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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Zach Germaniuk of Pillärs

pillars zach germaniuk (Photo by Little Blackbird Photo)

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: Zach Germaniuk of Pillärs

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

I define what I do as trying my best to help people and do something meaningful with my time here. That attitude came directly from exposure to DIY underground heavy music and hardcore punk that laid the blueprint for my life out at a fairly young age, like 14-15. I know that sounds cliché, because our society demands that our identity be solely determined by how we earn a living. I reject being put in that box. The core driving force of all the things I’m involved in now, which include bands and touring, working at a nonprofit that helps people with housing issues, teaching at Cleveland State University – it all stems back to that initial exposure to a different view of how things could or ought to be, as envisioned by the community of bands and activists that blazed the DIY path. Having that music in my life really helped me to stay grounded and focused on my goals. Playing, touring, all of it helps me to stay connected with this path that I’m on. It guides my work and I’m grateful to have it in my life.

Describe your first musical memory.

I must have been about 3 years old: my first musical memory was a music box my Mom had. Every time it played, the music sounded just so sad, so lonely. It was a haunting song and it kind of freaked me out as a kid. I would love to find it again, it’s probably buried in her house somewhere. I think it might be interesting to re-record it and put it on an album at some point.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

The spring 2017 tour I did playing guitar with the Cleveland noise-punk band Rubber Mate and our buddies Nag is the BEST that sticks out, out of a lot of good ones and a few bad ones. It was just an absolute blast every single night, which is rare because usually on tour there is at least one or more nights where something fucks up: van issues, gear trouble, personality conflicts, burnout, whatever. But that tour was flawless from first show to last, and was a really memorable time.

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

There was a moment when the whole belief of music being a positive experience and driving force in my life stopped being real for me. My Dad died on the last day of the Pillärs 2018 tour, literally just hours before we were set to play; at the same time work stress pushed me to a place therapists sometimes describe as ”the call of the void” – as I understand it from my own journey that means not thinking about the “how” of suicide directly, but starting to think about the concept. Would it really be that bad? What would that be like to just not exist? It was a dark place to be, and I stayed there for a long time, almost two years. I divorced in that same time period, and as I peeled back the layers of where I was in my own life through those moments it revealed a level of toxicity in my life that made music, and everything that flowed out of that, seem like it was no longer a worthwhile activity or a meaningful part of my existence. I guess you could say I got hollowed out by it all. Without a doubt the time from his passing in April 2018 to just before the start of COVID lockdown in March 2020 was the worst period of my life. I didn’t even touch a musical instrument from November 2019 to April 2020. My musical life fell apart, and I was in a pretty bleak place. Then about a year ago, right around April into May 2020, ironically just as shit was really shutting down and it seemed like the musical world was collapsing, my longtime friend Chadd B. (Mockingbird, Cultist, Enhailer, among others…) reached out asking if I wanted to jam. Then another friend reached out, and another, and before I knew it not only was Pillärs writing a new record but I found myself in a gnarly DIY punk band called TV Drugs with another longtime friend. As I kept cutting the toxicity out of my life, I found work stress became more manageable. I was blessed to find myself in a much healthier relationship with my partner, who is also an active artist and performer. If I have to look for bright spots on the otherwise bleak canvas that has been the last few years, this whole period has been a huge test for my belief about music really truly being something that gives me meaning and purpose.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

For me, artistic progression (and that includes music, visual art, film, theatre, etc.) should lead to an understanding of this thing we call life and how to communicate ideas and experiences. It’s like the difference between listening to a piece of music that you just appreciate as well executed versus a song or album that makes your hair stand up or give you some kind of emotional response, if that makes sense. I think just like kids learn how to speak, then make words, then move forward to be able to articulate themselves, that’s kind of how I look at artistic progression. I always remember the story about Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address: There was a speaker before him at the battlefield who spoke at great lengths, using all this complex vocabulary, etc. OK fine, great. Then Lincoln got up and spoke for 3 minutes. Nobody remembers the dude who gave the long-winded exhortation, but Lincoln’s simple words are universally recognized as one of the greatest speeches of all time. So I mean, as that relates to artistic progression, it just tells me that it’s not always about technical complexity. It’s about expressing an idea. Some ideas might take whole symphonies full of intricacies to express. Some ideas can be expressed in ninety seconds using two chords.

How do you define success?

Having the personal freedom to do what you love to do; and make the area around you a better place while having a way to pay your bills that doesn’t kill your creativity.

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

The “two girls one cup” video. That was fucking gross.

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

We need more DIY spaces, especially in the Rust Belt, and I would love to be a part of some project that makes DIY spots in Cleveland more permanent and protected from gentrification. These places are incredible incubators for awesome music, art of all kinds, and largely responsible for creating the community and network that keeps our little alternate universe running. We’ve lost so many spaces over the last 20 years due to the fact that the people doing amazing things in those spaces had no control over the buildings. We need to own the spaces where we create, or else we are going to be forever on the losing end of battles with landlords and the powers that be, and having to constantly rebuild from scratch every time some developer wants to put up $500k condos and kick out all the freaks and weirdos who are creating the very art and music that these gentrifying motherfuckers try to appropriate and then colonize.
Ownership of land is the first step towards fighting back and drawing that line in the sand. And helping to build spaces that are protected from or resilient in the face of those kinds of forces; that’s a dream I would love to have a hand in creating.

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

The expression of some idea and emotion that leads essentially to some shared understanding between the creator of the artistic piece and the audience. Art is the vehicle for the creation of empathy.

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

Since saying the end of COVID is almost cliché now I will instead say getting through the last few years of public service loan forgiveness at my job to wipe out these student loans and then hopefully be in a position to start helping to build something.

https://pillrs.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/PillarsOHIO/
https://www.thetruetapehaus.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thetruetapehaus/
http://www.instagram.com/tapehaus
https://tapehaus.bandcamp.com/

PILLÄRS & Wallcreeper, Split (2019)

PILLÄRS, Abandoned (2018)

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