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: Alex Bossen of Oxx

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

I like to play and write music. I try to keep it at that.

An unhealthy consequence, I think, of how we tend to mythologize art and artists, is that it ends up being about everything else than the art. We’re so obsessed with the personal lives of our favorite musicians, that the music becomes intrinsically linked to their sufferings and trials. I mean, even the PR campaign for Oxx’s own, most recent record, has been heavy on the personal stuff. So I’m no better. But I think there’s a widespread misconception that suffering produces great art, and that miserable people are more creatively inclined. Or more broadly: that music is as much about how you feel as it is about the actual music. Which is wrong. Everybody suffers in very real, very valid ways. Some suffer a lot more. A lot of both groups make music. And most of it sucks. The notion that the intensity of your emotional life is somehow linked to the validity of your music is a distraction that keeps people from seriously discussing the art and practicing the craft as much as they should.

I’ve certainly been guilty of this myself. So I try to keep it simple these days. I play and write because I enjoy being around art as much as possible. And it keeps me out of trouble.

Anyway: how did I come to do it? Too dysfunctional to do anything else, I suppose.

Describe your first musical memory.

My parents playing Ibrahim Ferrer on the stereo while having guests over.

Or Scatman John on some shitty eurodance-for-kids-compilation. I don’t remember which. The first is vastly more romantic, but eurodance gets a bad rap. So let’s go with Scatman John. Rest in peace, King.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Probably by myself, practicing. Occasionally, everything falls into place, and I fool myself into thinking that I’m completely uninhibited, without any technical or cognitive constraints, and get to just play and feel good about it. That’s pretty great.

Or perhaps walking 6 k through a literal storm in Copenhagen with shit falling from the buildings and debris flying everywhere, to get to a Mark Lanegan concert. Only to arrive and find out that 1: the gig is cancelled and 2: me and the five other morons stupid enough to brave the weather are forced to stay and wait out the storm. Turns out Lanegan was stuck as well, and though pissed, decided to play anyway. In a massive concert hall for eight people sitting on the floor. I got to see Lanegan a bunch of times, and every one was transformative in different ways, but this was perfect.

And Lou Reed had just died the day before, so they did four impromptu Velvet Underground songs as well.

And a million others. I love music.

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

All the time. I resist the urge to rant about politics here…

But in the less serious department: it’s a continual source of frustration and mild disillusionment to me how many bands insist on espousing the old hardcore tenets of scene-solidarity and community, without any actual interest in either beyond how it can benefit them personally. That posturing is especially exhausting, but every other kind of careerist behaviour in heavy music is off putting to me as well.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Poverty? I’m not sure… sorta continuing where my massive rant a couple of questions back ended, i don’t think it’s very constructive to attach any grandiose goals to creative pursuits, or make it out to be anything more noble than any of the innumerable other ways of passing the time while we’re waiting to croak. I play and write music because it makes me happy. And in order to stay happy I need to do my best with it and keep in tune with whichever directions my musical interests might be heading. So it’s self-regulating in that it’s only fun if I put in an unreasonable amount of effort. It’s a worthwhile pursuit, and making an effort at honing a craft should be reward enough.

How do you define success?

If I can get to a point where I, with reasonable confidence, can declare that I’m not an asshole, I’d be happy. Not being miserable would be a bonus. Hippy shit.

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

I feel like this question could lead me down a road that might end up at me becoming unemployable. Or at several other, less serious, but no less regrettable pit stops on the spectrum of oversharing.

But pertaining specifically to the topic at hand, music, I’m immensely bummed out every time I’m confronted with how much my favorite musicians have to hustle to scrape by. It’s symptomatic of much broader structural problems in late-stage capitalism as well, but Jesus Christ. We should really get our collective acts together and take better care of the people keeping art alive and evolving.

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

Let me count the ways… I suffer from the same malaise that has driven The Rock to the delusion that he should act. The affliction in the grasp of which Dwight Yoakam thought it wise to direct a movie (he really can act though). The very ailment that, in its most terminal stages, had Sean Penn write a book.

That is to say, the particular kind of arrogance that creative people have, that makes them think they should stray from their chosen craft, and would probably be “like, pretty sick, brah,” at something completely unrelated, aside from the fact that it’s another act of “creative” self-realization. To wit: I have recurring fantasies (delusions?) of writing novels, making movies and.. I think I got offered to do porn once as well. Luckily, these kinds of moonlighting are a privilege reserved for the filthy rich. And since I’m occasionally filthy and always broke, I never had the chance of acting upon any of it. Which is probably in humanity’s best interest. I do however have a, slightly more modest, ambition of making a guitar record. Like a guitar-guitar record. I’m hoping for some weird mix between Danny Gatton, Charlie Parker and Allan Holdsworth. That I could make in good conscience, and I probably will at some point.

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

Letting us get in contact with the sublime.

But for me, this implicates a much broader definition of art. Same thing goes for sports. Or food. Actually standing face to face with proof of the extent of what a human body/mind is capable of, in spite of everything, is the most life affirming thing to me, and very far removed from any mystical notions of the soul of the artist as it relates to the cosmos, or whatever.

Experiencing someone at the peak of their craft freely expressing themselves is the most genuinely touching thing, and I try to get as much of that as I can. But again, that’s not restricted to the arts. My most substantial aesthetic experience last year was Alexander Volkanovski’s performance against Max Holloway in their third match.

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

The inevitable fall of western civilization.

A distant second place, and much less probable: that the upcoming Blood Meridian adaptation doesn’t disappoint me immensely.

Nah, fuck it… I’ll go with something much more mundane, and much more adult. I’m looking forward to getting out of bed tomorrow, hanging out with my cat, having a good 4 hours of practice time and going to the gym.

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Oxx, “The Coast” official video