The Obelisk Questionnaire: Papir
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: Papir
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
It can be a real challenge to define what it is you do, besides the obvious (music – the musical praxis, playing, listening, composing, improvising, whatever you want to call the process of creating something with sound and musical elements). It is probably hard for us to neglect the social aspect of playing together and reacting to each other in a musical context, getting something done (making a record, playing concerts) and learning from it – that is of course very important too. In that sense you could define what we do essentially as “band stuff” – we are primarily a band, a collective of three individuals who happen to play and make music together, which includes all the above-mentioned stuff.
How we came to do it? Besides sharing an early common and serious interest in playing music we had the privilege of being introduced to a good social and musically stimulating environment at a young age, attending music school and hanging out in the local youth club, that had some great facilities (rehearsal spaces for bands, music pedagogues, etc.). That was probably an important part of the foundation of getting inspired to play music and play in a band – to meet other people interested in the same thing, having access to equipment and having adults around who were supportive in what we did.
Describe your first musical memory.
The first musical memory we share, is probably from around 2002, when Christoffer joined Christian and me in the band we played in back then. We had an audition and played a self-made song and then jumped directly into a jammy cover-version of the well-known classic “Mustang Sally.” Don’t recall how it sounded, but I do remember that we all instinctively knew that Christoffer was the right drummer for our band.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
There are a lot of contenders! We still have some very fond memories of the first studio session we ever did back in 2009. That was in the early stages of playing and creating instrumental music together, we hadn’t even played any concerts in this format with this then “new music” and we were still in a process of searching and finding a path to follow. In the context of recording an album of instrumental music it was a very open session musically speaking – perhaps best reflected in the non-released jam material from that session, this can be heard as documented processes that really bear witness to a band wide searching for a path, a music, expressions of something.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
…
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Not sure that we work with artistic progression per se, or to put it in other words: we are not sure we see/hear music as art. Music can probably be seen as an artform, but we don’t think that’s our domain – to create music as art. We mainly work within the terms and elements of music itself, so you can say that we work with musical progression and in that sense it wouldn’t make sense at all to continue creating music if we didn’t have a feeling of progression. So basically, the aspect of progression happens through a kind of learning process. For instance, making a new record is an opportunity to learn something new about music or the “art” of making an album or whatever you are open to take from it and hopefully that leads to a progression in the short or long term. The progression itself can probably lead to anything – theoretically speaking there are no boundaries.
How do you define success?
There is an elemental feeling of success knowing the fact that we can still find the time to meet and play together, when members of the band have full time jobs, kids and all the other adult stuff. Having a record label who continues to release our music, the fact that people still come out to our concerts buy our records and that music lovers like yourself dedicate their time to listen and write about us – all that could be interpreted as a sign of success. There is a lot to be grateful for.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
A drunk, naked musician unknown to us once sleepwalked into our hotel room while we were asleep. We woke up realizing that he was leaning against our bed, mumbling something in a language we didn’t understand. Very weird and shocking experience that we wish we hadn’t witnessed. Or?
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
To have our own recording studio would probably be a dream come true. We could probably create that if we wanted and had the time to do it. And to create a new record is always something special.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
The most essential function of art is to open and expand your mind and senses – to invite you to experience something that is meaningful beyond words and doesn’t necessarily have a function.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
We are looking forward to the next “bandaften” (band night), which is a something we do once in a while – just hanging out together, not necessarily playing music (not that it’s forbidden of course), bowling?, cooking together and drinking a well-considered or not-well-considered amount of IPAs.
http://www.facebook.com/papirband
http://www.papir.bandcamp.com
http://www.instagram.com/papirband
http://stickman-records.com
