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: Steve Austin of Today is the Day

—

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

I play music. Music that I feel inside. I was alone a lot as a kid and lived out in the country. A friend of mine showed me AC/DC “Back In Black” and I was hooked the minute I heard it.

Describe your first musical memory.

Going to Square Dances with my Mom and Dad and my Dad jamming out on his Gibson ES-175D and Twin Reverb. I didn’t know that rock music existed until I was around 13 years old.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Playing Hellfest for the second time, in 2023, and bringing both my sons, Hank and Willi with me. It was a dream come true.

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

Throughout my entire career. Music has its ups and downs. Especially if you stay true to your musical vision. Especially if that musical vision isn’t trendy and goes against the musical norms. Van breakdowns, injuries, music business madness, missing band members that were dear to me.

It’s a tough business to be in and everyone is not cut out for it. I’ve wanted to quit my band probably five times, and like a deranged masochist, I just can’t let it go. It means way too much to me. Music is my life, it’s real and I can’t imagine living life without it.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

You gotta play what you feel in your heart. How you really feel. I always want to make a new song that I have never ever heard before. Life is ever changing. If you are being true in your writing, then your songs should reflect the evolution that you are living through.

How do you define success?

My wife Hanna, my sons Hank and Willi, my dog Abi, my friends, my fans, my home.

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

I saw a man that was Dead, sitting behind the wheel of his car yesterday at Home Depot. EMT’s were gently trying to remove his body from the car. He was very old. It made me extremely sad to think that his last moments were by himself in a shitty Home Depot parking lot.

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

I would like to write and direct a film sometime and then do a score for it.

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

To share the human condition with others and hopefully provide shelter from the storm and inspiration to keep moving forward for others and myself.

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

I’m looking forward to deer season this year. I hunt every year to provide food for my family. When I am out in the mountains hunting, there is a certain tranquility that really is special. Nature, only nature and me. No bullshit, no problems, no pain or suffering. Just me and all that being in the wilderness holds.

Photo above by Nathaniel Shannon.

https://www.todayistheday.us
https://www.todayistheday.bigcartel.com
https://www.todayistheday.bandcamp.com
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Today is the Day, Live in Japan (2023)

This Thursday, Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based noisemakers Woorms launch an East Coast/Midwest tour supporting their 2022 album, Fatalismo, but even as they go they’re moving forward from there too. If you’re sensitive to flashing lights, the idea of self-mutilation as sexual kink, or aural pummel, you might consider hanging back on this one, but for everyone else — therapy? — the 5:43 “Amputation Station” video should sit nicely. Making his first appearance in the trio is Miguel Rincon, and for those who encountered Fatalismo last year or who will find themselves standing in front of the stage on the band’s current tour, his presence would seem to make a marked difference in the group.

The narrative around the single is one of aural expansion. Drummer Aaron M. Polk and guitarist/vocalist Joey Carbo, and the aforementioned newbie low-ender Rincon, bring atmosphere into the song in a way that Fatalismo moved away from after 2019’s Slake (review here) was loaded with samples and whatnot. A keyboard part running alongside the central riff in the new song makes the last record seem so comparatively raw. Where even “And Heck Followed With Him” preferred to flesh out with feedback around its almost Melvins-y riffing and Carbo‘s guttural bellows, or the subsequent “Lunge Meat” held its noise till the end, “Amputation Station” builds off “Dead Dead Men”

Both of those, by the way, are well intact on “Amputation Station,” but with more layering, that current of keys comes through as methodical and a more essential piece of what gives the song its eerie vibe. It’s not a crazy shift in sound, but it does distinguish the track from the previous LP, and would seem to hint at the direction in which they’re moving, but of course what the hell do I ever know about any of it. Recorded by Carbo, “Amputation Station” is every-level-weird, a little off-putting in its subject matter, and visually abrasive. All of this is on purpose. Woorms are a band who offer their crunching, meat-toned aggression as a challenge to themselves and their audience alike. If you end up at a gig, I hope it’s a blast.

Carbo digs (carves?) into his fascination with the idea of amputation fetishization — I’m sure there’s a word for it, but I’m not going to look it up — in the PR wire info that follows the video, and sure enough, the video follows here. If you’re up for it on whatever level you want to read that as meaning, please enjoy:

Woorms, “Amputation Station” video premiere

“Amputation Station” is the newest video and single from Baton Rouge/New Orleans, Louisiana-based noise rock trio WOORMS. The standalone track drops as the band gets in the van to assault the Eastern half of the US on tour this week.

WOORMS’ material surges with dirge, grit, and groove, backed with bellowing amplification. Since their 2017 formation, the band has developed a diehard fanbase through three LPs, an array of singles, demos, and EPs, splits with A Hanging, Radiant Knife, and The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, released through the likes of Sludgelord Records, Forbidden Place Records, and their own Hospital Records. Most recently, the band’s third LP, Fatalismo, was recorded with Steve Austin from Today Is The Day and released on Austin’s SuperNova Records last Summer.

After the release of Fatalismo, guitarist/vocalist Joey Carbo and drummer Aaron M. Polk welcomed new bassist Miguel Rincon, and the trio immediately began creating new music, expanding the band’s sound with new stylistic experimentation. “Amputation Station,” the first new song from the revamped lineup, was recorded by Carbo at his own The Hospital studio in Baton Rouge, and now sees release through a video, filmed and edited by Istanbul-based director Ensar Oytun Morgul.

Carbo delves into the new song and video, “I have intended to write about self-surgery for maybe twenty years now. Back then I had read some accounts of people successfully removing glands in marathon self-surgery sessions, lying on plastic sheeting on a motel room floor. They would become obsessed with the removal of a certain organ; a pathology would develop there. I do a lot of research for songs and to find samples that no one will have heard before. These research sessions are not always the best part of my job, to put it nicely, but research for this song was fucking hardcore.

“I learned that there are a few subtypes within this community. So, let me be very clear on this video. The acts we portray mimic those of individuals who, for sexual and/or aesthetic purposes, willingly remove their own body parts. We absolutely don’t judge any of this behavior. We say go for it; safety first, and let God be your gardener… we don’t give a fuck. But what we are not making light of (or even portraying here) is the fetishization of those who have lost limbs in accidents, etc. Again, all good with us when consent is established. I say that because one thing I learned is that when someone suffers an amputation one of the first things doctors will prepare them for is the fact that they will be approached by or receive the attentions of certain people who will be attracted to the amputation itself, so they can decide how they will deal with that and consider how that might make them feel.

“We had no desire to tackle that nuanced subject. But two guys willing to take their own limbs off so they can enjoy some good old’ fashioned stump fucking? Well, that’s fair game. The extreme certainly interests me as much as anyone else. I am intrigued by those who would go so far as to self-mutilate, become a serial killer, or join a religion.”

WOORMS sets out across the Eastern US on tour this week. With sixteen shows confirmed, the band will play cities in Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, and Alabama between June 8th and 24th. See all confirmed dates below and watch for additional live updates and more to post over the months ahead.

WOORMS June 2023 Tour Dates:
6/08/2023 Marsh Room – Metairie, LA
6/09/2023 The Mix – San Antonio, TX
6/10/2023 The 13th Floor – Austin, TX
6/11/2023 3 Links – Dallas, TX
6/12/2023 Growlers – Memphis, TN
6/13/2023 Kiss Bar – Springfield, MO
6/14/2023 Minibar – Kansas City, MO
6/15/2023 Buzzbomb – Springfield, IL
6/16/2023 Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL
6/17/2023 The Lager House – Detroit, MI
6/18/2023 Buzzbin – Akron, OH
6/20/2023 Southgate House – Newport, KY
6/21/2023 Cherry St Tavern – Chattanooga, TN
6/22/2023 Starbar – Atlanta, GA
6/23/2023 Alabama Music Box – Mobile, AL
6/24/2023 Fractal Brewing – Huntsville, AL

WOORMS is:
Joey Carbo – guitar/vocals/keys/samples/etc.
Aaron M. Polk – drums
Miguel Rincon – bass

Woorms, Fatalismo (2022)

Woorms linktr.ee

Woorms on Instagram

Woorms on Facebook

Woorms on Bandcamp

Is it June yet? No? Then I’m glad not to be egregiously behind the times in posting these Woorms tour dates as the Louisiana-based atmosludgers/noisemakers will head out on a run through the Midwest and Southeast in support of last year’s Fatalismo, their third album, on SuperNova Records, the label helmed by Steve Austin of avant-caustic trailblazers Today is the Day.

Austin also produced, mixed and mastered Fatalismo, which is weirder than thou and judges thee harshly for that but is less prickish about it than, say, ’90s-era Melvins, and listening to it now, I wish I’d reviewed it a year ago (I did post a Questionnaire from Joey Carbo, so the neglect wasn’t complete), but such is Mango. Persistently.

The tour runs two-plus weeks and apparently they have a new single on the way as well. I’ll look forward to that press release coming in 10 minutes after this is published, because that’s how it goes when you suck as bad at life as I do.

From the PR wire:

WOORMS: Louisiana Noise Rock/Sludge Trio Announces Eastern US June Tour; Fatalismo LP Out Now On SuperNova Records + New Music In The Works

Baton Rouge/New Orleans, Louisiana sludge/noise rock crew WOORMS has announced a run of tour dates through the Eastern half of the US this June, supporting their SuperNova Records-released Fatalismo LP.

Released in May of 2022, WOORMS’ Fatalismo was produced, engineered, and mastered by Today Is The Day/SuperNova Records’ Steve Austin – who also provides additional vocals on “This Is Nothing Short Of Character Assassination” – at Austin Enterprise, with additional recording by the band’s Joey Carbo at The Hospital in Baton Rouge. The album was completed with surrealistic artwork by Januz Miralles and design/layout by Joshua Wilkinson.

Guitarist/vocalist Joey Carbo and drummer Aaron M. Polk also welcome new bassist Miguel Rincon, who joined the band in recent months. From Chicago, Rincon cut his teeth in the hardcore/metal scene of New Orleans. As a hired gun in various touring bands Rincon found a home in WOORMS in 2022. Known for his dynamic attack to the bass and high energy stage presence it’s safe to say he fits right in.

Having supported Fatalismo with regional live performances over the past year, WOORMS will now take the album out across the Eastern US in June. With sixteen shows confirmed, the band will play cities in Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, and Alabama between June 8th and 24th.

WOORMS is also working on new material, some of which will be played on the new tour. The band is currently completing a new single which will be released in conjunction with the launch of the tour. See all confirmed dates below and stand by for the new single and other news to post shortly.

WOORMS June 2023 Tour Dates:
6/08/2023 Marsh Room – Metairie, LA
6/09/2023 The Mix – San Antonio, TX
6/10/2023 The 13th Floor – Austin, TX
6/11/2023 3 Links – Dallas, TX
6/12/2023 Growlers – Memphis, TN
6/13/2023 Kiss Bar – Springfield, MO
6/14/2023 Minibar – Kansas City, MO
6/15/2023 Buzzbomb – Springfield, IL
6/16/2023 Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL
6/17/2023 The Lager House – Detroit, MI
6/18/2023 Buzzbin – Akron, OH
6/20/2023 Southgate House – Newport, KY
6/21/2023 Cherry St Tavern – Chattanooga, TN
6/22/2023 Starbar – Atlanta, GA
6/23/2023 Alabama Music Box – Mobile, AL
6/24/2023 Fractal Brewing – Huntsville, AL

WOORMS’ anthems thunder with elements of dirge, grit, groove, and bellowing amplification foundationally attributed to masters of the realms of noise rock, sludge, and psychedelic metal scenes. Since their 2017 formation, the band has developed a diehard fanbase through performing live and their records, released through Sludgelord Records, Forbidden Place Records, and their own Hospital Records, including two LPs, an array of singles, demos, and EPs, and split releases with A Hanging, Radiant Knife, and The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.

In March of 2020, WOORMS drove 1500 miles to open for Today is The Day in Ohio where frontman Steve Austin joined them on stage for a song. This connection led WOORMS to Austin’s compound in remote northern Maine in the Fall of 2020 to record what would be their third LP, Fatalismo.

https://linktr.ee/WOORMS
https://www.instagram.com/woorms_
https://www.facebook.com/WOORMSband
https://woorms.bandcamp.com

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Woorms, Fatalismo (2022)

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: Joey Carbo of Woorms

—

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

I am a Recording Artist and a Writer. I’ve always done those things. It seems like the first thing I decided to do once I learned to write sentences was use them to create stories. And that’s still what I’m doing. I was always an artist. I spent almost all my time drawing, painting, and writing stories up to age 13 (when I went to my two only fiends and informed them that they would be learning to play because we were going to be a band).

I wrote a bunch of songs too, since my first memories, but had no idea how to play them; they were just in my head and, consequently I think, I still write my songs in my head most of the time. Only now, I know how to get them out.

Once I began to teach myself to play different instruments, it was all I ever wanted to do. I recorded with tape decks, I built a homemade 3 track before I got (or even knew that one could get) a little Tascam 4 track.

I still write stories and chip away at book manuscripts when I have time, but I spend very close to all of my time either making or thinking about making music.

Nowadays, I’m also a Producer/Engineer.

Describe your first musical memory.

I was about four. I heard “Big River” and I got a painful lump in my throat and goosebumps all over. I shivered. My chest ached. I didn’t know at the time why I felt this way and I didn’t know what an epiphany was but I DID know that I had to figure out how to make other people feel this way because it was both beautiful and horrible and it seemed to set the whole world right. I still feel that way and I am still only interested in sad songs, tragic songs, murder ballads, sacrifice, loss, intensity. I wasn’t a dark child yet by any means but darkness did move me at that very early age.

Describe your best musical memory to date?

I just did.

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

I hate to answer the question this way but I don’t believe much in belief. Certainty is reserved for fools. I think I’m paraphrasing Montaigne there but as long as I’m being a pretentious fuck, let’s look at it another way.

Bertrand Russell said, “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are so certain of themselves and wiser people are so full of doubts.” Something like that. I fit the bill there (if I can call myself a wiser person, and I do) and as much as I like Russell’s work, I am of two minds about his wisdom here. While it may be tragic that “wise men” are not more certain, I’m not sure just how wise they’d continue to be if they strapped on some convictions and started in on finger pointing.

I try to free myself of belief in effort to be less vain and self centered. Not that I succeed as much as I’d like to.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

To isolation, to obscurity. My bands have always been too weird for the “intended audience”. And not that I ever “intended” an audience but my first touring band: too heavy for the indie or prog bands and too strangely quiet and sonically dynamic for the metal heads; I had a five piece noise rock/folk/country band: way too goddamn weird for that crowd but no way we could play with metal bands.

I don’t mind that it sounds cynical. For all but a very few, originality is a death knell. Once in a blue moon it catches on and no one wants to admit it but very few of us want to be taken out of our comfort zones. It’s depressing, to be honest. As I’m sure I am being right now.

How do you define success?

I want to be recognized for my work — any artist that says differently is not being honest with themself — but if you consider that during the creation process then the work dies on the vine. The only success is a satisfied mind. And NO ONE has figured out how to get their hands on one of those.

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

I’m sorry, I’m not really comfortable with the question.

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

A full film score. Woorms is slated to score a silent film for a live audience this fall (and we’re making a studio record of it) but I’d love to score a movie.

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

I don’t think there is time for, nor interest in, a good answer here. This is a huge question. Art is demonstrably inseparable from the human psyche. In a cage, we will sing. In a firing squad, we will imagine a life after death. The earth has turned to ice and trapped us inside caves to face starvation and still we will carve our dreams into the walls. Sappy, I know.

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

That’s a tough one …dinner? Haha!

I am traveling to Portugal later this year after tour to see a good friend and I’m learning the language. I do know him because of music but I can’t think of anyone I know for some other reason.

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https://www.facebook.com/WOORMSband
https://woorms.bandcamp.com

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Woorms, Fatalismo (2022)