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: Stephen Sheppert of Radiant Knife

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

I’d describe our music as prog influenced sludge with some sci-fi and possibly dark wave elements. Prog in the sense of math-rock/noise rock influence akin to Don Caballero, Dazzling Killmen, Breadwinner, Loincloth, and not necessarily tech-metal wankery.

Describe your first musical memory.

One that has stood the test of time is many mornings my father would play the record “The Wall” by Pink Floyd. I distinctly remember the song “Another Brick in the Wall” playing as I got ready for school. He had a music room full of vinyl and a decent sound system that would fill the house. “Hey teacher, leave those kids alone” as I walked out the door.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Any time I’ve made connections with other musicians via the riff without speaking. It feels like a form of telepathy that everyone should experience. It’s one of the unique things creating music can provide through making art with others.

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

These days overt self promotion has become the norm, fueled by a fake it till you make it mentality. Being bombarded with that mentality through modern media is a test.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

In some ways it can result in more technically proficient and developed song structure, but in some cases regression can be progression as well. In many cases stripped back roots of music in its rudimentary form can more effectively convey a message or connect with listeners. Really depends on how you define progression.

How do you define success?

Created unabated art walled off from influence of outsiders, metrics, and all things business.

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

The daily news, any day of the week or anything spewed from mainstream media.

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

Possibly a blues influenced album that embraces time signature changes and off timings. An off timed vibe based in pentatonics.

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

To the artist the essential function is release and realization of something tangible, formed from emotions, moods, etc. To the person, aesthete, etc. experiencing the art it could be a connection through a similar way of thinking, or lasting impression from a different way of thinking.

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

These days I look forward to family time and time spent with lifelong friends. The reality that life is fleeting becomes more evident the older we get. The Beatles weren’t wrong with “All you need is love”.

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http://www.radiantknife.bandcamp.com

Radiant Knife, Pressure (2023)

Los Angeles fuzz rockers Lord Loud released their second album, Timid Beast (discussed here), in Sept. 2020, and their new single “Pressure,” comes from the same recording session. And though it was left off the record, and though it’s been three years, “Pressure” arrives sounding fresh and duly urgent, its descending riff and sub-three-minute runtime reminiscent of classic garage rock but also emblematic of the niche the duo of guitarist/vocalist Chris Allison and drummer Michael Field have dug out for themselves stylistically. Able to pivot to psychedelia or pastoral heavy vibes, languid classic heavy rock or proto-punkish shove made gentler by the rampant melody that surrounds, it is a molten sound on a fireproof structural foundation. With what feels like vital attention to pace and efficiency of craft, “Pressure” doesn’t depart this methodology to make its atmospheric impression, instead letting the ambience and mood become part of the track itself.

Timid Beast has 11 songs on it, and the band hints that there may be more singles like this coming, so it must have been a productive time putting material together after 2017’s debut, Passé Paranoia (review here), but “Pressure” does have more movement than some of the album-proper’s laid back fare — and you’ve got “Lady Sunday” in there for the more action-packed contingent, and that’s got handclaps — so it’s understandable how it might not fit in a final tracklisting. I think a lot of the time bands feel compelled to point out, “It’s not that we don’t like this song, it’s that it works better this way,” and this far out from Timid Beast, “Pressure” does stand well on its own, Allison‘s cover art suitably horrifying.

“Don’t forget to breathe” is something of a personal mantra — one I often forget — so the whispered “breathe in, breathe out” reminders peppered through the track’s final section after the jangly mini-freakout guitar solo are welcome, if actually a little fast to follow along with as a relaxation method. Fair enough since the song is about being up against a proverbial wall on any number of fronts described below. But if you didn’t hear Timid Beast or just want a refresher or something to listen to next after the premiere of “Pressure” below, that Bandcamp stream is near the bottom of the post as well.

With the caveat of maybe more to come, enjoy “Pressure,” followed by more background in blue provided by the band:

Lord Loud on “Pressure”:

‘Pressure’ was written at a time where we felt an undercurrent of tension fomenting but before all the events that are probably going to end up in history books. Prices, politics, and the music scene all teemed and boiled under the surface. We were also closing in on wrapping up recording sessions to figure out what our album TIMID BEAST might become, so there was some personal pressure on us to produce a crop of songs to cull down to a tight and lean offering. At this time, we were recording in Downtown Rehearsal, and were losing the practice space at the end of the month. We had the idea of doing a song with a lot of loud to quiet dynamics, and we turned it around in a couple days. It was a shared space, so recording sessions would consist of setting up all the mics and getting our engineering down, and Mike usually got it in a couple takes. We didn’t really have time for more because we had to break down and get to our jobs.

The song seemed a little more frenetic than some of the cuts that made the album and we thought it might have a better chance to live on its own. The world got thrown into chaos, and us with it, but we’re finally piecing some things back together to finalize the remaining songs we had. Not sure if the societal tension that inspired this song has been released when I look around at different cities and countries, but the timing feels right for us to finally release some ‘Pressure’.

After three quiet years, Lord Loud peaks out to release a new hair raising single, Pressure. Recorded during the 2020 Timid Beast sessions, Pressure remained an interesting outlier of a song that didn’t find its way onto the final album. When it came time to compose the track order for Timid Beast, the band chose to be concise and to the themes of the album and a few wonderful songs fell to the wayside. The song embodies the sonic qualities of building, heart pumping tension, transforming anxiety and stress into a hard rock classic.

Along with this single, we have the great pleasure of releasing a repress of the long sought after TIMID BEAST lp. Two stunning variants are available. The first is an Orange Splatter in Ultra Clear vinyl with a standard jacket limited to 200 copies worldwide. The second is Creamsicle Swirl in Opaque vinyl that includes a double sided, hand screen printed jacket with a new art layout.

All artwork including the single was make by lead singer/guitarist, Chris Allision. Chris, a professional story artist for animated feature films and draws comics on the side. Michael Feld, drummer, just released a documentary about My Morning Jacket titled “Return to Thunderdome” that he co-directed and co-edited. The band has had expansive reach into creative fields outside of their music output.

Lord Loud are:
Chris Allison – vocals, guitar, etc.
Mike Feld – drums, percussion

Lord Loud, Timid Beast (2020)

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