The Obelisk Questionnaire: Greg Schwan of Witnesses
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: Greg Schwan of Witnesses
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I think Witnesses for me is just the outlet that I need to be a full person. I’ve had long stretches where I didn’t do any kind of creative anything. I didn’t feel like my full self. I got restless, lacking direction in a way. But I’m not a good bandmate, so that’s kind of out of the picture. I don’t have any desire for some kind of democratic artistic process where all voices are equal. Count me out. But there’s a subtlety here. The session musicians I work with have control over what they write and play instrumentally or vocally (not lyrically). I just need to have veto power. That’s the perfect arrangement for me–to bring in the talent of others and not smother it, but have the final say. To see my vision through. That’s what I’m aiming to do with Witnesses, for better or for worse.
Describe your first musical memory.
I guess that would be my brother playing saxophone or me learning piano. Nothing too outlandish here – pretty standard stuff one does as a kid. But saxophone is a cool instrument to be exposed too early. Some people really don’t like it, I’ve found. Which is incredibly strange to me. It’s capable of such dynamics and extremes. It can be really cacophonous or really epic. All great qualities. And I guess for me, piano was something I wish I had stuck with. But I didn’t, and I wouldn’t get seriously into music until I started playing guitar in my teens.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I would say getting IV mastered for vinyl by Joe Lambert and of course releasing it generally. Joe Lambert mastered the vinyl for Sakamoto’s The Revenant OST. So it was pretty humbling to have him do the record. This was during a rough stretch of Covid so it’s not like I joined him for a session. We spoke on the phone. It was a great call and we talked about Eno. Clearly he understood what I was going for. And I’m pretty sure he did the album in a weekend. The turnaround was blazing fast and the results speak for themselves. I knew within about 5 seconds of listening to the test press that it was perfect.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I think we’ve all been tested over the past two years or so with the pandemic. A lot of people revealed exactly who they are. Their capacity for empathy, their regard for the vulnerable, their duty to one-another, their understanding of science and the scientific method. You saw it in both directions. Suffice to say, I don’t think this went well in general. Contagion (the movie) didn’t foresee this bullshit, despite doing such a phenomenal job of showing the spread. Anyway, I have other examples to answer this question, but they’re too personal.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Probably to a place where you are going to alienate the fans of your earlier work! I’m only half-joking here. I think progression is change, and it’s not easy. I think Camus has a point about artists doing the same work over and over. Maybe I am misremembering, I’m not sure. But I think for a lot of artists, we do indeed keep going back to the same well. Progression is I think breaking out of that. That said, I can see an article for refinement and perfection of this less-changing work. So maybe that’s fair. But I think for me it leads to change. That’s growth for me. And I’ve got a ways to go.
How do you define success?
Certainly I don’t expect any financial success with this project. That’s laughable. Breaking even is a dream, frankly. For me success kinda comes in small doses. I’m not sure there is some plateau I’ll ever get to where a switch goes off and I’ve obtained something permanent. No, I think it is more when you get a note from someone who says their music touched you. Or sometimes even wilder, when someone says they had to save up money to buy a physical release. I hope I never get used to the thrill of someone buying my music. Those moments are success for me.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Anytime I see purposeful, direct animal cruelty, it really shakes me. Whether it’s some gross motherfucker hunting for sport, with all the advantages of weaponry, or someone so small as to abuse a creature that is vulnerable. There’s a depravity in these types of actions that I find beneath just about anything I can imagine. I believe in redemption and second chances, but I struggle with that for people who do this kind of thing. To hell with them. And don’t get me wrong, we all have blood on our hands to some degree or another. But there are degrees and things that are direct and less so.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
There’s a ton. I want to do more music to moving images. I.e., I’d like to work with more people who shoot video and “see” more of my songs. I haven’t really collaborated much with anyone outside of the US or Europe. That’s a huge miss for me. I need different perspective–voices from Africa, Asia, the Middle East. You name it, I’d love to find partners in those parts of the world and just take the music into some dramatically different directions. More immediately, V will be something very different if I can successfully bring it about. Each track will be an homage to a Tarkosvky movie. I’ve started the project, but I’m taking it slow. It has to really be a big step forward for me. It can’t be average and I can’t tread water.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To tell you something about the world. And I don’t mean that in a didactic sense. I mean that art should reveal something to you. That thing can and should be ambiguous, but it has a resonance beyond entertainment or escapism. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely a place for entertainment and escapism. I certainly make plenty of time for it. But I don’t see much artistic value in a lot of that stuff. There can be some cool craft at work, but it’s kind of empty at the end of the day. Any meaning you’d take from it is commodified, cheap, uninteresting, unchallenging.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
A few movies are coming up that I really want to see. Jordan Peele’s Nope, Alex Garland’s Men. I guess the latter just came out, but I haven’t seen it yet, so I’m still looking forward. The fourth season of Atlanta, the conclusion to Better Call Saul. Just tons of great movies and TV that have a lot of artistic value and are by creators with really fresh perspective. I have a lot of Asian cinema to catch up on, and I hope to find some time for that this Summer, when it’s brutally hot in NYC and I have no desire to go anywhere.
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