The Obelisk Questionnaire: Zach Huskey of Dali’s Llama
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 Huskey of Dali’s Llama
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Well, I’m basically a songwriter first. I’m also a guitarist and singer (vocalist). I started playing guitar when I was around 11 years old. About two years later I was playing in bands. The music scene that I grew up in was all about punk rock or at least the punk ethic of writing and playing original music. This was around the (early ’80s) in the Palm Springs / Palm Desert area. Early on I noticed that there were a ton of guitar players but not a lot of guitarists who could sing and write songs, so that’s what I worked on getting better at.
Describe your first musical memory.
As a little kid I remember listening to Elvis Presley and Hank Williams records. As a teenager there were a few things that blew my mind. First, I listened to The Who’s Live at Leeds album (AMAZING). The second thing was watching that old show on TV called Night Flight and they played the Neil Young with Crazy Horse concert film Rust Never Sleeps. I thought the guitar on “Hey Hey My My” was the heaviest thing I’d ever heard. Finally, my first concert I went to when I was about 14 or 15 was The Plasmatics at Perkins Palace in L.A. The energy and the sex, man that was it for me. I was hooked!
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Opening for White Zombie or Robin Trower. Also, the tour we did a couple years ago of the Southwest was a blast! Maybe it’s just when I write a song, show it to the band and then playing it live and people come up and say they dig it. Maybe that’s the best of all.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Like most people I have trouble processing acts of senseless cruelty and violence.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Art should make us feel, and feeling anything at all means we’re alive, and that alone should make us happy. It’s better than the alternative.
How do you define success?
Finding something positive you really enjoy and then doing it to the best of your ability.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Sammy Hagar.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’d like to write a soundtrack for a film and I would like to “create” a Dali’s Llama tour in Europe.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To create some kind of emotion in the listener, reader, viewer, etc.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Retiring from the library and eventually getting a house in the woods, next to a lake. My wife and I have lived in the desert for most of our lives.
http://www.facebook.com/dalisllama
https://dalisllama.bandcamp.com/
http://www.dalisllamarecords.com/
