The Obelisk Questionnaire: Otto Kinzel of Dust Prophet
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: Otto Kinzel of Dust Prophet
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I play guitar and sing in Dust Prophet. We play stoner and doom metal. My job primarily consists of trying to do justice to Sarah Wappler’s (bass) heavy ass riffs, and attempting to stay in key while not falling of the front of the stage. So far I’m batting .500.
Dust Prophet was formed out of the ashes of the last band Sarah and I had, which was called Fiends of a New Republic. We played industrial-metal, but when that band eventually stopped we both wanted to get back to music that was more organic, and did not depend on having to run backing tracks or electronic drums. We also wanted the music to be a lot heavier and more “riff” focused. So that’s when we started what would eventually become Dust Prophet.
Describe your first musical memory.
I remember watching reruns of The Monkees as a really, really little kid. Being in a band looked like a lot of fun! You could go on wacky adventures and then write songs about it. That’s the earliest I distinctly remember thinking “I want to be in a band.” I remember then thinking “all I need to do now is master an instrument, find other friends to start a band, get famous, and get a TV show. Easy!” And here we are today. I just need to get famous and then get a TV show so I’m halfway home.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I was in 6th or 7th grade. Metallica was in full tour mode promoting the Black album, and they came to Vermont. They played in a town just outside of Burlington, where the annual state fair was held. They had Danzig and Suicidal Tendencies as support. I remember not being able to get tickets so the plan was to hang outside the venue and see if we could hear the show. Sure enough, Metallica was insanely loud. They actually broke some agreement that was in place, that they wouldn’t exceed a certain decibel level. Well, they didn’t just exceed it; they blew it out of the sky. So we could hear the show perfectly sitting outside, for free. Feeling the power of the riffs and taking it all in as a kid…THAT’S what hooked me into metal. This was ’92 I think, so I would’ve been 12 years old? I’ve been a proud metal head ever since.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
During COVID. I used to think that you could generally trust most human beings. That as a collective whole we could pull together to get out of a common problem that was hurting our country. But I was disappointed over and over again. I’m much more pessimistic now. I generally believe that most people are selfish and will always choose what is best for them, regardless of how it impacts or hurts others around them.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I can tell you where it DOESN’T lead…Having a full bank account! It does, however, lead to lots of eye rolls, shrugged shoulders and disingenuous “yeah that sounds great” from friends and family.
How do you define success?
For me it’s not about money or “being famous” or any of that. I mean, obviously I’m neither one of those so that point should be apparent. But I’m 43, a father of two girls, have a full-time career outside of anything to do with music, and I’m STILL doing this and chasing the dream. As unlikely as it might be at this stage of my life, I still have that fire and drive inside me like I was 19 again, trying to play huge shows, get on bigger tours and putting out music for a living. It’s fun, it’s exciting and feeds my soul. To me, not giving up the dream and still having fun is success in itself. I have friends my age who gave up playing music a long time ago, once marriage, kids, career, etc. started happening and literally every single one of them misses it.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
2-Girls-1-Cup. For the love of god I wish I had never seen that.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
A website that fetishizes men’s feet. There’s millions of sites on the web that showcase women’s feet, if that’s what you’re into (I’m not kink shaming anyone!). So I think I can corner the market when it comes to people who have a fetish for men’s feet.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To help us escape the mundane day-to-day harassments of our lives and get fulfillment from something created specifically for your enjoyment. And you can interpret that piece of creative fulfillment however you want. That’s the beautiful part; it came mean something completely different to 10 different people, and yet those different people will all share in the same bond over the same piece.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Getting that TV show so we can write songs about our adventures as a band.
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