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: Mario Rodriguez, Tyler Davis & Caleb Hollowed from Smokey Mirror

—

How did you come to do what you do?

Tyler Davis: Years and years of the universe and myself always pushing me to where I am today.

Mario Rodriguez: I fell in love with music at a young age. As a child my mother exposed me to soul, my father exposed me to classic rock, and my sister exposed me to metal. At age 9 I began exploring music for myself and started actively seeking out sounds that excited me. At age 12 I started playing guitar and at age 13 I played my first club show. I played in bands on and off throughout high school and began pursuing music more seriously after graduation. By age 20 Tyler and I formed Smokey Mirror.

Caleb Hollowed: I started playing music with friends in middle school and by the time I was 18 I started looking for gigs. I grew up listening to bands like The Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, and other classic groups. I knew in my heart that’s what I was meant to do, no question.

Describe your first musical memory.

Tyler: MTV in the 90s and Soul Train reruns were big for me as a kid. But listening to my grandfathers Bob Wills and Willie Nelson records, or learning about ZZ Top listening to Q102 at home in Dallas with my dad are some of my happiest early musical memories.

Mario: My earliest memories are hearing Luther Vandross and Teddy Pendergrass with my mom. I also have early memories of hearing Santana and The Beatles with my dad.

Caleb: My mother listening to “CSNY – Deja Vu” on an old tape. Still love that group so much! Also the sound of Patsy Cline’s voice is prevalent in my early memories. I remember my mom making me two step with her in our family kitchen to old country songs.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Tyler: Witnessing George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic perform in Dallas 2012, or performing with Smokey Mirror in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on my 27th birthday.

Mario: My best musical memories are seeing Motörhead in 2009 and B.B. King in 2013. I’ll never forget how it felt to be in their presence.

Caleb: Seeing Dickie Betts with The Allman Brothers Band has to be my top musical memory.

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

Tyler: Any time living a life creating and playing music gets tough or complicated, we’re forced to come to terms with why we do what we do, which is serving something higher than ourselves.

Mario: When I was in my teens and early twenties I accepted a lot of mistreatment from former bandmates for the sake of being involved in a project that I’d poured a lot of time, effort, and resources into. Eventually I realized that nothing was worth compromising my dignity, so I started over from square one and formed Smokey Mirror with bandmates who are both kind and mutually respectful. In the end I learned an invaluable lesson.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Tyler: Hopefully towards true clarity and whole, honest expression of self while being considerate of but not controlled by external circumstances.

Mario: Ideally, artistic progression leads to a never-ending journey of self discovery. It’s a gift that keeps on giving, forever into eternity.

Caleb: To a true sense of self. It may never lead to anywhere, just a long journey that never ends. People change, so does artistic expression.

How do you define success?

Tyler: Feeling content with your legacy, when we depart we can’t take things only leave them.

Mario: I also define success as contentment with one’s legacy. I’d also add that success can be measured by the greatness one inspires in others.

Caleb: Being pleased with something you’ve created or been apart of.

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

Tyler: Witnessing the realities of working in the US healthcare system was kind of a bummer, but anything we can learn from isn’t a total loss.

Mario: I’ve seen a lot of talented, promising musicians allow their pride and poor self control to stunt their musical growth.

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

Tyler: Album #2 and 3!!!

Mario: Albums #2 and #3 for sure! Also maybe a catapult that can be used to launch all the world’s billionaires into the sun.

Caleb: There’s so much, but I guess I’d like to do more vocally driven songs with 3-4 part harmonies.

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

Tyler: Traveling and experiencing the world outside of the US, whether touring with Smokey or on vacation with my dog and girlfriend

Mario: I’m looking forward to traveling Costa Rica with my girlfriend later this year.

Caleb: I love nature. Last year I was supposed to go to Yellowstone with my dad, but there was a lot of rain that caused the roads to wash away, BS you might remember from the news. I think we’ll try it again this year after Smokey is back from tour.

https://www.facebook.com/smokeymirrortx/
https://www.instagram.com/smokeymirrortx/
https://smokeymirrortx.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/riseaboverecords/
https://www.instagram.com/riseaboverecords/
http://www.riseaboverecords.com/

Smokey Mirror, “Magick Circle” official video

Smokey Mirror, Smokey Mirror ep (2017)

If you’re a heavy boogie rock band getting signed to Rise Above Records, that’s some boogie I want to hear. Congrats to Smokey Mirror out of Dallas for signing to said ultra-respected purveyor to deliver their self-titled debut full-length on May 5. First single, “Magick Circle,” indeed is a burner shuffle, and if you want a preview of a couple of the other tunes, the band’s Bandcamp has “A Thousand Days in the Desert” as a standalone single and their 2017 self-titled first EP had “Invisible Hand” and “Magick Circle” too, so at least that should give some idea of where they’re coming from.

And the video below is kind of charming. Maybe that sounds smarmy and I don’t really mean it that way, but yeah, I went to shows in garages and shit when I was young and it was as much about being with the people you were with as it was about anything else and it was a party. I think that happened to me once. Or maybe it was a movie. I don’t know. Look, sometimes you get stoned in the afternoon.

The PR wire has details on Smokey Mirror‘s Smokey Mirror (LP), which is out, once again, on May 5, once again, on friggin’ Rise Above Records. Nice one:

Groovy Psych Rockers SMOKEY MIRROR Announce Self Titled Album to be Released May 5th on Rise Above Records!

Share Single “Magick Circle” & Music Video

There are times in the life of every temporal traveller when thunderous electric boogie rock is the only thing that makes any sense at all. Formed in Dallas, Texas, amid the dying embers of 2015, Smokey Mirror have dedicated themselves to spreading a gospel of scorched-earth riff worship and wild, psychedelic abandon. Led by vocalist/guitarist Mario Rodriguez, they have steadily nurtured their untameable sound, building toward the impending release of their self-titled debut album. Completed by bassist Tyler Davis, guitarist Caleb Hollowed and drummer Cam Martin, Smokey Mirror are only just beginning their trip…

“Our musical masterplan was to write songs that blend energetic heavy blues rock with elements of progressive and freeform styles of music,” says Mario, “We wanted to make music that is engaging to both casual listeners and the refined ears of musicians. We performed around Texas as a trio [with former drummer Josh Miller] for a few years and began collaborating with Cam in the spring of 2018, just before SXSW. A few months later, we met our guitarist Caleb at Charley’s Guitar Shop [in Dallas], where he works as a repairman. We started playing as a quartet and began finalizing material for our first full-length shortly thereafter.”

Capturing the fiery, hypnotic chaos of Smokey Mirror on tape was always going to require some expertise. Initial sessions took place at Palmyra Studios in the small town of Palmer, Texas, with Paul Middleton in the engineer’s chair, and a whole load of classic, vintage gear.

“Our engineer, Paul Middleton, was the bassist and singer for the late 70’s heavy rock band Blackhorse,” says Mario, “He also spent decades working as a touring sound engineer for the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Julio Iglesias, during the peaks of their careers! Palmyra uses all vintage, analogue recording equipment, including two-inch tape machines and a 1969 Neive console formerly owned by Abbey Road studios.”

Originally due to be recorded in early 2020, Smokey Mirror’s debut faced the same delays that scuppered everyone’s best laid plans back in that accursed year, along even more unforeseen obstacles to contend with. Nonetheless, rock ‘n’ roll simply refuses to be stopped.

‘Smokey Mirror’ Track List:
1. Invisible Hand
2. Pathless Forest
3. Magick Circle
4. Alpha-State Dissociative Trance
5. Fried Vanilla Spider Trapeze
6. Sacrificial Altar
7. A Thousand Days in the Desert
8. Who’s To Say
9. Recurring Nightmare

Album Art and Pre-Orders Will Be Available SOON!

Mario finishes, “Our shows are raw, loud, energetic, spontaneous! Amps screeching, cymbals crashing, bodies dancing, beer spilling, glass breaking, smoke filling the air, and people living in the moment. Our plan is to continue writing music that pushes and inspires us, and to produce more recorded works that expand upon the creative path we’ve set on our first album. We want to travel the world as much as possible and share our music with as many crowds as we can reach!”

In a world that makes no sense at all, only rock ‘n’ roll can still ring true. Smokey Mirror have tapped into some kind of new magic on their first full-length album, and the results rock with more power, passion and psychedelic fervour than any album, debut or otherwise, in recent memory.

Take a look in the Smokey Mirror and you will see kaleidoscopic multitudes grinning back at you. Embrace the electric boogie. It’s coming for us all.

Smokey Mirror:
Mario Rodriguez – guitar/vocals
Tyler Davis – bass
Caleb Hollowed – guitar
Cam Martin – drums

https://www.facebook.com/smokeymirrortx/
https://www.instagram.com/smokeymirrortx/
https://smokeymirrortx.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/riseaboverecords/
https://www.instagram.com/riseaboverecords/
http://www.riseaboverecords.com/

Smokey Mirror, “Magick Circle” official video

Smokey Mirror, Smokey Mirror ep (2017)

Yeah, these dates were posted before, but that was in August, so you might be forgiven for having let go of the fact that the Dallas-and-then-some three-piece were headed out this week in the Midwest/Southeast. They’ll do Doomed & Stoned in Wisconsin and Snowblind Fest in Atlanta on what’s a pretty tidy run hitting good spots to hit. I bet Mothership pull people on a Friday night in Lincoln, Nebraska, and I mean that as a compliment to both them and the city.

You know what’s awesome about Mothership shows at this point? There’s so little to prove. Have these guys ever had a bad gig? Maybe like in 2012 even? I feel like the most oldschool thing about Mothership at this point, more than riffs and swing, groove and vibe, is how utterly reliable they are. Going to a Mothership show? Well, sweet. They’re gonna deliver or die trying. Guaranteed. Enjoy.

They’re simply not a band who half-ass it.

I guess the point ultimately is show up when they play if you can. 11 shows in 11 days, two fests. I think that’s pretty emblematic of who they are.

From social media:

It’s been a long ass time, but we are finally heading back out on the road this week!

Maybe I’ll see ya out there? #mothership

Thu 11/3 – Oklahoma City, OK – Blue Note
Fri 11/4 – Lincoln, NE – 1867 Bar
Sat 11/5 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
(Doomed & Stoned Festival)
Sun 11/6 – Chicago, IL – Reggie’s
Mon 11/7 – Hamtramck, MI – The Sanctuary
Tue 11/8 – Youngstown, OH – Westside Bowl
Wed 11/9 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups
Thu 11/10 – Louisville, KY – Portal
Fri 11/11 – Nashville, TN – The Basement
Sat 11/12 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
(Snowblind Festival)
Sun 11/13 – New Orleans, LA – Santos Bar

Mothership is:
Kelley Juett – Guitars/Vox
Kyle Juett – Bass/Vox
Judge Smith – Drums

mothershipusa.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/mothershipusa
twitter.com/mothershipusa
https://instagram.com/mothershipusa
https://linktr.ee/mothershipusa

Mothership, “Lunar Master” live at Psycho Las Vegas 2022

The May 6 release date for Wo Fat‘s new album, The Singularity (review here), has come and gone, and so it’s time for the band to head out to herald the cause. Recall that the Texan forerunners-o’-riff — and considering Texas, that’s saying something — announced in March that they’d revamped their lineup, bringing in Matt Watkins on second guitar (he’d previously played on their first record) and new bassist Patrick Smith alongside founding mainstays Michael Walter (drums) and Kent Stump (guitar/vocals; you remember him, he probably mastered your album). This will be the first tour undertaken by this incarnation of the group, already in a way moving forward from The Singularity toward some unknown future.

Booked by Sound of Liberation, who posted the following announcement, the run isn’t the longest we’ve seen of US bands returning to Euro shores, but with slots at Rock im Wald, Lake on Fire and a big old mystery spot between Denmark and the Netherlands on Aug. 1 — I’m sure there’s something happening that day — it’s nothing if not efficient in covering a good amount of ground. Note the Salzburg date with Samavayo supporting as well.

From socials:

WO FAT EUROPE 2022

Dear friends,

we’re happy to announce that Texas’ riff dealers Wo Fat return to Europe with a NEW ALBUM this summer!

A crushingly heavy stoner rock band from Dallas, Texas, Wo Fat are a power trio whose music harks back to the fuzzy punch of ’70s hard rock, with an added dash of prog rock adventure, a fistful of amped-up boogie, and some contemporary metal muscle for seasoning.

Sound of Liberation proudly presents:
WO FAT EUROPEAN TOUR 2022

29.07. (DE) Michelau, Rock im Wald Festival
30.07. (DE) Hamburg, Lazy Bones @ Gruenspan
31.07. (DK) Copenhagen, Spillestedet Stengade
01.08. TBA
02.08. (NL) Rotterdam, Baroeg Rotterdam
03.08. (NL) Nijmegen, Merleyn
04.08. (DE) Cham, L.A. Cham *
05.08. (AT) Waldhausen, Lake on Fire
06.08. (IT) Osoppo, Pietrasonica Fest
07.08. (AT) Salzburg, Rockhouse Salzburg *
08.08. (AT) Vienna, ARENA WIEN
09.08. (DE) Berlin, Urban Spree
11.08. (CH) Bagnes, PALP festival
12.08. (BE) Kortrijk, ALCATRAZ MUSIC

* SUPPORT: Samavayo

Don’t miss out on the hottest swampadelic fuzz act out there!

Cheers,
Your SOL Crew

WO FAT is:
Kent Stump – guitar, vocals
Matt Watkins – guitar
Michael Walter – drums
Patrick Smith – bass

https://www.facebook.com/wofatriffage/
https://www.instagram.com/wofatriffage/
https://wofat.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

https://www.sol-tickets.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Soundofliberation/
https://www.instagram.com/soundofliberation/
https://www.soundofliberation.com/

Wo Fat, The Singularity (2022)

[Click play above to stream Wo Fat’s The Singularity in full. Album is out Friday on Ripple Music.]

The first several minutes of Wo Fat‘s “Orphans of the Singe” are dedicated to putting the listener back into the band’s particular otherworldly swamp. Atmospheric guitar and bass, far back but tense tom runs and a generally hazy air permeate the build into the percussion-laced, 13:55 opener’s true boogie. Thus it is that the Dallas, Texas-based here-trio set the stage for their seventh studio full-length, The Singularity, also their second album for Ripple Music and their first offering in the six years since 2016’s Midnight Cometh (review here), though a good chunk of that time was spent on tour.

Between the firebreathing robot dragon on the album art and the rising flood waters beneath it, it’s hard to know precisely which apocalypse they’re referring to — one suspects hints of others are strewn about the intricate details of the piece — but suffice it to say there are plenty to choose from and the post-jam harmonized vocal hook that emerges amid the crashing cymbals and telltale fuzzy shred in that first track, “Truth is rebellion/In a land of illusion,” the band haven’t been blind to the goings on over the last half-decade-plus in their home country.

The Singularity comprises seven songs and runs a CD-limit-testing 75 minutes — a definitive double-LP — and it reassures familiar aspects of who Wo Fat are in terms of sound and style while furthering the path of growth that’s made them one of their generation’s most rightly-appreciated bands. The fuzz, funk and solo work of guitarist/vocalist Kent Stump and the crash and thud — the latter particularly in stomping highlight second cut “The Snows of Banquo IV,” which is outright heavier than Wo Fat have ever been — of Michael Walter‘s drums, and the steady low-end carry of Zack Busby‘s basslines assure that as far out as they might go on an extended piece like the leadoff or “Overworlder” (11:55), with its psychedelic flourish of swirling effects later on, the more chug-motoring “The Witching Chamber” (9:25) and the sum-it-all-up-and-make-it-go-further closer “The Oracle,” which brings more melodic complexity to its instrumentalism close to the album’s finish as if to hint that there’s still more ground for them to cover, they are not without an underlying sense of structure.

Memorable choruses are nothing new to Wo Fat, as their catalog reissues over the last year-plus have duly asserted for anyone who might’ve missed out the first time, but the key to what they do is in the balance between crafted, riff-based, blues-minded, swamp-stank heavy rock and roll, jazz-informed jams, and a sense that the party you’re having might just be the last one you get before the whole thing — i.e. the universe — comes crashing down on itself.

In mood, this is the crux of The Singularity. “The Witching Chamber,” “Overworlder” — which picks right up where “The Snows of Banquo IV” leave off and makes its way toward its own genuinely exciting crescendo — and the telling riff-slappy centerpiece “The Unraveling” (again, maybe of everything) do not fail and do not cease to engage. And the darker thematic is hardly new for Wo Fat either. Hell, their first record in 2006 was literally called The Gathering Dark, so yes, that is a recognizable element, even if one more complex in its presentation now than it was those 16 years ago.

The swamp may still be haunted, but with different ghosts, in other words, though a cut like “The Witching Chamber” is about as classic Wo Fat as one might get, from its hypnotic intro answering back “Orphans of the Singe” to the manner in which its verse seems to emerge from the murk of its own devise to joy they make it to follow along with the groove that takes hold from there until the final bits of rumblefuzz fade into the crashing start of the title-track, the band clearly aware of each song’s effect on the audience and the way in which they want their songs to flow across the album’s extended span. It is no minor feat to put together a 75-minute 2LP and have it lock in its audience for the duration. This is ultimately why Wo Fat are the kind of band from whom one might spend six years looking forward to a new record.

With Stump (who also donates some electric piano in the sonic hithers and yons) and Walter (whose off-kit percussive contributions are no less integral) as the founding core of the band — also co-owners of Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, where The Singularity was made — Wo Fat are masters of their sound, however they might seek to push themselves creatively in any given track. The swinging procession and scorch of the title-track demonstrates this as plainly as the rest of what surrounds, if perhaps in somewhat condensed form compared to “Overworlder” or “Orphans of the Singe,” etc., and the shifts the band pulls off between one song and the next, the feeling they bring to their jams — not lazy or purely exploratory; there’s a plot and a basic forward idea, but they’re ready to meander en route back to where they came from — isn’t to be understated.

There’s consciousness in “The Singularity” as though the band were functioning as one of the coherent thinking machines the lyrics describe, and the development of that can be traced back at least over the last decade of their work. The Singularity is comforting in some contrast to the grim thematic in that the songs themselves reaffirm the band’s modus, of which progression is an integral part. If the world is ending — and the only reason it wouldn’t be is because it already happened — then at least we got one more Wo Fat album out of the deal.

Whatever they do next will inherently find their dynamic somewhat shifted, as Busby is out of the group and Patrick Smith has joined in his place, along with Matt Watkins, who played on the aforementioned The Gathering Dark, rejoining on second guitar — the acquisition of which makes more sense in the context of the dual leads at the culmination of the title-track, as well as in the farthest-out spaces of “The Oracle” subsequent — but Wo Fat, now a veteran act at the vanguard of Texas and broader American heavy rock, will hopefully continue to thrive, explore, and harness their processes as they do here. Any shape their future might take, they leave no question that it will be theirs.

Wo Fat, “The Snows of Banquo IV” official visualizer

Wo Fat on Facebook

Wo Fat on Instagram

Wo Fat on Bandcamp

Ripple Music on Facebook

Ripple Music on Instagram

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

A double-guitar incarnation of Wo Fat circa 2022 is most definitely an intriguing proposition, and while part of me feels like, headed into the release of their new album, The Singularity, as they are, the news of a revamped lineup — which also includes bringing Patrick Smith in on bass in place of Zack Busby, who plays on said record — kind of undercuts the idea of it as the latest Wo Fat have to offer. That is to say, even before The Singularity is available to the listening public, Wo Fat have pretty clearly moved on.

That’s one way of looking at it. The other, I suspect, is that the re-addition of Matt Watkins on guitar (he played on 2006’s debut, The Gathering Dark) allows Wo Fat to bring the new album to life on stage with all the more vividness for the ability to greater capture the depths of layers and expanses of their jams, as well as the full-bore fuzz they utilize in their more rocking moments. As to how the changes will affect the band’s work from here, if you’re lucky enough to see them sometime this year, you’ll probably have a better idea. The rest of the universe will just have to wait.

From social media:

We’re pleased to announce a couple new additions to the band: Patrick Smith is joining us playing bass and OG Wo Fat member Matt Watkins has come back to play guitar with us. Matt played way back in the early days of Wo Fat. We also want to send a huge thank you to Zack Busby, for supremely kicking ass on bass with us for the last 6 years. He recently decided he needed to step down, but really brought a lot to the band and helped shape the sound of the new record quite a bit.

WO FAT is:
Kent Stump – guitar, vocals
Matt Watkins – guitar
Michael Walter – drums
Patrick Smith – bass

https://www.facebook.com/wofatriffage/
https://www.instagram.com/wofatriffage/
https://wofat.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Wo Fat, “The Witching Chamber”

Texas heavy psych blues forerunners Wo Fat have just announced the details of their awaited new album, The Singularity. It’ll be out May 6 on Ripple Music. There’s a moment in the new song, “The Witching Chamber,” where the Dallas three-piece come a to full stop ahead of launching into the final galloping run of the nine-plus-minute track, and I think that’s where it’s most hitting me that yeah, these guys are back. Some six years after Midnight Cometh (review here), I wouldn’t expect them to make a bad record. That is to say, if it sucked, well, they’re seven full-lengths deep into their career, so it’s not like they wouldn’t know it, and considering they produce their own material, I’d have to think they’d keep woodshopping until it came out the way they wanted. And with Wo Fat, that’s a winning formula.

I haven’t heard all of The Singularity yet — though I’ve certainly begged Ripple for a listen — but, well, I get it. And speaking of winning formulas, “The Witching Chamber” pushes outward on the band’s jammy foundations nicely, and though it’s kind of counterintuitive to think of a nine-minute song as a single, hell’s bells, it’s Wo Fat. The more the merrier. Can’t wait to hear the rest.

Fresh off the PR wire:

WO FAT share details of new album ‘The Singularity’ on Ripple Music; first track and preorder available!

Dallas-based psychedelic doom legends WO FAT announce the release of their seventh studio album ‘The Singularity’ this May 6th on Ripple Music. Listen to its dark and bluesy first single “The Witching Chamber” and preorder the album now!

WO FAT returns with their seventh studio album, a record they feel is their most adventurous and exploratory yet. While not necessarily a concept album, its themes relate to existential threats and a dark destiny, a reflection of the times we’re living in.

The title, ‘The Singularity’, can refer to an environmental tipping point beyond which irreversible cascading feedback loops of climate destruction are inevitable; it can also refer to a point in the evolution of artificial intelligence and machine learning after which everything changes and goes beyond what we can control, potentially leading to humankind’s destruction. These apocalyptic and sci-fi-based ideas also serve as metaphors for the struggle for truth and reality in the face of disinformation, manufactured facts and cultic thinking. In essence, the battle for the future of our planet and civilization.

Musically, ‘The Singularity’ ventures outside WO FAT’s well-establish blues-based paradigm, keeping all the heaviness but also tapping into some 70’s fusion influences and more open jamminess. All in all, it’s the perfect return and elaboration of everything we love about one of the most iconic bands in all of heavy rock history! ‘The Singularity’ will be released on limited edition colored 2xLP, classic black 2xLP, limited digipack CD and digital, with preorder available at this location.

WO FAT – New album ‘The Singularity’
Out May 6th, 2022 on Ripple Music
US preorder: https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/products?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=the+singularity
World preorder: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-singularity

TRACKLIST:
1. Orphans of the Singe
2. The Snows of Banquo IV
3. Overworlder
4. The Unraveling
5. The Witching Chamber
6. The Singularity
7. The Oracle

WO FAT is:
Kent Stump – guitar, vocals
Michael Walter – drums
Zack Busby – bass

https://www.facebook.com/wofatriffage/
https://www.instagram.com/wofatriffage/
https://wofat.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Wo Fat, “The Witching Chamber”

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: Parker James & Caden Shea of OliveVox

—

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

Parker: I’m a social media, video creator and singer/songwriter. I started social media when I was about 14 after I broke my arm really bad skateboarding and couldn’t play football anymore. I kind of blew up on TikTok, created a little character StEVEn ..I didn’t expect it to take off but it has. Music has always been a passion of mine since I was very young. My brother and I are 5 yrs apart. We always talked about having a band but I had to wait for him to get to that age where he was ready. Now we write songs together and started our band OliveVox.

Caden: I’m a singer/songwriter musician. I started playing guitar at a young age. When I matured enough Parker and I started writing songs together. Some I already had written and we started working on those. Our first release “Bury Me Low” was one of those songs. We decided it was time to record them in the studio and here we are today in a band together that we decided to name OliveVox.

Describe your first musical memory.

Parker: I had a singing solo part when I was six at this huge school production and when I finished, it was like a deafening cheer and right then and there I knew this is what I wanted to do.

Caden: Mine was when I was three and I was playing a Ukulele while watching SpongeBob.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Caden: I really liked recording our songs in the studio

Parker: I’d say recording our songs also because we were finally breathing life into what we were creating.

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

Parker: Our Dad has been battling cancer and has a weak immune system so when Covid first hit us in 2020 and we were all told to distance from people outside of our home and all that. My friends at the time wanted to get together and hang out, play music but I couldn’t that do that… we had to be super careful. I guess they couldn’t understand and they all bailed except one friend. That was something that we firmly believed was important and stood by it.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Parker: It leads to success.

How do you define success?

Caden: I think success comes in different ways… there are different levels of success.

Parker: Ya just setting goals and when you reach one or complete one that is a level of success.

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

Parker: The girl that normally cuts my hair wasn’t available and I had something important to go to so I had to go to someone else. All I wanted was a trim but when she was done, I looked in the mirror and I looked like Lord Farquaad from Shrek! There was nothing she could do to make it better.

Caden: Some random lady made me bury this half decomposing, stinky opossum… Something I didn’t want to see or do like what the heck!

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

Caden: A collab with one of my favorite musical influences.

Parker: A concept album would be really cool.

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

Parker: It has many functions. When you create something it can mean one thing to you and something different to someone else. It allows you to express emotions you might not have words for. You might create Art for entertainment or to make you happy.

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

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OliveVox, “Bury Me Low” official video