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: Aaron Lewis of When the Deadbolt Breaks

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

Musically, I used to consider what I or we (When the Deadbolt Breaks), does as experimental, psychedelic doom, but now I feel it has evolved into so much more, that I have a hard time classifying it.  Which, I thoroughly enjoy.  Music and art is subjective and means something different to everyone, so to categorize it and tell someone what it is seems self-defeating.   We started doing this band 15 years ago.  I wrote the first riff to the first When the Deadbolt Breaks song while I was co-DJ’ing at a local radio station, and I tried to incorporate it into a few bands over the year or two, and it didn’t work.  It was too slow, and oddball for what those bands were doing. Eventually, I decided to write a record based around the entire feeling of that one riff.    A drummer and myself started recording ideas, and they kept getting more and more unique, heavy and spacey.  That eventually became our first record, “In the Ruins, No Light Shall Shine”.   We’ve kept at it.

Describe your first musical memory.

This is maybe not my first, but certainly one of the best.  I remember being in 3rd grade, and I had a small handheld tape recorder that I brought with me everywhere.  It was one of those blue and white ones with the huge buttons, and my friend had stolen the first Black Sabbath cassette from his brother.  So we decided to listen to it at lunch on the playground.  I remember hearing the song Black Sabbath for the first time that day.  I had no idea what the hell was happening.  It was a bright sunny day out, but when the intro to that tune began, it was like the clouds rolled in and something evil were coming.   It was an amazing feeling and that feeling has never left. It made a huge impression on me and helped to mold my musical tastes.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Playing Stoner Hands of Doom Fest in Youngstown Ohio at Nyabinghi & The Kennefit at CBGB’s while I was playing guitar for Cable are easily two of the most amazing shows I have ever played.  I am sure there are plenty more to come, but the opportunity to play with Cable and do those shows came at the right time, and I will always be grateful for that.

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

Lately, this seems to happen a lot.  I am not a religious person at all, in fact, I despise organized religion, but I do believe in being good to those who deserve it, and just not being a prick in general.   But the more time goes on, the more I realize that this is not an easy thing to ask from people.   But, I roll with the flow, and avoid what needs to be avoided in order to keep my head up.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It’s a gateway drug for sure.  With my photography and music, if I don’t take chances I fear that I will become stagnant and boring.  Trying new things, stepping out of that comfort zone, only lends itself to strengthening a vision and opening the door for new possibilities that may not have otherwise been found.   If that makes sense at all…

How do you define success?

Happiness.  I am not rich by any means, but I am doing the job that I dreamed of as a kid, I play in bands that I love and enjoy working with, and both my music and photography have introduced me to some amazing experiences and people.  I consider that to be a great success.

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

I remember when I was younger, my friends and I were tripping on LSD, and the girl I was with had gotten sick, and threw up everywhere… I can’t say that I wish I hadn’t seen it, but that’s a lot to work with when you’re on a trip.

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

As for musically, When the Deadbolt Breaks has already started with an idea for our 10th record, and it is going to be something really unique when we get it all down. But, as a bondage photographer I am working on plans for a pretty crazy shoot.  I don’t want to get into details here, but it will be a weird accomplishment if I can make it happen.

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

Personally I know that art is subjective, but I feel like the essential function is to evoke emotion. No matter if that emotion is to just relax and be calm, get excited and throw shit, art is here for us to feel… or not feel.

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

Work-wise, I have had a great opportunity to begin working with a new client that could be the beginning of something I have been trying to obtain for a long time.  I am very much looking forward to where this is all going to go.

https://www.facebook.com/WhentheDeadboltBreaks/
https://whenthedeadboltbreaks.bandcamp.com/
www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/argonautarecords
https://www.facebook.com/TalonRecordsUSA/
https://talonrecordsusa.bandcamp.com/
https://www.electrictalonrecords.com/

When The Deadbolt Breaks, As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy (2021)

I would not want to be the party responsible for scheduling releases at Argonauta Records. The Italian label seems to add more to its plate bi-weekly, and we’re not talking about insubstantial offerings either. Connecticut’s When the Deadbolt Breaks are a veteran act at this point. Their most recent studio album, 2018’s Angels Are Weeping… God Has Abandoned… (review here), came out through Desert Records, and they followed it last year with a remix-ified take on the prior 2016 EP, Until it All Collides (discussed here), pushing their murdersludge penchant to places it had never gone before. Their new album is called As Hope Valley Burns, and it’ll be released later this year as their first offering through Argonauta.

As one would expect from them at this point, it is a consuming multi-genre affair, some 77 minutes long, unremitting in its darkness of atmosphere and overarching threat of violence even in its most melodic moments. To mark the occasion of the signing announcement, the and have posted “The Crushing Weight of the Sun,” for which you can see the video at the bottom of this post. Just be ready to feel like you’re lost in the woods.

Info from the PR wire:

WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS Signs With Argonauta Records For Release Of Brand New Album Coming In 2021!

For over fifteen years, New England’s When The Deadbolt Breaks has lurked in the dark corners of underground metal. With a doom style both psychedelic and unsettling, their music has been labeled many things -heavy, daunting, overwhelming, unnerving- while the band is singer/guitarist Aaron Lewis’s gritty vision of life on the subcultural fringes of New England society. Following five highly acclaimed studio records, a split and a remix album to date, When The Deadbolt Breaks has announced their worldwide signing with Italy’s powerhouse label Argonauta Records, who will proudly release the band’s forthcoming album, entitled As Hope Valley Burns, during 2021!

“We are extremely excited to release this record worldwide with Argronauta Records and see where the future takes us,” Lewis comments. “Argronauta has been very welcoming and has a massive reach around the world. We feel that this is going to be a long a exciting journey!”

For more than a decade the Connecticut-based trio has carved a niche for themselves within the interplay of extreme genres. They are no less at home in grind than they are in pummeling sludge or ambient soundscaping, casting forth triumphant riffs or proffering murder-dirge nods at a volume level that can only be considered violent. When The Deadbolt Breaks have always struck a balance between the ugly and beauty: long compositions wade through detuned, discordant, and murky sludge before shifting into melodic ambient space rock territories, and back again. It’s not hard to see that cinema is often what informs Lewis’s songwriting: the grueling discomfort of E. Elias Merhige or surreality of David Lynch have provided as much inspiration as his musical influences.

Give ear, as When The Deadbolt Breaks‘ has just unleashed a first album sneak peak with a video clip for the heavy as hell track “The Crushing Weight of the Sun”, watch it right here:

The band is no stranger to the stage, having played the SXSW, New England Stoner & Doom Fest, and toured the southwest in 2018. As the pandemic recedes, the trio looks forward to bringing Lewis’s dark vision back to the stage, unleashing As Hope Valley Burns on unsuspecting and often unprepared audiences. “This album is a unique one for When The Deadbolt Breaks. We have pushed our boundaries sonically,” Lewis reveals. “The heavy is heavier, and the mellow, spacial parts are even more so. Akin to our first few records, we have returned to more aggressive drumming, and psychedelic spaces, yet this record has a certain depth and maturity to it that was missing in the past.”

As Hope Valley Burns is slated for a release during 2021 through Argonauta Records, with many more album details, pre-order info and songs to follow in the weeks ahead. They have also been added to the bill of this years’ Maryland Doom Fest.

https://www.facebook.com/WhentheDeadboltBreaks/
https://whenthedeadboltbreaks.bandcamp.com/
www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/argonautarecords

When the Deadbolt Breaks, “The Crushing Weight of the Sun” official video

When the Deadbolt Breaks, Until it All Collides: The Nightmare Versions (2020)