands the second reference of Spinda Records, although the first one to arrive. It was ‘Slowgod II’ by Spanish stoner-doom band Grajo. The feeling was like ten times better than when I was going to my local retail shop to buy records.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

About a decade ago, when I realised that friends won’t be there forever. They come and go, as I do too. The key thing is to try to get the most out of those moments that friendship brings to your life. It’s simply about enjoying the moment. If it last, it’s amazing, but don’t get disappointed if it doesn’t.

How do you define success?

It depends on the context, but regarding running the label, I would say that success happens when you take a band, there is a great relationship with their members, establish some goals and work hard together to reach them. Then if you manage to finish the month with good numbers it’s even better, ‘cause that means that you can continue another month doing what you love.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

When I was attending to a very famous festival in Spain and an aerial dancer fell to his death. I was there, about 10 meters away from him, and the situation was difficult; one of those moments you never forget.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

This is about dreaming, right? I’d love to start a Music Center in my hometown, including a record shop, some rehearsal rooms, an analog recording studio, a small live music venue, and some space for me to keep running Spinda Records and having my own vinyl pressing plant. I live in a corner of Spain where nothing of this exists so it would be awesome. Anyone interested?

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Art is about expressing yourself with your own language, and feeling.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

To keep road-trippin’ the world with my family. That would mean that we’ll get to know many different cultures and their people, living experiences together and having lot of time to speak to each-other on the road – and life is all about having quality time with your loved ones, no matter if it’s on the road, in a gig, when playing table games or while walking down the street on your way to the supermarket.

https://www.facebook.com/SpindaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/spindarecords
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.spindarecords.com/

Héroes del Silencio, Tesoro, El Último Silencio (2007)

Tags: , ,