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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Tanner Olson of Across Tundras

Posted in Questionnaire on December 10th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Since releasing their Divides demo in 2004, Across Tundras have worked intensely and at a prolific clip to translate the spirit of open-spaced Americana into heavy and often psychedelic rock. It’s a stylistic turn the influence of which is beginning to be felt in newcomer acts even now, and Across Tundras are by no means resting on the laurels of their early work. After issuing Sage (review here) through Neurot in 2011, guitarist/vocalist Tanner Olson formed an imprint called Electric Relics, and this year the band released an album of the same name (review here), as well as a split with Lark’s Tongue (streamed here). Olson has also set about amassing a considerable solo catalog, performing under the moniker T.G. Olson and recording experimental and folk material at Ramble Hill Farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee, at a rate such that in between sending him the questionnaire and getting back his answers, his November release, The Bad Lands to Cross (discussed here), already had a December companion in Hell’s Half Acre.

Olson‘s strong connections to land and memory come through in his answers below. Please enjoy:

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Tanner Olson

How did you come to do what you do?

As far back as my memory goes I can only remember being concerned with music and playing outdoors. Not much has changed. I was singing along to The Eagles’ “Take it Easy” by three years old and getting a good laugh out of my family. My brother Dusty and I would spend our evenings calling the local radio station and requesting songs, then dubbing them to tape when they came on. I could care less about people “stealing” music online because that is how we got our music education back in the early ’80s living in rural South Dakota. We memorized every song we could get our ears on and pretty soon that inspiration led to writing our own tunes and it has never stopped. Songs are so much more than money and the entitled egos the drive for cash spawns. If people want it they should have it to feed their souls. If someone has a few bucks to throw down or come out to see a show and buy merch that is amazing, but not required. The more I disassociate from the “business” the happier I am. Music has been a constant and always evolving journey in life. It is inherent in every one of us and a universal language.

Describe your first musical memory.

So many! The few that really stick out though was my Dad singing John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane” when he would go to work and my Mom singing “You are My Sunshine” every morning when I woke up. My first real concert at 10 years old was KISS, Faster Pussycat, and Slaughter on the “Hot in the Shade” tour with my aunt Nancy. She bought me a Faster Pussycat “Wake Me When it’s Fucking Over” t-shirt that my Mom was not thrilled about! That is still a badass record.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

This is like answering favorite album of all time. I just can’t do it. Every single experience has shaped me and led me down the path to where I stand today. There have been many amazing times and many horrible times. They don’t exist without each other. I will say that growing up in the Midwest scene from the early ’90s until the new millennium was an incredible experience. Full of passionate people working together and for one another without pretense. Good things don’t last forever though. There was a really strong sense of community and support that is severely lacking in these ultra-competitive times.

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

There was a time when I got so wrapped trying to “make it” as a musician that my ego and expectations took a stronger hold than my heart. I never intended to go down that path, but somehow I lost sight of what was really important. Many are under this spell and for some reason something that can be as pure as music and as destructive as ego often goes hand in hand. It threatened to ruin one of the most positive and constant things in my life. I came to resent music and blamed it for my money and girl problems. I had a selfish and entitled attitude that brought a lot of anger and frustration when things didn’t go as planned. Letting go of that poisonous mindset has been a revelation and a rebirth to a completely pure form of expression and restored simple happiness.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Freedom. Being open to constantly learning and unafraid to keep moving ahead without letting shallow ideas influence you brings one back to where it all began. Creating from your heart and progression are one in the same to me. We are born with this and our society tries to teach us to lose it.

How do you define success?

Just being alive in this crazy world is like a dream sometimes. Having the ability to simply create and be a part of the giant circle is a blessing and the ultimate success. Being able to do things on your own terms and staying true to that vision. Everything that comes beyond is just icing on the cake. I don’t just mean writing a good song, either. It could be having a baby or growing a garden or a million other things.  Putting hard work into of something and giving it life which can grow and grow and on and on…

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

The destruction of our environment by government and corporate interests makes me sick to my stomach. Witnessing the shift from the old ways to the modern technological age is a heavy concept and makes for a very chaotic time to be alive. I am not an absolutist and see the good in certain new ideas. But I am also very alarmed at how much certain forms of new technology are destroying the tried and true along with the very air we breathe, water we drink, and ground we walk on. There is nothing sustainable about this current situation and I already see it starting to slowly crumble. Something has to give and I truly believe we will correct our mistakes or die trying.

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

It is a goal to do a real deal soundtrack for a full-length feature film. The kind of stuff Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are doing would be incredible. No one has come knocking yet, but I think it will happen someday and I can’t wait to get a foot in that door. In the meantime I took matters into my own hands and scored the Blood Meridian book to hold me over.

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

Writings books is next up on the agenda. I have so many ideas and concepts in place that just need some time dedicated to putting them on paper. The first is going to be a hybrid non-fiction/fiction about the Gitchie Manitou murders that happened right outside my hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, back in 1973. I won’t go into the details and will let you look it up on Wiki instead, haha. We used to go this spot in the middle of the night growing up. The dark history of the place hangs thick in the air to this day and should make for a pretty interesting read.

T.G. Olson, Hell’s Half Acre (Dec. 2013)

Across Tundras on Thee Facebooks

T.G. Olson/Across Tundras on Bandcamp

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If You Only Download Seven Releases Today…

Posted in Features on November 19th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

It happened at the start of last month that there was a Tuesday during which I was so overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of the releases available that I had no choice but to present a rundown of all of them. No choice. You would ask, “Couldn’t you just –” and I would cut you off to say, “No I couldn’t.” It had to be all of them.

So it is today. Last night, Young Hunter posted a new EP, and Across Tundras guitarist/vocalist Tanner Olson released a new folk/Americana solo outing, and today has been more or less an onslaught of “out today!” and “don’t miss it!” and so on. Well, I’ve whittled what I’m sure is an incomplete list down to seven brand new releases currently available for download. Some of them — like the Stone Machine Electric and Tanner Olson — are pay-what-you-will, but even those asking for a cash deposit should prove well worth the investment. You can always get a sampling beforehand, and I’ve included players below to facilitate.

Here we go:

1. Black Skies, Circadian Meditations


This one’s a gem. The North Carolina duo of guitarist/vocalist Kevin Clark and bassist/vocalist Michelle Temple teamed up with Caltrop drummer John Crouch and the result is a more patient collection and exploratory feel than that which reared itself on 2011’s On the Wings of Time debut. Progressive but not pretentious, atmospheric but not letting go of its rocking side, it’s an album that begs for multiple listens and satisfies even more with them. Both Clark and Temple come off as more confident on vocals, and extended bookends “Lifeblood” (the 10-minute opener) and “The Dusk/Invisible Figures” (the nine-minute closer) showcase a burgeoning affinity for heavy psych mindgaming. It’s as much fun as it is a journey. Get it here.

Black Skies, Circadian Meditations (2013)

2. T.G. Olson, The Bad Lands to Cross


If you haven’t yet started to obsessively keep tabs on the Across Tundras/T.G. Olson Bandcamp page, it’s a worthwhile endeavor. Olson is a prolific and experimental songwriter, and as much as he works in the traditional forms of country twang and Americana spaciousness, so too does he bend those elements to the will of his material. His latest outing, The Bad Lands to Cross, is a relic waiting to be unearthed. Recorded live with one Shure SM57 microphone, it’s an hour long collection as prone to beauty as tragedy, songs like “Return from the Brink” hovering somewhere between the canyon sides of the anxious and secure. He sings, which he doesn’t on all of his solo releases (see The Complete Blood Meridian for Electric Drone Guitar), and one might consider The Bad Lands to Cross a spiritual companion to Across Tundras‘ 2013 outing, Electric Relics (review here), but it more than stands on its own, whether it’s the minimalist folk of “Rarefied Blue” or the harmonica-laden melancholy of the Gene Clark cover, “Some Misunderstanding.” Get it here.

T.G. Olson, The Bad Lands to Cross (2013)

3. Sandrider, Godhead


Sandrider are the antidote to stagnation. Their second album for Good to Die Records, Godhead (review here), pummels with reckless glee and abandon, but don’t let that lead you to believe it isn’t also precise. The post-Akimbo three-piece of drummer Nat Damm, guitarist/vocalist Jon Weisnewski and bassist/vocalist Jesse Roberts returned to Matt Bayles to record the follow-up of their clarion 2011 self-titled debut (review here), and the continued partnership found Sandrider all the more gnarly and aggressive, but also with a development in their melodic sensibility to match. Songs like the opener “Ruiner” and punkish “Champions” are an unabashed good time — get loaded and call them “epic” — and cuts like “Godhead” and the closer “Traveler” work in more complex terrain, showing the dynamic at work between all three members of the band, each of whom proves essential in crafting the atmosphere of the whole. Listen to it for a party or for thinky-thinky bludgeoning. Either way you don’t lose. Also available on gatefold vinyl. Get it here.

Sandrider, Godhead (2013)

4. Second Grave, Antithesis

They call it an EP, but it eats like a full-length. Fronted by former Warhorse guitarist/vocalist Krista van Guilder and featuring Black Pyramid/The Scimitar bassist Dave Gein along with guitarist Chris Drzal and drummer Chuck Ferreira, Second Grave revel in doomed atmospheres and heavy metal stoicism. Their Antithesis EP follows last year’s self-titled debut outing (review here) and over the course of its two tracks, “Mourning Light” (6:37) and “Drink the Water” (11:41), it showcases what’s working in the band’s quickly solidifying approach, whether it’s the solo and riff interplay of the two guitars, undulating heavy grooves in the bass and drums, or van Guilder‘s propensity for throwing in ripping screams along with her melodic clean singing. The more rocking “Mourning Light” and “Drink the Water” play out the duality shown on the Cory John Heisson artwork, and recording by Black Pyramid‘s Clay Neely at Black Coffee Sound and a mastering job from Revelation‘s John Brenner wrap Antithesis up as a doom metaller’s delight in style and affiliation. Get it here.

Second Grave, Antithesis (2013)

5. Stone Machine Electric, 2013.02.07


When Arlington, Texas, riffers Stone Machine Electric released their self-titled full-length (review here) in January 2013, they had recently added third member Mark Cook on Warr guitar. Cook didn’t appear on that album, which was produced by Wo Fat‘s Kent Stump, and is seemingly since out of the band, but was on board alongside guitarist/vocalist William “Dub” Irvin and drummer Kitchens for this recorded show, which as the title would indicate was taped on Feb. 7, 2013. They were at The Grotto that night in Ft. Worth, and they played a considerable set. 2013.02.07 clocks in at 53 minutes, and extended pieces like “Carve” and “No/W/Here” give the trio plenty of space to jam out. Naturally, they take advantage, and though the lineup was new and the recording is rough, what purports to be the first in a series of free live albums from Stone Machine Electric seems to come as a document of an already bygone moment. One hopes their lineup issues get sorted soon one way or another so they can follow 2013.02.07 and the self-titled in good time. Get it here.

Stone Machine Electric, 2013.02.07 (2013)

6. Summoner, Atlantian


Didn’t I just write about this album? Well yes, yes I did. Summoner‘s second offering under the moniker and third overall, Atlantian (released by Magnetic Eye Records), is an ambitious and unrepentantly proggy heavy rock record. You’ll find some riffy thrust on “Horns of War,” but notice that they lead with “The Gatekeeper,” a track which couples its big-bigger-biggest plod with some of Summoner‘s most accomplished melodicism to date. Atmospheric explorations like “Changing Tides” (presumably the end of side A on the vinyl) and peaceful closer “Taken by the Sea” show the Boston foursome branching out beyond the reaches even of 2012’s Phoenix, and while the crushing progressions of “Into the Abyss” and the forward rush of “The Prophecy” offer contrast to these sleepier stretches — too substantial and precariously placed to be interludes — the full-album flow that runs across Atlantian demonstrates in no uncertain terms just how far Summoner have come since starting out as Riff Cannon with 2009’s Mercury Mountain. Get it here.

Summoner, Atlantian (2013)

7. Young Hunter, Embers at the Foot of Dark Mountain


With no more ceremony than a quick, “Hey this is out now,” Young Hunter casually released a three-song follow-up to their wildly impressive 2012 full-length, Stone Tools (discussed here). I’ve gone back to that album often since I first heard it, and Embers at the Foot of Dark Mountain is a terrifyingly solid answer to the formative work the doubly-drummed seven-piece did on their debut, whether it’s the mountain gothic stomp of “Welcome to Nothing” or spacious sway of the ensuing “Trail of Tears,” which is dark and otherworldly but tied to the cold clarity of a desert night all the same, picking up in its second half to a joyous guitar-led ritualizing that legitimately earns a Neurosis comparison more than most of what gets compared to Neurosis these days. Rounding out with the moody, percussion-led “Dreamer,” Young Hunter showcase a bit of drama to go with the intensity presented elsewhere, launching into full-bore thickness and fervent, desperate shouts. Someone needs to sign this band immediately. Tee Pee? Hell, Neurot? Someone’s gotta step up. This is too good. Reportedly a new lineup is in construction as guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Blake (and maybe others) has relocated from Arizona to Portland, Oregon (of course), and these tracks will be used as part of a split tape with Ohioan, but they’re free now, so go to. Get it here.

Young Hunter, Embers at the Foot of Dark Mountain (2013)

Happy listening. If there’s anything I missed, please let me know in the comments.

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