Posted in Questionnaire on June 27th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
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: Zack Oakley
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I do what makes me happy, which is making records. I’m 34 now and I feel like I’ve had plenty of time to make a mess, clean it up and reflect on what it is that fulfills me. I’ve had my time of recording records, booking tours and making a huge effort to promote the product, and for whatever reason, that never worked out all that well. So, instead of grinding my gears into dust I decided to stop and rethink the process. These days I am mostly focused on creating. That was what drew me to music in the first place: the creative process. It’s the most cathartic thing in my life, so that’s where I focus my energy. I completed a year-long audio engineering program in 2020 here in San Diego and I now feel like I’ve collected the most important pieces of the puzzle- I can write, demo, re-record, produce and mix my own music on my own time on a minimal budget. In terms of the creative process, I’ve never felt more free and flexible. The first product of this new work-flow is my new solo record “Badlands” which I put out in September 2021.
Describe your first musical memory.
My folks would put on The Beatles during long road trips with the family. I have two younger brothers and we’re all very close, so those trips were memorable in a lot of ways. We were really young so piling in the car for long drives to some camping destination was a blast. I remember singing along to “Back in the USSR” like it was a scene from a movie.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Playing The Tilburg Roadburn festival in 20ti8 was the most stimulating and inspiring musical experience that I’ve ever had. I usually get restless on tour because we only get to play for an hour or so every night, which usually doesn’t feel like enough time. But that year, every band that I was a part of was booked at the festival. Volcano played one set and Joy and Pharlee each played two. A lot of our hometown friends were booked as well, so we all mobbed each other’s stages and watched each other play from behind the amps or sitting on the drum risers. It gave the atmosphere a fun and informal vibe, which elevated the performances all around. Kikagaku Moyo and Earthless played an unforgettable improvisational set that year as well. I remember when Mario slowly stood up from his kit after the jam ended, walked over to the gong, raised the mallet and paused with his hand in the air — everyone lost their minds. When he hit that thing it felt like the entire auditorium collectively exhaled. It was the coolest musical moment I’ve experienced and the most well-deserved gong hit I’ve witnessed.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Everyday. I used to believe that people were, or at least attempting to live their lives based on love, inclusivity and understanding. That now seems crazy to me.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Everywhere and nowhere at the same time! I know that I have progressed artistically in my life. I have the high school era demo tapes to prove it. But does it lead to any extra peace-of-mind or happiness to have made “progress”? I don’t think so. It’s the day-to-day meditation and ability to live in the moment through playing my instrument that has intrinsic benefits. To a third party observer, it may look like dedication, but I consider it more of a healthy addiction. Progress just seems like an unintentional symptom of that addiction.
How do you define success?
If I find out I’ll let you know.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Saw some horrendous highway scenes while on the road in the states with my old band. One in particular that has turned into somewhat of a core memory that I sometimes wish I could erase. Buckle the fuck up y’all.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’d like to record an album that acknowledges all of my musical interests. I’ve been mining a lot of musical caves over the years and have yet to put them all on the same piece of wax. It’s coming though. That’s the main goal moving forward.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To remind the observer that their time is limited and beautiful.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I’ve been back in school now for almost 3 years working towards a bachelor’s of science in nursing. I still have always to go but being this engaged in higher education has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have worked a lot of tough, dead-ends gigs that don’t pay enough to live comfortably in San Diego. A lot of those gigs leave me too burned out to play music. It felt like I was burning the candle at both ends. Really looking forward to finishing this phase so I can live comfortably in my home town and continue my creative journeys.
Zack Oakley — known for his work in JOY, Pharlee, and probably six or seven other bands by now; they roll productive in San Diego — issued his first solo record, Badlands (review here), last Fall through his own Kommune Records imprint. And while I might not usually put song lyrics up with a post like this (admittedly, every now and again I do), I’m including them here, because the thing about “Badlands,” the song, is that it’s pretty grim. The album starts out with the classic shred-boogie of “Freedom Rock,” sneering in the new West Coast tradition that, Oakley, it should be mentioned, has helped to define. Cuts like “I’m the One” and the harmonica-laced blues rocker “Mexico” — also cowbell, shimmering psych and maybe organ or just other swirling effects in that one (I might be imagining that), if you’re keeping count — and the Cali-as-fuck “Acid Rain,” which definitely has organ, offer insert-label-here-and-yes-that-means-all-of-them-worthy, modern-as-classic-as-modern heavy rock and roll, a righteous stepping forward for Oakley into a spotlight that he more than earns through craft and performance in these songs. In other words: Fuck yeah, dude.
But “Badlands,” especially in following “Acid Rain,” feels subdued with its acoustic pluck and far-back vocals, flourish of keys and subtle layering. The song builds, of course, but it’s still lines like “I woke up today feeling like I’ve never felt before/Do I run or hesitate when they knock upon my door?,” especially with Oakley‘s vocals more forward than at other points on the record, feel particularly effective in incapsulating current anxiety and paranoia. Who are “they” knocking on the door? Cops? Fascists? Fascist cops? And the “badlands” themselves become the setting regardless even of climate fears, though those might get a nod as well in that lyric about the sun falling into the sea, but it’s the vulnerability and what feels like a sincere expression of fear that most stand the song out to me. Pick your apocalypse. On a record that seems to take such pleasure in hurrying from place to place at times — the shuffle of “Fever” or the wah-drenched “I’m the One” — even the prior acoustic track “Searching High Searching Low” and the more languid early going of “Desert Shack” don’t hit on quite the same kind of patience, and the fact that “Badlands” is both the title-track and essentially buried at the end of the record that shares its name is telling. It’s there, waiting to be found.
The new video — hey, it’s premiering right down there! — makes finding it that much easier.
Some comment from Oakley follows the clip below.
Please enjoy:
Zack Oakley, “Badlands” video premiere
Zack Oakley on “Badlands”:
I released my first solo record in September of last year. It is a completely DIY release meant solely for lovers of underground psychedelic music. My brother and I grinded hard to get this thing out and we’re absolutely over the moon to be able to premiere this video. For all the diehard vinyl heads there are copies available at our homemade label, Kommune Records, website http://www.kommunerecords.com (international shipping available!). For those who don’t mind digital, we have the entire record available in hi-fi formats for free at my Bandcamp (zackoakley.bandcamp.com). All other streaming services offer it as well.
Again, this project is completely DIY from the engineering and production down to the physical pressing. If you like this thing please share! We are an independent operation that relies heavily on word of mouth of the underground!
from the album “Badlands” by Zack Oakley
Video made by Zack and Matt Oakley and Cory Martinez
Kommune Records 2021
LYRICS:
What evil lies in this world today coming back around it doesn’t take but just one look how easily it’s found
take me back to better days or send me to my grave i do not wish to stick around and watch the slow decay
I woke up today feeling like ive never felt before do i run? or hesitate when they knock upon my door
he may strike us down and ban the rest till we’re dead upon the floor
the hand of god feels closer now than it ever has before
will the sun rise tomorrow? or fall into the sea? Well it feels like im caught in this terrible dream again im lost in the badlands
Posted in Reviews on January 17th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Somehow it feels longer than it’s actually been. Yeah, a year’s changed over, but it’s really only been about a month since the last Quarterly Review installment, which I said at the time was only half of the full proceedings. I’ve started the count over at 1-50, but in my head, this is really a continuation of that five-day stretch more than something separate. It’s been booked out I think since before the last round of 50 was done, if that tells you anything. Should tell you 2021 was a busy year and 2022 looks like it’ll be more of the same in that regard. Also a few other regards, but let’s keep it optimistic, hmm?
We start today fresh with a wide swath of stuff for digging and, well, I hope you dig it. Let’s go.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Zack Oakley, Badlands
Apparently I’ve been spelling Zack Oakley‘s name wrong for the better part of a decade. Zack with a ‘k’ instead of an ‘h’ at the end. I feel like a jerk. By any spelling, dude both shreds and can write a song. Known for his work in Joy, Pharlee, Volcano, etc., he brings vibrant classic heavy to the fore on his solo debut, Badlands, sounding like a one-man San Diego scene on “I’m the One” only after declaring his own genre in opener “Freedom Rock.” “Mexico” vibes on harmonica-laced heavy blues and the acoustic-led “Looking High Searching Low” follows suit with slide, but there’s tinge of psych on the catchy “Desert Shack,” and “Fever” stomps out in pure Hendrix style without sounding ridiculous, which is not an achievement to be understated. Closing duo “Acid Rain” and “Badlands” meet at the place where the ’60s ended and the ’70s started, swaggering through time with more hooks and a sound that might be garage if your garage had a really nice studio in it. I’ll take more of this anytime Mr. Oakley wants to belt it out.
Issued by Shawn Pelata — also known as Pælãtä Shåvvn, with an apparent thing for accent marks — the self-titled debut from Vøuhl mixes industrial-style experimentalism, dark ambience and a strong cinematic current across a still-relatively-unassuming five-songs and 23 minutes, hitting a resonant minimalism at the ending of “Evvûl” while building to a fuller-sounding progression on the subsequent “Välle.” Drones, echoing, looped beats and thoughtfully executed synth let Pelata construct each atmosphere as an individual piece, but with the attention obviously paid to the presentation of the whole, there’s nothing that keeps one piece from tying into the next either, so whether one approaches Vøuhl‘s Vøuhl as an EP or a short album, the impression of a deep-running soundscape is made one way or the other. What seems to be speech samples in “Aurô” and noise-laced closer “ßlasste” — thoroughly manipulated — may hint at things to come, but I hope not entirely at the expense of the percussive urgency of opener “Dùste” here.
At first you’re all like, “yeah this is right on I can handle it” and then all of a sudden White Manna are about four minutes into the freakery of “Light Cones” opening up their latest opus First Welcome and you’re starting to panic because you took too much and you’re couchlocked. The heretofore undervalued Calipsych weirdos are out-out-out on their new eight-songer, done in an LP-ready 39 minutes but drippy droppy through an interdimensional swap-meet of renegade noises and melted-down aesthetics. Maybe you heard 2020’s ARC (review here) and thereby got on board, or maybe you don’t know them at all. Doesn’t matter. The thing is they’re already in your brain and by the time you’re done with the triumph-boogie of “Lions of Fire” you realize you’re one with the vibrating universe and only then are you ready to meet the “Monogamous Cassanova” in krautrock purgatory before the swirling “Milk Symposium” spreads itself out like a blanket over the sun. Too trippy for everything, and so just. fucking. right. If you can hang with this, I wanna be friends.
In 2022, German heavy rockers Daily Thompson mark a decade since their founding. God of Spinoza is their fifth full-length, and in songs like “Cantaloupe Melon,” “Golden Desert Child,” and “Muaratic Acid,” the reliability one has come to expect from them is only reinforced. Their sound hinges on psychedelia, but complements that with an abiding sense of grunge and a patience in songwriting. They’ve done heavy blues and straight-up rock in the past, so neither is out of the trio’s wheelhouse — the penultimate “Midnight Soldier” is a breakout here — but the title-track’s drawn-out “yeah”s and slacker-nod rhythm seem to draw more directly from the Alice in Chains school of making material sound slow without actually having it crawl or sacrifice accessibility. I’d give them points regardless for calling a song “I Saw Jesus in a Taco Bell,” but the closer is a genuine highlight on God of Spinoza turning a long stretch of disaffection to immersive fuzz with a deftness befitting a band on their fifth record who know precisely who they are. Like I said, reliable.
Founded by guitarist/bassist Collin Green, Headless Monarch released their first demo in 2013 and their most recent EP, Nothing on the Horizon, in 2016. Five years later, Green and drummer Brandon Zackey offer the late-2021 debut full-length, Titan Slug, working in collaboration for the first time with vocalist and producer Otu Suurmunne of Moonic Productions — who mostly goes by Otu — across a richly executed collection of six tracks, three new, three from prior outings. Not sure if Otu is a hired gun as a singer working alongside the other two, but there’s little arguing with the results they glean as a trio across a song like “Fever Dream” or “Sleeper Now Rise,” the latter taken from Headless Monarch‘s 2015 two-songer and positioned in a more aggressive stance overall. The newer songs come across as more fleshed out, but even “Eight Minutes of Light” from the first demo has atmospheric reach to go with its clarity of focus and noteworthy heft. One only hopes the collaboration continues and inspires further work along these lines.
Technically speaking, you had me at Space Octopus. After releasing a self-titled EP under the somewhat-troubling moniker (one hopes it’s not too many) Some Pills for Ayala, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Néstor Ayala Cortés of At Devil Dirt returns with this two-songer, comprised of its 11-minute title-cut and the shorter “It’s Been a Long Trip.” The lead track is duly dream-drifty in its procession, a subtle build underway across its span but pushing more for hypnosis than impact and getting there to be sure, even as the second half grows thicker in tone. At 3:48, “It’s Been a Long Trip” comes across more as an experiment in technique captured and used as the foundation for Cortés‘ soft, wide echoing vocals. Lysergic and adventurous in kind, the 15-minute EP is nonetheless serene in its presence and soothing overall. Could be that Cortés might push deeper into folk as he goes forward, but the acidy foundation he’s working from will only add to that.
It’s a quick in-out from Boston heavy punkers Il Mostro on the Occult Practices EP. Four songs, the last of which is a cover of T.S.O.L.‘s “Black Magic,” nothing over three minutes long, all fits neatly on a 7″. For what they’re doing, that makes sense, taking the high-velocity ethic of Motörhead or Peter Pan Speedrock (if you need a second plays-fast-punk-derived-and-rocks band) and delivering with an appropriately straightforward thrust. Opener “Firewitch” ends with giggling, and that’s fair enough to convey the overarching lack of pretense throughout, but they do well with the cover and have a righteous balance between control and chaos in the relatively-mid-paced “Trial” and the sprinter “Faith in Ghosts,” which follows. Is cult punk a thing? I guess you could ask the Misfits that question, but Il Mostro mostly avoid sounding like that Jersey band, and it’s easy enough to imagine them bashing walls at any number of Beantown havens or bathed under the telltale red lights of O’Brien’s as they tear into a set. So be it, punkers.
Should it come as a surprise that an EP of violin-laced/led instrumentalist progressive post-rock, willfully working against genre convention in order to cross between metal, rock and more atmospheric fare includes an element of self-indulgence? Nope. How could it be otherwise? The five-track Hiss from Parisian four-piece Carmen Sea is a heady outing indeed, but at just 29 minutes, the band doesn’t actually lose themselves in what they’re doing, and the surprises they offer along the way like the electronic turns in “Black Echoes” or the quiet drone stretch in the first half of 11-minute closer “Glow in Space” — which gets plenty tense soon enough — provide welcome defiance of expectation. That is to say, whatever else they are, Carmen Sea are not predictable, and that serves them well here and will continue to. “Frames” begins jarring and strutting, but finds its strength in its more floating movement, though the later bridge of classical and weighted musics feels like the realization that might’ve led to creating the band in the first place. There’s potential in toying with that balance.
Florence’s Fabrizio Cecchi has vibe to spare with his solo-project Trip Hill, and Denmark’s Bad Afro Records has stepped forward to issue the 2020 offering, Ain’t Trip Ceremony, toward broader consciousness. The eight-song/39-minute long-player is duly dug-in, and its psychedelic reach comes with a humility of craft that makes the songs likewise peaceful and exploratory and entrancing. Repetition is key for the latter, but Cecchi also manages to keep things moving across the album, with a fuzzy cut like “Spam Mind” seeming to build on top of loops and shifting into a not-overblown space rock, hardly mellow, but more acknowledging the vastness of the cosmos than one might expect. The more densely-fuzzed “Ralph’s Heart Attack” leads into the guitar-focused “Pan” ahead of the finale “What Happened to Will,” but that’s after “Tame Ùkhan” has gone a-wandering and decided to stay that way and the seven-minute “Trái tim Thán Yêu” has singlehandedly justified the vinyl release in its blend of percussive urgency and psychedelic shimmer. Go in with an open mind and you won’t go wrong.
Yanomamo begin their Iommium Records two-song split 7″ with Slomatics by harshly delivering a deceptively positive message: “If you’re going to seek revenge/Might as well dig two graves/He who holds resentment is already digging his own.” Fair enough. The Sydney, Australia, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, outfits offer about 10 and a half minutes of material between them, but complement each other well, with the thickness of the latter building off the raw presentation of the former, Yanomamo‘s guttural portrayal of bitterness offered in scream-topped sludge crash on “Dig Two Graves” that builds in momentum toward the end while Slomatics‘ “Griefhound” offers the futurist tonal density and expanse of vocal echo typifying their latter-day work and turns a quiet, chugging bridge into a consciousness-slamming payoff. Neither act is really out of their comfort zone, but established listeners will revel in the chance to hear them alongside each other, and if you hear complaints about either of these cuts, they won’t be from me.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 2nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Isle of Man-based heavy rocking four-piece Man in the Woods released their first EP, Badlands Part One, in 2018, and in 2022, the band will issue that and a yet-unheard second part as Badlands, a debut full-length through Argonauta Records. The Italian imprint is never too long between one pickup and the next, and despite the regularity with which head honcho Gero Lucisano seems to pull bands out of the ever-expanding ethersphere-o’-riffs, there’s always a reason, always a perspective. With “Icarus Landing,” Man in the Woods showcase the impending Badlands as fitting alongside plenty of other roots-vibing heavy rockers on Argonauta, digging into the late-’90s/early-’00s European sense of well-grunge-is-over-what-the-hell-do-we-do-now with tonal heft supporting their suggestions in that regard.
“Icarus Landing” was included on Badlands Part One, and I don’t know if it’s a new recording or what, but it’s not like straight-up heavy rock and roll has become dated (anymore than it already was and wants to be) in the last three or four years, so dig in. It’s at the bottom of the post, following the signing announcement from the PR wire:
MAN IN THE WOODS Sign To Argonauta Records & Debut First Track From Upcoming Album
With a crushing soundtrack that often blurs the lines between stoner rock, sludge, doom metal and grunge elements, MAN IN THE WOODS transport their listeners to dystopian dark new worlds. Fusing together their critically acclaimed, 2018- debut Badlands Part One with the band’s much anticipated successor Badlands Part Two, the four-piece has inked a worldwide deal with Argonauta Records for the release of Badlands in its entirety!
Says Argonauta Records owner, Gero Lucisano: “Massive riffage, and a volcanic sound, you can’t really stay insensible to Man In The Woods songs. I can definitely say it took me only a second to be overwhelmed by their hammering grooves and I am sure you will feel the same with their forthcoming full length. They are full of fire and attitude, and surely a great addition to our roster!”
Their upcoming record will see MAN IN THE WOODS deliver a progressive and colossal journey through a vibrant blend of heavy riffs and a crushing rhythm section while these harsh vocals guide you through the story of Badlands into hopelessness and a bleak, post apocalyptic world. The band, who was formed in 2016, manages to craft a unique mix of hard rocking fuzz and grunge, heavy stoner rock yet brutal sludge and doom metal to create such dark, dystopian and apocalyptic vibe. But give ear, as in support of their upcoming label collaboration, MAN IN THE WOODS just released a first song taken from Badlands! Listen to Icarus Landing here.
Badlands will be released during 2022 through Argonauta Records, with many more news and details to follow soon.
MAN IN THE WOODS is: Marc Vincent (bass/vocals) James Oxtoby (guitar) David Murray (guitar) Christian Hardman (drums)
