The Obelisk Questionnaire: Neal Stein of El Supremo
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: Neal Stein of El Supremo
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Sometimes I play guitar and make records.
Describe your first musical memory.
Music goes all the way back for me. My mom played guitar and sang in church and apparently when she was pregnant and played guitar I would quit fussing and kicking. I remember sitting in front of my parents’ stereo when I was very young and being just fascinated with it.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
The more I try to think of a single answer to that, the harder it gets. There have been those moments jamming with people you’ve spent a lot of time with where things happen spontaneously and simultaneously like you’re all on the same wavelength or whatever. That shit rules.
There have been some pretty incredible shows, too. Freak Valley in 2015 stands out. We didn’t even play that tight of a set, but the whole atmosphere of that show was really special. I was worried about the weather since it was grey and kinda looked like rain all morning, but the sky cleared up as we were on stage and it just felt like we were doing exactly what we should be doing at that moment.
Other smaller shows where the intense enthusiasm of everyone there outshines the fact that there aren’t many people make for some memorable experiences, too.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Not sure, honestly. I don’t have a lot of precious beliefs. During the process making a record there’s always a point where I question my belief that music is a worthwhile endeavor, especially in the last two or three years.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I suppose it’s a combination of finding your strengths and working with those and also finding new ways of doing things or finding out you’re capable of more than you previously thought. Getting better at playing your instrument; better at working with other people; learning new tools or new ways to use them. Getting more fluent at the language of creating, turning ideas into something tangible.
How do you define success?
Being able to spend more of your time doing what you care about instead of having to trade the majority of your time and energy working on shit you don’t want to do just to get by. There’s that kind of success, being able to sustain your chosen preferred activity. There’s also the success of just knowing you’ve seen something through, stuck it out until the album is done or the song is written or the tour is complete or whatever.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Besides the morbid or gross shit out there…
I wish I didn’t see people pissing away their lives. Squandered talent or opportunities. Whether it’s shitty jobs, bad relationships, substance abuse. A lot of people just sort of exist.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Part of my brain wants to say “an ambitious orchestral work that integrates mixed media for an immersive, mind-altering experience.” Really, though, I’d just like to make a good record in a real studio like Electrical Audio or something. Everything I’ve done has been DIY. It would be nice to have someone who actually knows what they’re doing record and mix while I can focus on playing.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
That’s a big question. I think it can transcend the sort of functionality that might be ascribed to a tool or something. It can connect people to each other, to their world, to ways of thinking they haven’t experienced. It can affect people on primal, intellectual, and emotional levels. I think that’s one of the things that makes us human and keeps us human. You take it away or corrupt it and we’re closer to machines or animals. It also functions as a time capsule, preserving an individual expression and even the zeitgeist of when it was created.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Looking forward to the weather getting better so I can get back out on a bicycle again.
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