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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jordan Forster of Vessel

Posted in Questionnaire on December 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Vessel-Jordan-Forster

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: Jordan Forster of Vessel

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

High school teacher by day, musician by spare moment! Which honestly, has been hard to come by in the last few years since becoming a father. Nevertheless, a musician that still has something to say is still a musician, even if it takes longer to find the opportunity to say it. As the driving force (guitarist and songwriter) behind the Vessel project, I define it as exactly that, more of a project than a band. I have been lucky to hook up with vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and long-time acquaintance Mason [Matheson] who has become the main voice of the music, but I really define Vessel as a solo-project and a vehicle for my own self-expression. That came about from being dissatisfied and disgruntled from the dynamics that come with being in a band, and just wanting something that I can be solely responsible for. That still comes with its challenges and mismanaged relationships, but at least I don’t lose my art to the distortion of compromise and the abyss of time, which has happened in the past with previous bands.

Describe your first musical memory.

I am the youngest in a group of siblings, so I remember music and pop culture always being around growing up. My sister had an obsessive phase with Michael Jackson in the late ’80s and early ’90s which rubbed off on me as a young child. The guitar collaborations with Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Slash and Steve Stevens are probably what turned me on to rock music. No specific memories, just an aura of big riffs in pop music. Something that pop music today is lacking.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

When doing a collaboration with another musician that you admire, and you get their recorded takes back and listen to them for the first time. Hearing amazingly talented singers put themselves into your art and interpreting your words is mesmerizing. Definitely a different feeling to anything else. That one actually came to me after I had finished the questionnaire, but here is my initial response, which I’ll keep in as well. Last year I happened across some positive comments about one of my songs in a Facebook group, and when I replied with a thank you, the fan just gave some of the most beautiful compliments. It was so unexpected, and during the pandemic it felt fantastic to be able to reach people around the world with my music. So different from some of my other favorite memories which are based around playing live. Another similar one was a fellow musician sharing one of my songs on socials with a comment along the lines of “when you hear a song that you wish you had written.” I can’t think of a bigger compliment than that really. Anyone reading this, please continue to let bands know what their music means to you, because those comments mean the world to them/us!

Oh, and the time I saw Iron Maiden’s ‘Somewhere Back In Time’ Tour, I may have cried during “Revelations” haha.

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

I mentioned earlier that trying to progress a band can cost you relationships and friendships. That. My music, my art, is an important part of my life. An integral part of my life. I understand that it might not be as important to those around me as it is to me (I’d be shocked if it was, really. It’s my art after all), and they may not prioritize it in their life like I do in mine, and that is ok with me. Unfortunately, when decisions need to be made to ensure that studio time is booked, deadlines are met, and opportunities aren’t missed, people don’t like decisions being made around them. I guess the firmly held belief is that you should back yourself and your art at (almost) all costs, as it means more to you than it does to anyone else. Others aren’t going to champion you if you don’t champion yourself. This belief was tested, as I don’t want to lose friends over it, but if people take offence to that notion, that is on them. I just want to be me, without limits.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Exploration of self. I can’t tell you what the next song I write is going to sound like, what themes it will explore or what message it might want to share with both the listener and myself as the writer. And I’ll never know either if I don’t pick up the guitar again and see what happens. I’m always discovering a variety of new music (nowhere NEAR as much as yourself JJ and many of your readers, [where do you find the time!?], but still..), which means I’m always going to be influenced by new things when it comes to playing my instrument. Being a bit obsessed with stomp boxes will always help progress your sound too! Back to the question though; I think you can surprise yourself with what is important to you and what affects you as a person. It can become much more obvious what makes you tick, when you find yourself waking up in the night to continue writing a song about it. I sometimes wonder about how people who aren’t creating in some capacity know who they really are.

How do you define success?

Realization of ideas and completion of projects. I see our last album as a huge success as it was released, and nothing was compromised in the creation of it. I’ve been in bands in the past that I would not refer to as a success, as we never recorded some great songs or played certain shows, and people involved were left dissatisfied. Perhaps another reason why I structured Vessel as a solo project, as I don’t need to align other people’s ideas of what success is to get things done. Setting goals and meeting them is success to me. I look forward to meeting some new ones in the future!

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

At first I thought “the dark side of some people”, but then thinking on it a little more, I am glad I have seen that, as now I know where to place them. The more you know. Knowledge is power. Oh, maybe that time I caught Mötley Crüe live in 2009, what a shit-show. That is something I never needed to see.

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

I would love to write a book. I have a couple of ideas, both fiction and non-fiction, but time is scarce as it is. Spare moments are put into music where possible. Maybe I need a collaborator!

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

I am not sure that there is one ‘most’ essential function. If I had to choose, perhaps the ability to connect individuals with the emotion of others from another time and place. Or for the artist, to be heard, even if only by others in another time and space. To communicate what words cannot? To capture a moment in time to be looked upon forevermore? To leave a stain of yourself on the fabric of history? Haha ok I’ll stop.

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

Taking my children to the beach when summer rolls around. That seems like the furthest thing from a winter lockdown; being on the coast far from home, in the sun, watching my children play in the ocean (and probably hate it like I seem to remember from my childhood haha!). Time to get back to life again.

www.instagram.com/the.vessel.project
www.facebook.com/thevesselproject
http://thevesselproject.bandcamp.com
https://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com/

Vessel, Vagabond Blues (2020)

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Sleeping Giant Premiere “Fortress”; Split 7″ with Foot Coming Soon

Posted in audiObelisk on October 28th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

sleeping giant

Fuzz-drenched Australian trio Sleeping Giant will release their new single, Fortress, on Oct. 30 through Copper Feast Records. It’s the quick-turnaround answer to the Bendigo/Melbourne outfit’s 2019 self-titled debut (review here) and intended as a bridge between that release and their next full-length, and indeed it presents a shift in approach. “Fortress,” the song itself, runs just under five minutes long, but that’s plenty of time for guitarist/vocalist Steven Hammer, bassist James Wright and drummer Pali Emond to established a thickened, full sound that runs denser and murkier than anything the LP had on offer. Certainly the elements that comprise it are there: dudes have riffs, tone, fuzz, groove, hook, some harsher shouts for good measure — all that we-wrote-a-song stuff. But what’s really intriguing about “Fortress” is the atmosphere it creates.

Emond did the cover art for the Fortress single — and for sure that’s a video game I want to play — but notice that beneath the stalactites of the cavern in the image is a smoky, humid swamp and of course the lingering sense of doom as the broken-horn, open-mouthed monster skull welcomes you to the titular fortress. It doesn’t look like a place in which you’d want to hang around for side-quests. However, it does expertly convey the spirit of what “Fortress” brings to Sleeping Giant‘s sound, which is precisely that sleeping giant fortressdoomed aspect. Where Sleeping Giant integrated influences from the likes of Lowrider and Kyuss, the clearest line one might draw from “Fortress” is to the rolling lurch of Windhand. This can be heard in Hammer‘s vocal melody as well as the immersion he conjures in doubling — or tripling, since he’s also playing guitar — as recording engineer, handling mixing and mastering too.

He did some amount of recording on the self-titled as well, but as that record was pieced together over a longer period of time and multiple sessions, “Fortress” not only feels like a progression in aesthetic, but one of cohesion. Hammer‘s guitar, Wright‘s bass and Emond‘s drums flow together with an in-the-same-room feel — mind you, whether they were actually in the same room or not, I have no idea; probably not given quarantine and so on — and the song pulls you deeper into its swirling, possibly toxic haze because of that. Like the shouts that emerge later on, these were things hinted at on the LP, especially in the later reaches of the “Visions” trilogy that capped, but come through more focused, more complete, and even more intentional on the single. For something that sounds so foreboding, it bodes awfully well.

“Fortress” will see issue as part of a split 7″ single with labelmates Foot sometime soon via Copper Feast, and it’s my pleasure to host the premiere today. Find it below, accompanied by more details from the PR wire.

And enjoy:

Sleeping Giant are back – and they’re back heavier and harder than we’ve seen them before with this absolute behemoth of a track crawling out of the abyss and into your earholes on October 30th.

Following the successful release of their eponymous debut in 2019, rehearsals and progress on the anticipated follow-up record was halted as a result of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Undeterred, the band have been able to write and record a brand new track from lockdown to give fans a glimpse of what’s to come next year.

Having been inspired to move in a heavier direction after recording the epic fan favourite ‘Visions’ trilogy, new single ‘Fortress’ has been a feature of their live set ever since the debut record came out and lyrically represents how cancerous cells can debilitate and make you a shadow of your former healthy self. Though the lyrics were written well before COVID, they still bear a strong relevance to the current climate.

This standalone single intended as a bridge between albums was written, recorded, mixed and mastered by frontman/guitarist Steve Hammer and is Sleeping Giant’s first foray into the world of home recording.

Drummer Pali Emond has meticulously slaved away to perfectly depict the visual aesthetic of ‘Fortress’ on the cover art, as well as producing a brand new t-shirt design which will be available for pre-order alongside the track, ahead of its 30th October release date.

What’s more, Copper Feast Records will be releasing ‘Fortress’ as a 7″ split single before the end of the year alongside label mates Foot on limited edition coloured vinyl which also features a brand new track from Paul Holden & co.

Sleeping Giant is:
Steve Hammer – Guitar/Vocals
James Wright – Bass
Pali Emond – Drums

Sleeping Giant on Thee Facebooks

Sleeping Giant on Instagram

Sleeping Giant on Bandcamp

Copper Feast Records on Thee Facebooks

Copper Feast Records on Instagram

Copper Feast Records on Bandcamp

Copper Feast Records BigCartel store

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Sleeping Giant Sign to Copper Feast Records

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 15th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

Always like good news, and a previously-independently-issued album getting picked up for a vinyl release is almost always that. Certainly so in the case of Aussie three-piece Sleeping Giant, who put out their self-titled full-length (review here) this summer have have been snagged by Copper Feast Records for an LP edition. Actually, to be more specific, a couple LP editions, as there will apparently be different regional variants. The label, founded last year with releases from HorsehunterSchool Disco, Pseudo Mind Hive and LowFlyingHawks under its belt, has also apparently relocated to Australia, so getting a band like Sleeping Giant on board may be a sign of a burgeoning regional focus. Certainly plenty of Oz heavy to go around. It’s like they grow on trees down there.

Preorders start at the end of the month for Sleeping Giant‘s Sleeping Giant, and I’m not sure when the release will actually be or what the band’s plans are for after, but in the interim, like I said at the outset, a vinyl version is good news for platterhounds of all stripes.

Of course, the record’s also streaming at the bottom of this post, because it’s the future and we can do that here:

sleeping giant

Copper Feast Records – Sleeping Giant

Sound the alarm…it’s announcement time!

I’m beyond excited to welcome the brilliant Sleeping Giant to the Copper Feast family. At the end of the month, we will be opening up pre-orders for the first and only vinyl pressings of the self-titled debut LP from these Melbourne/Bendigo based stoner metal riffheads.

‘Sleeping Giant’ will be our first release since my relocation to Australia, which means that this fantastic album will be available in both Australia and the UK/EU in two region exclusive variants (details to follow later).

Having been around for nearly 6 years now, formerly under the name Lowpoint, ‘Sleeping Giant’ is an absolutely, absolutely killer intro to the band and well worth the wait! Some of the most crushing moments in stoner rock this year alongside some gorgeously mellow soundscapes…Melbourne’s done it again.

Sleeping Giant is:
Steven Hammer – Guitars/Vocals
James Wright – Bass
Pali Emond-Glenn – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/sleepinggiantband/
https://www.instagram.com/sleepinggiantband/
https://sleepinggiantband.bandcamp.com/
https://copperfeastrecords.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CopperFeastRecords/

Sleeping Giant, Sleeping Giant (2019)

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Sleeping Giant, Sleeping Giant: Awake in Visions

Posted in Reviews on August 7th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

sleeping giant sleeping giant

Sometimes a band comes right out of their second rehearsal with a batch of songs, ready to hit the studio and make a record — or at least that’s how it feels. That’s not the case with Sleeping Giant, who emerge from Australia’s crowded heavy underground some six years after forming as Lowpoint. Their self-titled and self-released-but-probably-not-for-long debut album is the result of the subsequent half-decade of writing and woodshedding, and comprises a clean eight tracks and 42 minutes of solid-foundation fuzz rock, turning influences from earlier Queens of the Stone Age, Lowrider, Kyuss and more rolling fare into a collection of original songs that bask in their fuzzy familiarity but still feel geared toward their own approach, perhaps because they’ve been so worked on. Even the recording process for Sleeping Giant‘s Sleeping Giant took a year, which sounds excruciating, but the resultant long-player finds guitarist/vocalist Steven Hammer, bassist James Wright and drummer Pali Emond-Glenn sounding well aware of who they are as a band and able to manifest that in their material without losing their first-album edge.

Even without knowing it was so long in coming together, the songs don’t feel off-the-cuff. They feel worked on, thought out, considered, and that’s by no means a detriment to their execution, which remains plenty energetic. That’s an achievement unto itself, but it’s just one of the ways Sleeping Giant ultimately impress throughout, as they move through a tracklisting that’s no less impeccably arranged than the songs themselves in terms of bringing out the different sides of the band’s approach, growing richer as it goes from side A to B in what’s clearly a vinyl-intended progression — the cover by Emond-Glenn would seem geared toward that as well — that nonetheless flows smoothly throughout, making its way toward the three-part finale, “Visions I,” “Visions II” and “Visions III,” which together introduce new elements of atmosphere and aggression to the proceedings, taking the straightforward core of heavy rock from which Sleeping Giant work and using it as a basis for exploring different ideas. However long it took to make it happen, there’s little more one could reasonably ask of a debut album.

Sleeping Giant opens, suitably enough, with “Sleep,” which begins an initial salvo that will continue basically through the first four songs to one degree or another. A mid-paced groove takes hold with effective, laid back vocal melodies overtop from Hammer and a fuzz that’s both warm-sounding and right on in terms of capturing a desert-style feel while still giving Wright‘s bass room to make an impression. One is reminded early on of Sungrazer to a degree, but Sleeping Giant are on a less jammy trip overall, and the roll of “Sleep” is offset by the sheer thrust of “Temptress,” which pushes the vocals forward in the mix and offers as support for them a fervent push and tempo kick, the trade from one to the next crucial to understanding how side A works, since the subsequent “Empire” and “Serpent” will essentially make the same moves, though of course there are changes in the approach to be considered.

sleeping giant

“Temptress” resolves itself in a nod and final shove before dropping out to a series of curses — somebody’s mad about something, comically — and leading to the six-and-a-half-minute “Empire,” which is a highlight for its blend of bounce and roll, the chorus reminding of some lost late-’90s/early-’00s gem from somewhere in Northern Europe, even as the tones and production by Erek Ladd and Jarod Meadows remains modern. Guitar drops out in the second half of “Empire” for a moment to let the bass introduce the apex nodder riff and the slow-motion swagger that ensues is more than welcome upon the return of the full tonal breadth. In comparison, “Serpent” — also the most direct source of the Lowrider comparison above — is arguably the highest-energy of the bunch, with a careening Homme-style central riff and sense of movement brought out all the more by the shift into a slower section at the midpoint, only to return to a speedier finish. Again, not by any means revolutionary, but effective in conveying Sleeping Giant‘s priorities, which are clearly geared toward songcraft.

The basic structure of side B changes, thanks largely to the aforementioned “Visions” trilogy. “Gypsy” unfolds very much in the character of side A’s tradeoffs between longer and shorter songs, finding Hammer‘s malleable vocals in a lower register over a slower riff before opening up for the chorus, trading tempos much in the spirit of “Serpent,” only reversed. In the overarching progression of the record, “Gypsy” is inherently outshined by “Visions,” but its being there makes sense and the work it does to tie the two halves of the album together isn’t to be forgotten. Still, it’s a significant turn when the instrumental “Visions I” begins its subdued unfolding, reminding of progressive-era Truckfighters‘ less jumpy moments, with a linear build toward the heavier guitar’s full brunt.

They get there before the track’s three minutes are up, and turn directly into “Visions II,” which unfolds a King Buffalo-y psychedelic blues vibe until a more severe riff leads at 2:42 to harsher growling in post-hardcore fashion — actually, the voice reminds me of Elegy-era Amorphis, but I’m willing to chalk that up to sonic coincidence — gradually working in clean and harsh layers effectively to carry Sleeping Giant to a genuinely unexpected crescendo, leaving “Visions III” to pick up immediately from there, which it does by shifting into another engaging nod-roll as a bed for a return of sung vocals and the gradual build of a melodic wash of tone, which acts not so much as an epilogue to the prior part’s payoff, but as a different stage of the same idea — in that way, “Visions” is all the more well executed as a whole. And it’s in that last three-parter that Sleeping Giant most show the potential in their sound for bringing a range of styles together under a fuzzy banner and crafting an identity of their own from them. After six years and a name change leading to this debut, I won’t speculate on where they might go from here or when they might get there, but the obvious care they put into the writing and honing and construction of this material shows through one way or another in each track, which is no less than they deserve.

Sleeping Giant, Sleeping Giant (2019)

Sleeping Giant on Thee Facebooks

Sleeping Giant on Instagram

Sleeping Giant on Bandcamp

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