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: Christoph Henning of The Antikaroshi

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

For me, it’s basically an outlet for the things that I personally can’t deal with so easily, through an electrical device. Be it on a small or large scale. Most of the time it’s very rewarding.
How I got into it? Purely by chance. I grew up in a small village and my father was kind of worried that his only son would get lost in the local soccer team. So he allowed me to buy a drum kit when I was 15. From that point on, he couldn’t turn it back.

Describe your first musical memory.

Seeing “village people” on the television. It must have been 1979 and I liked all their costumes and that there were so many people on stage playing instruments or not.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Tough one. There were a few. Hm seeing Shellac on 9/11 in Berlin was intense. No one knew if they were going to play or not, and Steve did an improvised monologue for what felt like 20+ minutes in one song. It had all the tension and desperation of the moment and set an artistic standard for me.

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

There have been a few times when you’ve put on a DIY show for one of your “heroes”, whose records you’ve listened to endlessly, and it turns out that the people involved are just “human beings” after all ;-)

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I don’t get the question but I recently read an interview by a very cool band called all structures align and they said something like “to at least avoid to make the same mistakes again” – totally agree.

How do you define success?

Taking seriously what you do. Condensing honestly into words and sounds what you feel. If in that sense the music adds something to our normal everyday experiences then we have achieved our goal and we have been “successful”. If it resonates with others, that’s cool, but it’s not part of our definition of success.

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

Murder city devils in 2003(?) supporting At the drive-in in Dublin. I guess it was their final show of the tour and for some reason the singer decided to drink a bottle of Jack Daniels in 1 sip. You can imagine what happened next..

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

I wish I could built my own instruments not necessarily a guitar. But it’s either the lack of time or laziness.

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

The ability to abstract

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

Ornithology.

https://theantikaroshi.de
https://antikaroshi.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/the_antikaroshi

http://www.mainstreamrecords.de
https://www.youtube.com/@exileonmainstream3639

The Antikaroshi, “Gravity” official video

A sort of double-dose of news from German heavy rockers Stonehenge, whose debut, Bunch of Bisons (review here), was released last year. They’ll be reissuing that album on vinyl through Fuzzmatazz Records in December, and they’re also at work on their second full-length. The organ-laced riffers have posted some footage from the studio — not much music in the clip, but a lot of giggling — and while there’s no word on a solid release date for the sophomore outing, they’ll hit the road also in December alongside Operators for a few shows and presumably have some new material in tow for their set as they support the Bunch of Bisons vinyl.

Fuzzmatazz passed along the following:

Lets make it official! @FUZZMATAZZ records will re-release Stonhenge’s great first Album Bunch of Bisons in a strictly limited edition very soon. We are working really hard to make this LP to come in December. It will be a very special and ultra nice looking piece of vinyl with a shitload of extras inside – e.g. new mastering, poster, handprinted cover…

Let’s hear it: http://stonehengedoom.bandcamp.com/album/bunch-of-bisons

So make sure to get yours very fast! We will start a preorder as soon as we know the Date of the production! So stay tuned…

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That is what stonhenge has to say about this…

Hello people, after long silence we’re back with a boom!

Last week we were in the studio to record our second album. Here’s a video. More news tomorrow and the day after.

2nd news-update: We’re touring with the OPERATORS in december. Also we’re playing 2 shows with Pyrior in Halle (18.10.) and Berlin (23.12.)

3rd news-update: our first album “Bunch Of Bisons” will be re-released on VINYL!!!

In the couple of next months we give you an ultra-limited special-edition in cooperation with the supercool label “Fuzzmatazz records”, the same label our friends “OPERATORS” put their record on. Stay tuned.

http://stonehengedoom.bandcamp.com/album/bunch-of-bisons
https://www.facebook.com/stonehengedoom/
https://www.facebook.com/fuzzmatazz

Stonehenge in the Studio

A young, organ-heavy four-piece out of Potsdam, Germany, Stonehenge make their debut with Bunch of Bisons, a mostly instrumental collection showing influence culled from classic rock jams and modern heavy psych. The four-piece, comprised of guitarist/vocalist Enrico Semler, bassist Michael Paukner, drummer Ole Fischer and organist Johannes Walenta, lock into some righteous if mostly familiar grooves, but what really stands them out is Walenta‘s organ work, the natural production of the album’s seven component tracks and the band’s occasional touches of flourish, such as the handclaps and vocals on opener “Arctic Brother.”

The requisite Deep Purple influence mostly shows up in the straightforward guitar-and-organ riffing of “Sun on the Asphalt,” on which Semler (also of the Potsdam sax-infused foursome Minerva), far back in the mix, seems tempted to start in with a verse but thinks twice and just tosses out a couple Cactus-style lines here and there for bluesy affect. Can’t say I blame him, since the instrumental portion of “Sun on the Asphalt” delivers enough of a hook and the songs themselves — not a one of them comes in under seven minutes — are jammy enough that when there isn’t singing, it doesn’t seem to be lacking. A series of “Hey!” gang shouts on “Concrete Krieger” is enough to get the point of a chorus across.

Tonally, they hint at heavy psychedelia, as on the opening of closer “Delay,” but even when Semler‘s guitar seems at rest and Paukner‘s bass is at its richest, Stonehenge — contrary to their moniker, which has earned its reputation by essentially sitting still over a great stretch of time — never come to a halt, switching from one groove to the next to the next, switching up who’s playing what and, in Semler‘s case, belting out soulful vocals way off-mic so as to barely be heard in the riff-rocking rush. That makes Bunch of Bisons a more energetic listen than one might think for something with extended tracks, and as “Delay” moves in its second half to a slower, building progression, one can only wonder how Stonehenge might approach a follow-up to Bunch of Bisons and if their next outing won’t find them a more patient band.

Not that they need to be — they hardly sound winded at the finish of their debut — just that their instrumental dynamic seems to be in its beginnings and could lead to any number of interesting evolutionary paths, particularly as Semler develops his vocals and Stonehenge continue to toy with the balance between the guitar and Walenta‘s organ, which adds melodic depth to these arrangements and is a clear focal point of their sound at this stage. Could be some fascinating things to come.

Stonehenge have made Bunch of Bisons available for streaming, and you can listen on the player below courtesy of their Bandcamp: