The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ari Rosenschein of Stahv
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: Ari Rosenschein of Stahv
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
STAHV is always in flux, just like me. The music has gone from dreamy, hazy doomgaze to ultra-concise darkwave art rock on the new EP, Simple Mercies, and I know it will change again. I think that’s because I’m so obsessed with sounds and songs and recording that I want to sample all the flavors. There’s always a new sonic avenue to explore. That keeps me striving.
Describe your first musical memory.
I recall singing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2 into a tape recorder in our apartment in Jerusalem, accompanying myself on a nylon string acoustic. I even did Bono’s live rap from the Under a Blood Red Sky live EP. “This is not a rebel song…” This must have been sixth grade, and I was already in search of a stage. My dad has a cassette recording somewhere.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
There have been many. I hold dear the moment when I opened for Mike Peters of the Alarm at the El Rey Theater and got to sing and strum “One Guitar” by Willie Nile during Mike’s encore surrounded by Cy Curnin the lead singer of the Fixx, The Cult’s Billy Duffy, Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats, and Jay Aston from Gene Loves Jezebel.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
As a younger person, I believed that life had a clean narrative arc. Perhaps this came from movies and literature. With the passing of a number of friends in the last two years, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that not every relationship, friendship, or family dispute will resolve perfectly on this plane of existence. There are things we have to work out within ourselves after someone close to, or far from us, dies.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
For me, it’s a game of constantly imagining, creating, and reevaluating the work I’m doing in the context of what is happening in the world, what I have done in the past, and what I still want to achieve. With any luck, I will be able to look back on a journey with many twists and turns that creates its own storyline—one I couldn’t have predicted. I’ve journeyed from retro rock through many iterations of indie pop, power pop, and Americana to the create the heaviest music I’ve ever done emotionally in my ‘40s. I’ve become increasingly less compromising as I age.
How do you define success?
Success can feel like many things. Hearing a song I co-wrote come on unexpectedly at a Starbucks, listening to a finished master, having a new listener order a vinyl record or buy something at a show all give me a thrill. It’s also neat to trace a BMI royalty statement and see the unusual places my music ends up over time—all the countries, TV shows, streaming services, and airline in-flight programs. Those small moments can give me a reminder that there is value to the years and years of my life I’ve spent playing clubs and working to get heard.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
There are movies and news stories that get in my head after I’ve read them. Some people can absorb details about deranged people and the evil in the world and turn it into compelling art, but I cannot. I won’t even give the real-life protagonist airtime, but recently a streaming service made a series rehashing, yet again, a terrible tragedy. The minutes I spent combing articles and following that hideous story is time I wish I could retrieve.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I have a batch of synth pop music in my head I’m very excited to explore. I see it as a natural evolution of some of the sounds on Simple Mercies, but even more electronic. That sphere that holds a lot of meaning for me from growing up in the ‘80s, but usually I end up slathering guitar on everything out of comfort and love for the sound. It would be a powerful exercise to leave it in its case for a batch of songs.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
I believe art’s most powerful function is to act as a reset button that allows us to view the world differently in its wake. I rate the feelings I get after a transportive concert, cinematic, or theatrical experience as the most life-affirming.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I’ve been working on several new essays and flash fiction pieces I want to refine in 2023. I published a short story collection, Coasting, a few years back. Since then, I have been writing consistently and drafted a pair of books. But this new shorter-form stuff feels like I’ve turned a corner. A lot of it scares me in a good way. That’s when I know there’s energy around something.
https://stahv.bandcamp.com/album/simple-mercies
https://www.instagram.com/stahvdoomgaze
https://www.facebook.com/stahvmusic
http://www.stahv.com
