The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ben Lombard of Bog Wizard
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.
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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ben Lombard of Bog Wizard
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I play guitar and do most of the vocals for the band Bog Wizard, and usually have at least a hand in the writing process, whether that’s interpreting things Harlen (drummer) is throwing at me or putting together my own riffs.
I’d always sort of had an interest in music, both of my parents played instruments when I was young, but past learning the C-chord on an old acoustic, I didn’t really pick up an instrument until middle school when I started playing snare drum in the school band. That progressed to general percussion, but I’d only ever learned to read music halfway, and to this day can pick out the rhythm but not the note names from a piece of sheet music. Sometime in late high school I got a guitar for my birthday, but ended up quickly trading it for a bass that I began noodling around on.
As far as how the band got started, I met Harlen and some others in college that were in a sort-of band, sort-of looking for a bassist, and I ended up going over to try out, and eventually started to hang with them regularly. It wasn’t too long before someone told me that I played bass like a guitar and I should play guitar, and from there Harlen and I both sort of learned our instruments together I suppose.
From there it took about ten years and half a dozen band names before we actually formed Bog Wizard and stuck with the moniker.
Describe your first musical memory.
I think it would have to be either my mom singing or playing either the piano or the flute. I would always sit next to her on the piano bench and go through all the sheet music books she had, handing her ones that I thought looked interesting and trying to get her to play them. Unfortunately, interesting looking also usually meant difficult, and she would often sigh and laugh a little about what I picked before trying to play it anyway.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I might just have to throw a couple answers out there for this one, it’s hard to pick favorites! I’ll start with the best concert I’ve been to, had to be the Devin Townsend Project, Gojira, and Opeth together at The Vic in Chicago. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen any of the bands, I’d seen Opeth many times at that point and had even seen Devin open for Gojira before. Devin was great, Opeth was great, but Gojira stole the show, and was hands down the best live set I’ve ever witnessed. Something about their whole presence, the energy and the performance, was just on another level. A close runner-up for the winner here would be the time I saw Dethklok and Mastodon co-headline at the Fillmore in Detroit.
Out of gigs we’ve performed ourselves, our most recent one at Mulligan’s Pub in Grand Rapids with Starman Deluxe (who filled-in last minute) and Iron Mountain stands out. The crowd was there to rock, it was a great lineup, and they gave us our first real mosh-pit, definitely an awesome night.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I suppose being a teenager and realizing that I might be bisexual or gay instead of straight was a big one. I’m still wrestling with the finer points of that actually, 15 or more years later. Not the question of if I’m straight or not, I’m not, more how far into the gayness spectrum I am, haha.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Hopefully being more satisfied with the work one produces! Being able to express more clearly the thoughts and feelings you want to express, a heightened ability to express yourself in your chosen medium, regardless of what that may be.
How do you define success?
In steps, and there are many, and they depend on your ambitions. A small success for us was getting our music out there in the first place, having a physical thing that we created that we could put into the hands of others. Another might be playing our first gig, and then our first gig outside our hometown. Starting to collaborate with other artists, coming to the realization that there are people out there, maybe even a fair amount of people, that want to hear our music, that are waiting for us to put out more. This all sounds like success to me, with hopefully more to come!
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
The ugliness in some people that the pandemic brought out, their absolute disregard for the wellbeing of those around them.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
There are so many ways this answer could go. I suppose I’ve never really had a plan about where to point my creative interests, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at in Bog Wizard right now, so, further Bog Wizardy things? We do have some things in the works, we might have something going on with some unconventional cover songs in the future, trying to turn non-metal into metal, basic alchemy stuff.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Expression, whether of self or of an idea, and the ability to put that expression or idea out into the world for others to perceive, perhaps providing a connection between people who would have otherwise never met or interacted.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to the weather being consistently warm enough for me to get outside on a regular basis, I spent far too much time cooped up inside over the winter and that needs to change. More specifically, I’ve been getting into disc golf more and more over the past couple years, and I’m going to try to get out and practice a lot more as I’d like to eventually get good enough to play in my local league.
https://www.facebook.com/BogWizardBand/
https://twitter.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.instagram.com/bogwizardband/
https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/
https://bogwizard.bigcartel.com/
