The Obelisk Questionnaire: Arthur Desbois of Starmonger
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: Arthur Desbois of Starmonger
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I play guitar, sing and compose for Starmonger.
I started playing guitar in my teenage years like lots of people, wanting to imitate my favorite long-haired rock stars. A few experiences in bands later, upon discovering stoner rock and doom metal way too late in life, Starmonger was created.
How/why do we do that? I don’t really know how it is for other people, but for me, ultimately, there’s a push, an urge, a drive, something that compels me to go and make music. At other times it’s not the songwriting I crave, but the most elemental vibrations themselves. Putting (loud) instruments together in a room, and making guitar and bass amps enter in resonance above the drums pummeling… there’s something visceral and addictive about that.
Describe your first musical memory.
I won’t be the original guy here – I’ll say my parents’ music, so a very broad mix of Beatles, The Who, Deep Purple, along with French singers popular at the time.
As I child, I was not surrounded with musicians. Some children around me were learning piano, violin, etc., which looked like tedious lessons. Nothing I was excited about at that age. But it clicked around 10-11 years old, when seeing friends of my older brother play electric guitars with lots of effects at a birthday party. I took up the guitar a few years after and realized it had become quite an obsession in the meantime.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Attending Freak Valley Festival (Germany) for the first time in 2019. The lineup was of course amazing, but I fell in love with the whole laid-back summer camp vibe, the mix of hippies and doom-metal fans, the smaller audience… three days of pure positive energy.
Another nice one was discovering Iceland’s The Vintage Caravan some random day via Spotify playlists, digging their music quite instantly, listening to their (at the time, short) discography… and learning a few minutes later that they were playing in my city the very same night. That escalated quickly!
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I’ve always had some kind of naïve optimism about people, trying to understand other’s motives and interests, or to have a least a basic level of empathy and understanding. But sometimes people just plainly suck, and it’s an important lesson in life. And unfortunately you learn that the hard way, by being confronted with liars, manipulative suckers, bigots, and people convinced they need to have power over others and make them miserable to be happy.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I think when you start making music, you need tools to express yourself, and that comes through both instrument practice and absorbing your different influences. That obviously means mimicking your favorite artists, as no one can just “create” from nothing. So for me, progressing as an artist means getting confident enough to put more and more of yourself in your art. Confident enough to tell yourself and others “this is what I want to say with my art.”
How do you define success?
If we put aside the financial aspect, which can obviously be of utmost importance to continue being able to make music…
I believe that even if artistic creation can be a personal, intimate journey, art (and music in particular) is meant to be broadcasted, shared, and to create bonds between people.
If you manage to touch people with your music, to make somebody enjoy the moment or feel something strong – anything from melancholia to joy – or to forget their day-to-day problems for the duration of a riff, then that’s success, in my opinion.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
We live in depressing times, let’s keep things from getting darker shall we?
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’ll answer with something I thought I would never have the time or motivation to do, and that I finally did during the long months of lockdown: building effects pedals. From simple kits to actually modifying and designing circuits, learning so many things along the way was both extremely satisfying and enlightening!
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Art can of course have a large number of “functions”: therapeutic, cathartic, political,…
As I wrote in a previous answer, in my very own personal opinion, its most essential function is bringing people together, creating bonds and connections. Writing and sharing music means accepting to be vulnerable and “letting people in”. Experiencing other people’s art also means opening up, and allow the artist to make you react in some way. So it’s… two-way vulnerability I guess?
Another point: in our day-to-day lives, we’re drowned in information, things to manage, problems to solve, etc. In such a complex world, art gives you an opportunity to feel, think, imagine the world differently, with different layers of depth. Sometimes it’s a profound, enlightening, enraging experience, but sometimes it’s just for fun – we all need to escape reality once in a while, bob our heads to simple beats and cut out the rest.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I guess like a lot of people after two tough years of hardships and restrictions: being able to enjoy life *a bit more* like before. Travels, summer festivals, visiting friends and family far away… Oh and finally receiving those 25 millions I was promised in an e-mail some 15 years ago. Crossing fingers!
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