The Obelisk Questionnaire: Trevor Richards of The Long Hunt
Posted in Questionnaire on August 5th, 2022 by JJ KoczanThe 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: Trevor Richards of The Long Hunt
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
In terms of The Long Hunt, I define myself as a guitarist, songwriter, photographer, social media manager, recording engineer, graphic designer, booking agent, video editor, webmaster, roadie, and esteemed van operator. I came to all these various roles through a combination of trial and error, sheer force of will, and a reluctant sense of responsibility.
Describe your first musical memory.
Not really sure what my first musical memory would be, but if I had to guess, it probably had something to do with the neglected 1950s ‘Kay’ brand acoustic guitar that sat in the corner of the living room, behind the television stand, gathering dust. On extremely rare occasions, and I am talking rare, my Dad might pick it up and pluck a few notes. More often than not, it was something that would get knocked over while trying to hook up the VCR or the NES. I remember that I did like the smell of it, for what that’s worth. It was kind of that ‘old wood’ type of smell. As a teenager, it was the instrument that I learned to play on. Now I have it in a case in the closet. It still pretty much smells the same.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I am going to limit my answer to just within the scope of The Long Hunt, and even more narrowly, within the scope of live shows. Even then, I’m not sure this memory is particularly the “best” or if it’s just one good memory that sticks out among a field of several good memories.
The memory du jour is our first show as a band, which occurred Saturday, April 1st, 2017 at Cattivo in Pittsburgh. The lineup was The Skull, Horehound, and Monolith Wielder. The Long Hunt opened things up. Being our first show, this particular gig would probably stick in the mind regardless. Bolstering that fact, the turnout that night was especially good and we brought out a lot of our friends.
Up to that point, I had taken a few years off from playing live music, and this was the first group where I was kind of the de facto band leader. At the very least, I was the one with the microphone (talking between songs, not singing, just to be clear).
I was totally wired with nerves, which was especially challenging given how subdued, slow and “clean” our songs were back in those days. Believe me when I say It was an extreme challenge to keep things calm and controlled. But we did. Finishing our short set without a hitch was a massive relief and a massive release. In addition, the crowd seemed to enjoy our music, which was reassuring. This was truly the first real feedback we got as a group. It was a nice reminder how rewarding playing live music can be.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
When I discovered that the beloved children’s book series of my youth, The Berenstein Bears, was in fact spelled The Berenstain Bears the entire time [I felt the same way when I found out those people were psycho christians – Ed.]. I am not saying it’s aliens, per se, but I think Cern and the Large Hadron Collider have something to do with it.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Usually towards a large pit in which to burn money. On the way to said pit is often a journey of self discovery and what I’ll call “artistic refinement”. Refinement in the sense that the more you do something, the better you tend to get at it. In addition, the longer you do something, the better chance you have in finding people who appreciate, and maybe even understand, what you are doing. Or at least trying to do, in some cases.
To me, artistic progression has, at the very least, a partial goal that is aimed at tearing down walls of pretense and allowing the exposure of one’s “true self” to be expressed to the world, through the vehicle of one’s preferred artistic medium. I am talking about making art that is pure. Art for art’s sake. Art that is an unfettered extension of one’s being, that also has that common thread that connects with others on some deeper and meaningful level. I am not saying this is an attainable goal, but it’s a goal nonetheless. Sometimes I’ll get glimpses of it on the way to that smoldering money pit.
How do you define success?
Being successful in music seems to have a lot to do with balance, and is a relative metric that will vary from person to person and band to band. There are always going to be positive and negative aspects to doing just about anything, and if, at the end of the day, the positive aspects outweigh the negative, then you can count that up as a net “success” of sorts. One person’s success is another’s failure, of course, though I think the healthiest outlook to have is to not measure yourself too much against what other people are doing. That’s not to say one shouldn’t have goals or that one should settle or remain stagnant.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Honestly, I think we all could have been just a little better off without witnessing many of the events over the last few years, things that still keep unfolding. That said, out of even the steamiest pile of shit often grows something new and beautiful. So there is that. We’ll see.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Putting together a book of some sort might be cool. Maybe a book of photography or something more of a visual sense. Specifically band related, a book of stills from our recently released animated short film “Threshold Wanderer” might be a nice thing to put out into the world.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
The most essential function of art is communication.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Camping, traveling, and taking pictures.
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