Posted in Whathaveyou on May 28th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
It’s beautiful, innit? A perfect mesh of nostalgia for what was and laying claim to what may yet be. Emissions From the Monolith isn’t just returning to remind people it was there 20-plus years ago when the notion of a festival celebrating underground heavy from sludge to psych — that kind of genrefest — wasn’t entirely unheard of but was nowhere near as widespread or taken for granted as it is now. It’s looking ahead. You get Torche (!) and Rebreather, but you also get Howling Giant and High Desert Queen. Fistula and Winds of Neptune. That’s gonna be a wild few days.
I ran into Ben from The Brought Low this past weekend in Brooklyn, and nearly the first words out of his mouth were asking if I would be in Ohio this October. Four-day fest plus a day of travel on either side makes it less feasible, especially coming off In the Key of Doom, also in NYC, the weekend before. It would be a challenge and would require a lot of indulgence on my wife’s part. I’m not sure I can make that ask, actually. And I’m not sure I have a car that I would trust to make it to and from Ohio. I guess that’s a factor too.
But you never know what the next few months will bring, and the lineup is gorgeous either way, so here it is as posted by the fest on socials:
EMISSIONS FROM THE MONOLITH 10 — FINAL POSTER + FULL LINEUP REVEAL
After nearly two decades away, Emissions From The Monolith returns October 8–11, 2026 at Westside Bowl in Youngstown, Ohio.
Four days of underground heavy music presented on a single stage with full sets and absolutely no overlaps.
Built around immersion, discovery, flow, and community rather than festival sprawl, Emissions has always focused on the experience of being there from start to finish.
We’re intentionally choosing not to sell the room to maximum capacity. Comfort matters more.
Final poster artwork by Mercerrock (Brian Mercer Design)
FULL LINEUP Axioma BAT Bongzilla Cavity A.D. Deadbird Disengage edhochuli Fistula Generation of Vipers Great Falls High Desert Queen Horseburner Howling Giant Kowloon Walled City Lake Lake Lo-Pan Minsk O.I.L. rebreather Rwake Shun Solace Stinking Lizaveta Sunrot Telekinetic Yeti The Brought Low THUNDERCHIEF TODAY IS THE DAY Torche Voivod Weedeater Winds Of Neptune
October 8–11, 2026 Westside Bowl — Youngstown, Ohio
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 4th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Some of the finest the US Midwest has to offer will make its way to Emissions From the Monolith 10 this October in Ohio, with Fistula, Bongzilla, Lo-Pan, Axioma and Minsk, and O.I.L. too if you count Pittsburgh as the Midwest. Alongside those, Voidvod and Torche! Like, oh, no big deal. I knew Emissions was taking some big swings in its return year, with noisier bands like Cavity and Today is the Day, but Voivod are another level of weirdo-unplaceable, and alongside Minsk, who haven’t had a full-length out in 11 years and somehow that just makes the thought of seeing them cooler, and Ryan Waste of Municipal Waste‘s Bat, this lineup feels like it’s moving quickly into the realm of unfuckwithability.
Is the lineup complete? I’m not entirely sure. It doesn’t say either way on the poster, so maybe there are more adds or maybe not. Either way, I don’t see how you could look at the single-stage/four-day sprawl of bands — theoretically I could go to Emissions in October and see all of it; I like that idea — and feel like something’s missing, especially now that the word Torche appears in it.
Some oldschool, some newschool, and not a single not-on-purpose bummer in the bunch:
EMISSIONS FROM THE MONOLITH 10 – TRANSMISSION 3
A third wave of artists joins Emissions from the Monolith 10.
October 8–11, 2026 at Westside Bowl in Youngstown, Ohio.
Previously announced: Cavity Deadbird Disengage Edhochuli Generation of Vipers Great Falls High Desert Queen Horseburner Howling Giant Kowloon Walled City Lake Lake Rebreather Rwake Shun Solace Stinking Lizaveta Sunrot Telekinetic Yeti The Brought Low Thunderchief Today Is The Day Weedeater Winds of Neptune
One stage.
No overlaps.
Four days of total immersion in the heavy underground
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 25th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
This news came out last week but I was neck-deep in Quarterly Review stuff and didn’t get have time for living let alone other posts, so yeah, I’m playing catchup. What else is new? Well, the bunch of bands added to the returning Emissions From the Monolith are new, for example. A few of these put out some of last year’s best records. Looking at Howling Giant and Rwake, specifically in that regard, but also Winds of Neptune and Horseburner and High Desert Queen still have strong ’24 outings they’re heralding, so yes, very much a case of ‘sick bill gets sicker.’ I don’t know why I still write straightforward headlines when I could be proffering insights like this.
The cross-generational blend for Emissions From the Monolith 10, present in the first announcement — you had Telekinetic Yeti and Generation of Vipers alongside bands who played Emissions during its first incarnation — is exaggerated with this new one. Even having Shun where in years past Throttlerod might’ve been speaks to that. There are apparently more bands to add to the four-day fest, set for Oct. 8-11 in Youngstown, Ohio, and I’ll be curious to see where the balance shakes out.
For now, here’s the latest confirmations as seen on the ol’ social media that barely existed last time Emissions happened:
EMISSIONS FROM THE MONOLITH 10 – TRANSMISSION 2
A second wave of artists has joined Emissions from the Monolith 10.
Cavity Edhochuli Great Falls High Desert Queen Horseburner Howling Giant Kowloon Walled City Lake Lake Rwake Shun Thunderchief Today Is The Day Winds of Neptune
These bands join the previously announced:
Deadbird Disengage Generation of Vipers Rebreather Solace Stinking Lizaveta Sunrot Telekinetic Yeti The Brought Low Weedeater
October 8–11, 2026 Westside Bowl — Youngstown, Ohio
One stage. No overlaps. The original heavy underground gathering
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 18th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Feast your eyes on the Brian Mercer poster below — oh golly, I hope they make t-shirts — and behold not only the art’s glory but also the know-your-shit gauntlet being thrown down by the initial lineup for Emissions From the Monolith 10, which will be the first edition of the festival in 19 years. And some of these bands are veterans of the event to be sure — Rebreather are the hometown staple, Solace, Stinking Lizaveta, Deadbird, The Brought Low, Disengage, Weedeater would’ve likely played, while Generation of Vipers and Telekinetic Yeti have come up in the interim. The message being delivered here lives up to what the returning festival said it would do in terms of blending the oldschool Emissions palette with newer incarnations of heavy.
I’m planning on going to this. I don’t know where I’m staying yet. I don’t know how I’m getting there — maybe a train? is that crazy? — but I knew damn well before this initial, more-to-come lineup was announced that I wanted to be there for Emissions 10. The bill thus far only makes me look forward to it more. No, it won’t be like it was at the Nyabinghi in 2006 when I got voted off the island (it was okay, I eventually got back on, but like a decade later) and the guys from SunnO))) were throwing hissyfits on the stage monitors. It’s been 19 years. But in addition to the reunion aspect of it, I can’t wait to see who else gets added, because Emissions From the Monolith‘s Greg Barratt has always had a very particular ear for sludge and heavy, and especially with the hints here in Telekinetic Yeti and Generation of Vipers, I’m curious to know who else makes the cut. Would Howling Giant be a fit? What about Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol?
Presumably it’ll be the New Year before the next announcement is made, but tickets are available if you want to come hang. We’ll sort out the details like travel and lodging later. Probably too late.
From social media:
Emissions From The Monolith 10
October 8–11, 2026 Westside Bowl — Youngstown, Ohio
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 6th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Certainly I didn’t realize at the time just how formative an experience it would be for me as regards attending music festivals, but I was at Emissions From the Monolith 8 in 2006. I remember being too intimidated to give Greg Barratt, who’ll bring the event back in 2026 after a 19-year absence, a CD-R demo from my band at the time. The Nyabinghi is gone, but Westside Bowl will host the reincarnation, set for Oct. 8-11 in Youngstown, Ohio. I wanna go. I don’t even know who’s playing, but I wanna go. I hope Rebreather open.
The initial announcement for Emissions From the Monolith 10 follows here, as per the PR wire. There are no bands listed yet, which is fair enough with it being a year away. In any case, did I mention I wanna go? Road trip style. You should come too.
Here’s what they had to say about it:
Emissions from the Monolith Returns: Emissions 10 Comes Home to Youngstown
October 8-11, 2026 • Westside Bowl, Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown, OH — After a long silence, Emissions from the Monolith is rising again. October 8-11, 2026, Emissions from the Monolith 10 will reclaim its roots at Westside Bowl in Youngstown, Ohio, reviving a festival legacy that first took form in 1999 and ran through 2007, spotlighting metal, doom, sludge, stoner, and heavy underground music.
Emissions 10 is more than a concert weekend; it’s a homecoming. Expect a mix of legendary favorites from the original era alongside new faces pushing the boundaries, all sharing the same stage. Over four nights, we’ll gather the community we started building 25 years ago, reconnecting fans, bands, and friends as one family under heavy riffs.
HIGHLIGHTS & FEATURES
• Performances by multiple fan-favorite legacy acts • Newer bands carrying forward the spirit of underground heaviness • A tightly curated, fan-first atmosphere with limited ticket sales to eliminate festival burnout
WHY NOW?
We believe the time is right to bring Emissions back. The force that made the festival legendary, built on raw passion, deep connection, and fearless heaviness, still resonates in this community. Emissions 10 aims to bridge the old and the new, honoring the roots while embracing where underground music stands today.
More lineup and scheduling announcements will roll out in the coming months.
ABOUT EMISSIONS FROM THE MONOLITH
First launched around 1999 and active through 2007, Emissions from the Monolith held a vital place in the U.S. underground heavy music scene. Its influence continues to be felt in how bands connect with audiences, underground festival culture, and heavy-riffed community building.
Today is Wednesday, the day we hit and pass the halfway mark for this week, which is a quarter of the way through the entirety of this 100-release Quarterly Review. Do you need to know that? Not really, but it’s useful for me to keep track of how much I’m doing sometimes, which is why I count in the first place. 100 records isn’t nothing, you know. Or 10 for that matter. Or one. I don’t know.
A little more variety here, which is always good, but I’ve got momentum behind me after yesterday and I don’t want to delay diving in, so off we go.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
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Saturnalia Temple, Paradigm Call
For the band’s fourth album, Paradigm Call, founding Saturnalia Temple guitarist/vocalist Tommie Eriksson leads the newcomer rhythm section of drummer Pelle Åhman and bassist Gottfrid Åhman through eight abyss-plundering tracks across 48 minutes of roiling tonal mud distinguished by its aural stickiness and Eriksson‘s readily identifiable vocal gurgle. The methodology hasn’t changed much since 2020’s Gravity (review here) in terms of downward pull, but the title-track’s solo is sharp enough to cut through the mire, and while it’s no less harsh for doing so, “Among the Ruins” explores a faster tempo while staying in line with the all-brown psychedelic swirl around it, brought to fruition in the backwards-sounding loops of closer “Kaivalya” after the declarative thud of side B standout “Empty Chalice.” They just keep finding new depths. It’s impressive. Also a little horrifying.
It’s easy to respect a band so unwilling to be boxed by genre, and Rotterdam’s Dool put the righteous aural outsiderness that’s typified their sound since 2017’s Here Now There Then (review here) to meta-level use on their third long-player for Prophecy Productions, The Shape of Fluidity. Darkly progressive, rich in atmosphere, broad in range and mix, heavy-but-not-beholden-to-tone in presentation, encompassing but sneaky-catchy in pieces like opener “Venus in Flames,” the flowing title-track, and the in-fact-quite-heavy “Hermagorgon,” the record harnesses declarations and triumphs around guitarist/vocalist Raven van Dorst‘s stated lyrical thematic around gender-nonbinaryism, turning struggle and confusion into clarity of expressive purpose in the breakout “Self-Dissect” and resolving with furious culmination in “The Hand of Creation” with due boldness. Given some of the hateful, violent rhetoric around gender-everything in the modern age, the bravery of Dool — Van Dorst alongside guitarists Nick Polak and Omar Iskandr, bassist JB van der Wal and drummer Vincent Kreyder — in confronting that head-on with these narratives is admirable, but it’s still the songs themselves that make The Shape of Fluidity one of 2024’s best albums.
After releasing 2022’s In the Dark (review here) on Small Stone, Denver heavy rockers Abrams align to Blues Funeral Recordings for their fifth album in a productive, also-touring nine years, the 10-track/42-minute Blue City. Production by Kurt Ballou (High on Fire, Converge, etc.) at GodCity Studio assures no lack of impact as “Fire Waltz” reaffirms the tonal density of the riffs that the Zach Amster-led four-piece nonetheless made dance in opener “Tomorrow,” while the rolling “Death Om” and the momentary skyward ascent in “Etherol” — a shimmering preface to the chug-underscored mellowness of “Narc” later — lay out some of the dynamic that’s emerged in their sound along with the rampant post-hardcore melodies that come through in Amster and Graham Zander‘s guitars, capable either of meting out hard-landing riffs to coincide with the bass of Taylor Iversen (also vocals) and Ryan DeWitt‘s drumming, or unfurling sections of float like those noted above en route to tying it all together with the closing “Blue City.” Relatively short runtimes and straightforward-feeling structures mask the stylistic nuance of the actual material — nothing new there for Abrams; they’re largely undervalued — and the band continue to reside in between-microgenre spaces as they await the coming of history which will inevitably prove they were right all along.
Superlynx bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen made her solo debut under the Pia Isa moniker with 2022’s Distorted Chants (review here), and in addition to announcing the SoftSun collaboration she’ll undertake alongside Yawning Man‘s Gary Arce (who also appeared on her record), in 2024, she offers the three-song Burning Time EP, with a cover of Radiohead‘s “Burn the Witch” backed by two originals, “Treasure” and “Nothing Can Turn it Back.” With drumming by her Superlynx bandmate Ole Teigen (who also recorded), “Burn the Witch” becomes a lumbering forward march, ethereal in melody but not necessarily cultish, while “Treasure” digs into repetitive plod led by the low end and “Nothing Can Turn it Black” brings the guitar forward but is most striking in the break that brings the dual-layered vocals forward near the midpoint. The songs are leftovers from the LP, but if you liked the LP, that shouldn’t be a problem.
A late-2023 initial public offering from Houston’s Wretched Kingdom, their self-titled EP presents a somewhat less outwardly joyous take on the notion of “Texas desert rock” than that offered by, as an example, Austin’s High Desert Queen, but the metallic riffing that underscores “Dreamcrusher” goes farther back in its foundations than whatever similarity to Kyuss one might find in the vocals or speedier riffy shove of “Smoke and Mirrors.” Sharp-cornered in tone, opener “Torn and Frayed” gets underway with metered purpose as well, and while the more open-feeling “Too Close to the Sun” begins similar to “You Can’t Save Me” — the strut that ensues in the latter distinguishes — the push in its second half comes after riding a steady groove into a duly bluesy solo. There’s nothing in the material to take you out of the flow between the six component cuts, and even closer “Deviation” tells you it’s about to do something different as it works from its mellower outset into a rigorous payoff. With the understanding that most first-EPs of this nature are demos by another name and (as here) more professional sound, Wretched Kingdom‘s Wretched Kingdom asks little in terms of indulgence and rewards generously when encountered at higher volumes. Asking more would be ridiculous.
Like earlier Clutch born out of shenanigans-prone punk, Youngstown, Ohio’s Lake Lake are tight within the swinging context of a song like “The Boy Who Bit Me,” which is the second of the self-released Proxy Joy‘s six inclusions. Brash in tone and the gutted-out shouty vocals, offsetting its harder shoving moments with groovy back-throttles in songs that could still largely be called straightforward, the quirk and throaty delivery of “Blue Jerk” and the bluesier-minded “Viking Vietnam” paying off the tension in the verses of “Comfort Keepers” and the build toward that leadoff’s chorus want nothing for personality or chemistry, and as casual as the style is on paper, the arrangements are coordinated and as “Heavy Lord” finds a more melodic vocal and “Coyote” — the longest song here at 5:01 — leaves on a brash highlight note, the party they’re having is by no means unconsidered. But it is a party, and those who have dancing shoes would be well advised to keep them on hand, just in case.
Modern in the angularity of its riffing, spacious in the echoes of its tones and vocals, and encompassing enough in sound to be called progressive within a heavy context, Altered States follows Canadian four-piece Gnarwhal‘s 2023 self-titled debut full-length with four songs that effectively bring together atmosphere and impact in the six-minute “The War Nothing More” — big build in the second half leading to more immediate, on-beat finish serving as a ready instance of same — with twists that feel derived of the MastoBaroness school rhythmically and up-front vocal melodies that give cohesion to the darker vibe of “From Her Hands” after displaying a grungier blowout in “Tides.” The terrain through which they ebb and flow, amass and release tension, soar and crash, etc., is familiar if somewhat intangible, and that becomes an asset as the concluding “Altered States” channels the energy coursing through its verses in the first half into the airy payoff solo that ends. I didn’t hear the full-length last year. Listening to what Gnarwhal are doing in these tracks in terms of breadth and crunch, I feel like I missed out. You might also consider being prepared to want to hear more upon engaging.
Help the humans? No. Help! The Humans…, and here as in so many of life’s contexts, punctuation matters. Digging into a heavy, character-filled and charging punkish sound they call “Appalachian thrash,” Boone, North Carolina, three-piece Bongfoot are suitably over-the-top as they explore what it means to be American in the current age, couching discussions of wealth inequality, climate crisis, corporatocracy, capitalist exploitation, the insecurity at root in toxic masculinity and more besides. With clever, hooky lyrics that are a total blast despite being tragic in the subject matter and a pace of execution well outside what one might think is bong metal going in because of the band’s name, Bongfoot vigorously kick ass from opener “End Times” through the galloping end of “Amazon Death Factory/Spacefoot” and the untitled mountain ramble that follows as an outro. Along the way, they intermittently toy with country twang, doom, and hardcore punk, and offer a prayer to the titular volcano of “Krakatoa” to save at least the rest of the world if not humanity. It’s quite a time to be alive. Listening, that is. As for the real-world version of the real world, it’s less fun and more existentially and financially draining, which makes Help! The Humans… all the more a win for its defiance and charm. Even with the bonus tracks, I’ll take more of this anytime they’re ready with it.
It’s interesting, because you can’t really say that Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans‘ second LP, Ateşisn’t neo-psychedelia, but the eight tracks and 38 minutes of the record itself warrant enunciating what that means. Where much of 2020s-era neo-psych is actually space rock with thicker tones (shh! it’s a secret!), what Greenwood — AKA Thomas Mascheroni, also of Bergamo, Italy’s Humulus) brings to sounds like the swaying, organ-laced “Sleepwalker” and the resonant spaciousness in the soloing of “Mystic Sunday Morning” is more kin to the neo-psych movement that began in the 1990s, which itself was a reinterpretation of the genre’s pop-rock origins in the 1960s. Is this nitpicking? Not when you hear the title-track infusing its Middle Eastern-leaning groove with a heroic dose of wah or the friendly shimmer of “I Do Not” that feels extrapolated from garage rock but is most definitely not that thing and the post-Beatles bop of “Sunhouse.” It’s an individual (if inherently familiar) take that unifies the varied arrangements of the acidic “When We Die” and the cosmic vibe of “All the Lines” (okay, so there’s a little bit of space boogie too), resolving in the Doors-y lumber of “Crack” to broaden the scope even further and blur past timelines into an optimistic future.
As direct as some of its push is and as immediate as “Fish” is opening the album right into the first verse, the course that harp-laced French heavy progressive rockers Djiin take on their third album, Mirrors, ultimately more varied, winding and satisfying as its five-track run gives over to the nine-minute “Mirrors” and uses its time to explore more pointedly atmospheric reaches before a weighted crescendo that precedes the somehow-fluidity in the off-time early stretch of centerpiece “In the Aura of My Own Sadness,” its verses topped with spoken word and offset by note-for-note melodic conversation between the vocals and guitar. Rest assured, they build “In the Aura of My Own Sadness” to its own crushing end, while taking a more decisively psychedelic approach to get there, and thereby set up “Blind” with its trades from open-spaces held to pattern by the drums and a pair of nigh-on-caustic noise rock onslaughts before 13-minute capstone “Iron Monsters” unfolds a full instrumental linear movement before getting even heavier, as if to underscore the notion that Djiin can go wherever the hell they want and make it work as a song. Point taken.
If you’re prone to getting headaches from things like flashing lights, jumpy video or — I guess? — hard riffs, you’ll probably want to skip Rebreather‘s new video. The song is “Sicksicksick,” and it’s telling as to the ethic of the Ohio trio generally that it doesn’t even come up for air until more than two minutes into its total 3:13. The punk-rooted Youngstown sludgers made the clip, one assumes, to remind any and all of the righteousness of their late-2021 return long-player, The Line, its Width and the War Drone (review here), which was released through Aqualamb Records as their first full-length offering since 2009.
By all accounts, the world missed Rebreather more than Rebreather missed the world during that time. “Sicksicksick” opened the album with the decisive thud of Steven Gardner‘s drumming setting the foundation even before Barley Rantilla started in with the guitar or the bite of the first verse lines. Given necessary and appreciated density by Steve Wishnewski‘s bass, a later piece like “Residual Madness” offered despondent nod following the punker fuckall of “Choke on It,” and while you may have already seen the video for “Drown” (posted here) with Gwyn Strang of fellow Ohioans Frayle (who are, like, a big deal now) sitting in on vocals, or caught the “Choke on It” clip when it premiered here, well, this is some shit you haven’t seen yet, and until they do one for “Silent H” or “It Comes in Threes” — by the way, please do — it’s my excuse to put the album on for this afternoon and anything else is a bonus.
I’ve got a Rebreather shirt in my Bandcamp cart. I think The Patient Mrs. gets paid on Friday. Gonna make that happen. So I guess that’s why bands put out videos. Maybe you should check it out too and see if maybe you also want to upgrade your wardrobe. There’s also the A Brief History Remastered compilation that’s $10 whether you buy the disc or just the DL. At that point, the plastic is its own excuse for being.
Enjoy the clip. I asked Rantilla for a few words on making it and he was kind enough to offer some comment, which you’ll find below the player.
Here goes:
Rebreather, “Sicksicksick” official video
Barley Rantilla on “Sicksicksick”:
This video is for the track “sicksicksick” from our album The Line, Its Width, and the War Drone. We shot it in our old practice space with three cameras fastened to one tripod. Our friend Johnny Eckard stood in the middle of the room rotating the cameras as we played through the song. It was my first time ever editing video, so it was a huge learning experience for me. I leaned on Steve Wishnewski (bass) for his editing knowledge to get me through all of my wrong moves. Overall, it was a pretty fun puzzle to put together.
Rebreather is: Barley Rantilla – Guitars and Vocals Steven Gardner – Drums Steve Wishnewski – Bass
Rebreather, The Line, its Width and the War Drone (2021)
Posted in Questionnaire on March 14th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
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: Barley Rantilla of Rebreather
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I turn my guitar amps up and holler a bunch. It feels real good the whole time I’m plugged in. Super glutinous, masturbatory, self-serving… but incredibly cathartic. I’m going deaf, my head hurts when I stop, and sometimes I’m a little sad afterwards. But, while its happening, it’s the best and I never want it to stop. When I was a little kid, my cousin let me hold his electric guitar while it was plugged into some tiny practice amp and the amount of feedback and noise screaming out of that speaker completely captivated me. It would be years later that my dad ended up getting me my first guitar and several years after that I got ahold of my first tube amp. From that point on, it’s been a challenge to harness that feedback and noise and try to turn it into music.
Describe your first musical memory.
My parents were really into a wide range of music and my dad always had piles of records to dig through. On Saturday mornings, my brothers and I would wake up early and spin Nilsson albums or Rick Wakeman’s “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” as the soundtracks to us destroying our Star Wars action figures in the living room. I feel bad for how many scratches we probably put on all those albums. Fortunately, my parents were less concerned with the safety of the albums and more stoked on us enjoying them.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Too many “best music” memories.
Being a little kid and staying at my grandparent’s house. They had basic cable, so I was gonna get to watch MTV all day long… YES!!! So stoked on music videos as a kid. The Clash, Van Halen, RUN DMC, fucking Thriller! Michael Jackson’s Thriller! Holy shit! A horror music video… nuts!
Seeing my first “underground” punk shows in a dirty basement bar… crazy looking people everywhere… the smell weed, stale beer, and patchouli. I still wear patchouli because it reminds me of those nights.
Playing shows with my friends. Watching them go on stage and destroy the place… what could be better than that? I’ve been lucky enough to witness that an unbelievable amount of times. So crazy to be so proud and so jealous at the same time haha.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Anytime you see someone rise to the top after working themselves to death. Believing in yourself is the most important part. I don’t think you’ll get anywhere without that.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Man… ahhh… to Death. I think that’s where everything leads… haha. So… practice makes perfect, right. I think the more you do something, then obviously you should become more comfortable doing it. Therefore, I would assume that your comfort should allow you more freedoms with whatever you are doing artistically. So, hopefully it would lead to more depth, better expression, and more of an ability to convey whatever it is you are trying to convey.
How do you define success?
If you are happy and humble, then you have won. Feeling content is tough. If you can step back and be thankful for whatever you have, then you’re moving in the right direction.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Well, I took my daughter to see Justin Bieber for her birthday… that was pretty bad. Also, I got roped into seeing some bible thumping Christian rock band when I was a little kid. The Christian rock band kept asking the crowd not to have premarital sex. Justin Bieber just kept talking about how sore his ankle was. I wish I hadn’t seen either of them, but I guess the Christian rock band seems worse. At least my daughter enjoyed Bieber. But shit… if I hadn’t had premarital sex, then I would have never had to see Justin Bieber… those christian rock band might be wiser than I thought.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’ve had this idea for a board game floating around in my head for years. Someday I will for sure embarrass myself by mocking up a prototype haha.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To communicate emotion, mainly. It can be super subjective, but if you’re on the same wavelength, you can pick up on the intent, or even discover an intent that suits you. I think art can do a lot of things… it can teach, it can distract, it can provoke. But, in my opinion, inspiring some sort of feeling or emotion would be the most essential function of art.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I’m always looking forward to hanging with friends and family. Whether it’s a vacation, a party, a night out, or just a chat… I’m always down.
