The Obelisk Questionnaire: Alex Risberg of 10,000 Years
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: Alex Risberg of 10,000 Years
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I’m a musician who plays in a band. I just look at it as playing metal, basically, and I have been doing just that for about seventeen years now. Music has always been an incredibly huge part of my life and it’s something that’s always there. I think about it all the time, I listen to it and play it myself as often as I possibly can. I started my first band in 2004 with my brother and a couple of friends and I’ve been playing in bands from then on. It’s just something that I absolutely love to do and I can’t see myself ever not doing it.
Describe your first musical memory.
My first really vivid musical memory, that I actually remember for myself and haven’t been told by a parent or something, is my dad buying me and my brother a copy of the Kiss-collection “Greatest Kiss” back in -97. I’m sure there are several other instances where music played a part in my early life, since my dad’s a drummer and there was always music playing at his place, but this is something that I know for sure is my memory, and mine alone. I distinctly remember sitting on the floor of my dads old apartment and putting that CD on, and when “Detroit Rock City” kicked in… Wow. There was no turning back from that. That record blew me away in so many ways and besides getting me truly, deeply hooked on music it made me a lifelong member of the Kiss Army.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
In 2012 my old band Pike released our debut album, To Cross The Great Divide, but since we all lived in different parts of Sweden we unfortunately couldn’t play live as much as we might have wanted to. But one of the shows we did play that year was so epic it made up for the rest.
My buddy David Johansson from Kongh told me they had gotten offered the support slot for Baroness show in Stockholm that July. They had turned it down but he had told the promoter about Pike instead, and sure enough we got an email that same day. This was like two-three days before the show was scheduled. Of course we said yes, Baroness being one of our favourite bands, and then we scrambled to get the logistics together, being so spread out, plus we hadn’t played together at all for about three months then. But everything went great, above and beyond any expectations, and it was probably the best show we ever played. And just to be there, to get that opportunity, everything about it was just so amazing. It was our first really big show and that’s something I’ll never forget.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I absolutely, truly believed that “Danzig Sings Elvis” would be amazing. But alas, that was not to be. Someone needs to give Glenn a stern talking to.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Hopefully to more art and more music and in the long run to a better, more caring society. On a personal level I hope it leads to a deeper understanding of my own, and others, art and to a more profound expression of that art.
How do you define success?
If you’re doing something that makes you happy, that’s pretty much it for me. Like with 10,000 Years, I know we’re never going to take over the world, but we really, really love what we do and we have found a home in this band and with each other. The fact that other people that we’ve never met from all over the world seem to like what we do as well is just insane to me and I appreciate that so deeply. So in my mind we’ve already achieved all the success that we’ll ever need.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I can’t really think of something that I would like to have unseen actually, at least not in any personal way. But there’s a lot of shitty movies and concert footage I might as well never have seen.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
The ultimate riff, the ultimate song or the ultimate album is always in ones future and I always look forward to creating the next attempt at that.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To bring happiness and joy to people and to bring people together and in the long run hopefully improve our collective society.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I am looking forward to this pandemic hopefully coming to an end soon. So wash your hands, keep your distance and take the vaccine when it becomes available to you!
http://www.facebook.com/TenThousandyrs
https://instagram.com/10.000yrs
http://10000years.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Interstellar-Smoke-Records-101687381255396/
https://interstellarsmokerecords.bigcartel.com/
