The Obelisk Questionnaire: Justin Pinkerton of Glass Parallels & Futuropaco
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: Justin Pinkerton of Glass Parallels & Futuropaco
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I just make music/sounds that I like. I definitely draw heavily from older genres when I’m writing stuff. I try to learn to play as many instruments I can along the way. I started with saxophone, went to guitar, bass, drums, piano, picked up saxophone again, and now I’ve started playing the flute. I even dabbled with turntable scratching for a while but don’t really keep up on that. I can play things well enough to make records with them. As much as I love playing with and collaborating with other musicians I also enjoy making music on my own. Therefore, I’ve had to learn everything that I need to be able to do that with, including recording and mixing. But I’d still like to learn more instruments and I’m constantly trying to improved my engineering abilities. It’s also helpful with my work, making music for ads, to be able to cover as much ground on my own as possible.
Describe your first musical memory.
Probably just the weekends at my house growing up. Friday – Sunday nights were when my parents would listen to music. Classic rock/pop/yacht rock/jazz, etc. Basically music from the ’50s – ’70s.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Maybe playing Roadburn? That was the last show of Golden Void’s first Euro tour and it was just super fun. I believe you were there? [Edit: I was indeed.]
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Pretty much every time I work on music for an advertisement for an evil corporation (which is most of them), it’s very tough. Unfortunately, it’s my job. I’m not much of a touring musician, I’ve got kids, so making music for a living by doing ads means working for some terrible people. At least I don’t deal with them directly. But, it still bums me out on a regular basis. I do my best to just focus on the music. Which can also be tough since I’m often composing music that isn’t something I would do I my own.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Frustration. But I mean that in a good way. Pushing yourself to not just recreate something you’ve already done. Moving forward and not just getting comfortable in one spot. Sometimes that comes easily, other times it’s a mental exercise in patience and and exploration.
How do you define success?
Being happy with what you’ve created, whether other people like it or not.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Donald Trump as president.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
A film score for an actual film. The Futuropaco record and my synth record were made with sort of imaginary films in mind but I’d like to actually score a film.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Mental therapy. I believe art is, or should be purely self indulgent, but not in an egotistical sort of way. People make art to satisfy themselves, even if they’re trying to convey something to someone else. If other people like it then great. But there are tons of artists out there that we’ll probably never hear about, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still creating art. Art is subjective. Just because someone else has an opinion on it doesn’t change the fact that it was the result of creative expression. The odd balance is between making art, and make a living off of using your skills that you use to make your art, to make “art” to sell to someone else. I’m referring to people to make music for ads, like me, or people who make visual art to sell for advertising, etc. It’s a fine, weird, uncomfortable line.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
The next time I make coffee.
http://www.facebook.com/glassparallels
https://soundcloud.com/glass-parallels
https://glassparallels.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/futuropaco/
https://elparaisorecords.com/artists/futuropaco
