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The Obelisk Questionnaire & Video Premiere: Ego Sensation and Dave W. of White Hills

White Hills (Photo by Alex Carter)

White Hills, ‘Eternity’ video premiere

[NOTE: White Hills are on tour with Telekinetic Yeti starting July 19. Dates are here and at the bottom of this post. The Revenge of Heads on Fire is out Sept. 16; preorders on their Bandcamp.]

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: Ego Sensation and Dave W. of White Hills

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

Ego Sensation: I guess I’d define what I do as second nature. If I’m not making music, I feel like crap. It makes me feel like I have a purpose. And no matter how infinitesimal it may be, it’s creative, not destructive — which is huge in the face of all the violence we see in the world right now. It gives rather than taking away.

Dave W.: Simply, it’s what we do. I don’t feel it needs to be defined beyond that. Creating is in our nature. Music is the voice through which we speak and sound is what we sculpt.

Describe your first musical memory.

DW: Listening to records with my Mother and dancing around the family room with her when I was four or five years old.

Ego: Hearing my dad playing Scott Joplin’s “Solace” on piano. I was 3 and I sat on the piano bench with him watching his hands. I wanted to jump right in and learn that song. It’s an amazing piece of music so full of feeling — it completely encompasses the conceptual idea of pain and solace — and even as a three year old I could feel that.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Ego: Dave and I have been writing and recording new songs recently and we have this one song, “Sea Dog,” that we really like to play. I have a memory from just about a week ago of being at practice and 1) being excited to play the song and 2) feeling elevated within the music while playing it. It’s a certain, sublime energy that isn’t personal — it’s more like you’re tapping into this universal song and riding the wave of all that is good about being alive.

DW: It’s hard to pick just one as so much of my life has involved music in some way or another. If I’m looking at White Hills, one of my best memories is recording the album Walks For Motorists, with producer David Wrench in Wales. Another would be the series of shows with did with Jim Jarmusch and his band Squrl in promotion of the film Only Lovers Left Alive.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

DW: Lately, it feels like everyday something comes up that tests some firm belief I hold.

Ego: I’ve always felt that you can create your own destiny. A few years ago, the wife of one of my best friend’s was killed in a freak bike accident. He died shortly after, basically from the despair. Sometimes life just shits on you and a positive mental attitude just doesn’t apply.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Ego: Maybe to greater wisdom. Or maybe it’s just necessity. If you aren’t growing, you’re dying. All living beings are like plants- we reach towards the sun. It’s what we are meant to do. Nature wants us to progress, to be constantly becoming, then changing and becoming again. I believe that’s the path to greater wisdom and a higher consciousness. Artistic progression helps us lift each other up.

DW: Ego sums up my feelings about artistic progression well.

How do you define success?

Ego: Intellectually, I think that success is doing your best at whatever you choose to do. But mentally, I struggle with the concept of success because it seems like a bottomless pit. I read Lemmy’s book White Line Fever a few years back and I was really struck because he mentioned that he didn’t think he was successful- which from an outside perspective doesn’t seem true but that’s how he felt. I think it’s a great challenge for creative people to feel that what we’re doing is good enough.

DW: Doing what you love. When I was a child and first understood that you had to work for a living, I thought to myself I want to do whatever I want to whenever I want to and make a living from it. Essentially that is what I have achieved in my life and therefore I feel successful. That said money does not equal success in my book. Having a vision, setting goals and reaching those goals are more important in measuring success.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Ego: The overturning of Roe vs. Wade.

DW: That’s a doozie of a question… where to start? I wish I hadn’t seen the faces of the people in the windows on the first plane to hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 while I was walking to work. I wish that I wasn’t witnessing, in real time, the rise of fascism and white supremacy in the US. I wish I didn’t have to see the systematic and gross display of religious dogma within government and society
that wreaks havoc on the lives of women, people of color, the LGBTQ community or anyone who believes differently than the few that are ramming it down others’ throats.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Ego: Have you ever seen the movie All That Jazz? It’s an autobiographical movie about choreographer Bob Fosse. On his deathbed, he hallucinates this theatrically staged, blow-out song and dance scene. I’m still going for something like that.

DW: I’ve always dreamt of building a Geodesic Dome to live in. One of Buckminster Fuller’s designs to be exact.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Ego: To enlighten. After getting a handle on base survival, it seems like the next logical step for humanity is to become enlightened — to harness our collective energy toward harmony for all life forms. Art gets us closer to that place. It speaks to the sublime within us — both through creating the art or experiencing it as a viewer/listener.

DW: To open one’s mind. To make people feel something and question. To inspire another to achieve greatness. Art connects us in a way like nothing else does. It transcends any barrier of language, religious belief, social status and so on. It can express ultimate beauty or sorrow. Within that beauty or sorrow it connects us all to a common human experience.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Ego: Social progress — a world without gun violence, racism, sexism, antisemitism,
homophobia, crazy despots. I’m not holding my breath but I’m still lifting a finger to
help be a part of the change.

DW: Humanity reaching a higher consciousness where we realize our interconnectedness to the whole of the universe and within that become a positive force versus a destructive one.

[WHITE HILLS w/ Telekinetic Yeti:
7/19/2022 Snug Harbor – Charlotte, NC
7/20/2022 Champion Brewing – Charlottesville, VA (Free Show)
7/21/2022 123 Pleasant St – Morgantown, WV
7/23/2022 Richmond Music Hall – Richmond, VA
7/24/2022 Silk City – Philadelphia, PA
7/25/2022 Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY
7/26/2022 Crafthouse – Pittsburgh, PA
7/27/2022 Bug Jar – Rochester, NY
7/28/2022 Smalls – Detroit, MI
7/31/2022 Southgate House – Newport, KY
8/01/2022 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL
8/03/2022 Lyric Room – Green Bay, WI
8/04/2022 Wildwood – Iowa City, IA
8/05/2022 Reverb – Omaha, NE
8/07/2022 Globe Hall – Denver, CO
8/08/2022 Aces High – Salt Lake City, UT
8/10/2022 Substation – Seattle, WA
8/11/2022 Shakedown – Bellingham, WA
8/12/2022 Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC
8/13/2022 Bossanova Ballroom – Portland, OR
8/14/2022 Cafe Colonial – Sacramento, CA
8/16/2022 Bottom Of The Hill – San Francisco, CA
8/17/2022 Gigi’s – Ventura, CA
8/18/2022 Knucklehead – Los Angeles, CA
8/19/2022 Yucca Taproom – Tempe, AZ
8/20/2022 Albuquerque, NM
8/21/2022 89th St – Oklahoma City, OK
8/25/2022 Record Bar – Kansas City, MO
8/26/2022 Red Flag – St. Louis, MO
8/27/2022 Skylark – Rock Island, IL
8/28/2022 The Lift – Dubuque, IA
8/29/2022 7th St Entry – Minneapolis, MN]

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http://www.patreon.com/whitehills

White Hills, The Revenge of Heads on Fire (2022)

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2 Responses to “The Obelisk Questionnaire & Video Premiere: Ego Sensation and Dave W. of White Hills”

  1. […] duo White Hills has unveiled a hallucinogenic new video for the track »Eternity«. Now playing at The Obelisk, the track comes by way of the band’s »The Revenge Of Heads On Fire« set for release September […]

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