Musk Ox are a chamber folk neo-classical trio formed by Nathanael Larochette, Raphael Weinroth-Browne and Evan Runge, who write haunting compositions for classical guitar, cello and violin. Instrumental but lyrical, sweet yet melancholy, the trio's use of classical acoustic instruments provides a connection to traditional music and yet the compositions feel modern and fresh, with influences felt from heavier styles of music.
Inheritance is their latest release from July 2021 (available here on bandcamp) since releasing Woodfall in 2014, but the individual members are all prolific artists in their own right and in other group projects - suffice to say that there is a significant rabbit hole of related and fulfilling material to sink your teeth into from these artists.
The trio have recently released a music video for the album closing track, Weightless (link here), shot in Ottawa's Arboretum near the Central Experimental Farm, a truly fitting setting for the expansive and intricate sound Musk Ox craft on this piece.
To call the album lush would be an understatement; melancholy, meandering, though at other times pointed and aggressive without being mean. At times gentle, sad and questioning. A walk through the woods, contemplative, understated, sensitive, and cathartic. Bestial in the sense of being connected to nature, though not without feral aggression. Rich like water or snow, autumnal in its nostalgia and stark beauty.
From a technical perspective, the album is brilliant. Syncopated, odd time signatures give a swirling sense of motion and draw the listener in. It is foreground music as opposed to background music, which can often be the fate of chamber pieces and modern classical compositions. The layers of instrumentation evoke the kaleidoscopic effect of sunlight through a tree canopy's branches in late autumn.
I was curious about the aesthetic of their project, so I asked them about it, and they were generous and kind enough with their time to answer my long drawn out questions.
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Unsound Ottawa (Greg): I am curious to know more about your approach to the aesthetic you craft in your work, especially the emphasis on themes of nature. When I listen to Inheritance for example, the descriptions and images that come to mind are largely connected to nature, like autumnal, or bestial, or wintery if it's cold and sad. Do you have a particular image or feeling you are trying to impart through not only your music compositions, but your choice of instrumentation, your album covers, your song titles, music videos and other ancillary material?
Nathanael: Since the beginning of this project the intention has always been focused on creating a unique experience for listeners rather than communicating a particular image or feeling. Although there are themes and concepts that exist below the surface of each record, we prefer to keep them slightly obscured so the listener can develop their own relationship with the material. That being said, the connection between the natural world and our music is ever present.
Raphael: As an instrumental group, we are primarily focused on conceiving ideas that belong in the stylistic world of Musk Ox and then building them into musical narratives that convey a distinct emotional atmosphere. The language of our music is something that we understand intuitively and use to shape our compositions. The overall tone and meaning of each piece becomes clearer when it is complete; however, our perspectives on the music also change and evolve over time as we live and grow with the material. As Nathanael stated, we try to leave the themes and imagery of our music open-ended so that the sounds themselves can resonate with each listener in a unique way. I believe this makes our music far more universal and accessible to anyone who wishes to explore it.
UO: How do you approach the interaction between the ancillary
material relating to the Musk Ox project and the music itself?
Nathanael: I always approach the ancillary material with the listener in mind. I try to imagine them receiving the album, examining the artwork, reading the credits, and looking at the photos because that’s exactly how I engage with music. I love when artists put extra care and attention into their work so I do my best to offer that to listeners.
Raphael: I believe that the ancillary material should beckon the listener into the world of the album, enhancing and adding vividness to the imagery the music evokes. I like to think of making albums as a kind of “world building” in the same way that a film director or fiction author would approach establishing and populating the universe in which their stories take place. In general (and this certainly applies to Musk Ox) I prefer to use the visual components of the album to shed just enough light on the music to trigger the audience’s imagination and give them new food for thought while still preserving its mystery.
UO: Do you think listeners who would hear a song from your
project without knowing even your band name would have a similar experience?
Nathanael: It’s difficult to say how people would experience the music without knowing the band name but I think the fact we are an instrumental project offers listeners a greater opportunity to interpret our work in their own unique way.
Raphael: It is interesting to observe how some band/artist names carry a certain weight and reputation in much the same way that brands do. We tend to attribute a greater legitimacy to man-made creations, whether they be works of art or commercial products, if we are aware of the brand name attached to them. Generally, we are more predisposed to liking an artist’s work if we have already enjoyed their music in the past, while we may not be as immediately receptive to something unknown to us.
Ideally, I would hope that people allow themselves to be transported by our music, giving it their full attention and an open mind. Ultimately, repeated listens are what deepen our relationship with any piece of music or body of work, so the experience listeners have with our music is bound to evolve over time as they familiarize themselves with it.
UO: Do you care that I as a listener may hear something rooted in nature vs. another listener's interpretation which may be something completely different?
Nathanael: I absolutely love hearing varied interpretations of the music I create because it helps me see/hear it from a perspective that exists beyond my own understanding of the work. While I may have a specific emotional relationship to the material, in no way do I believe that I am the authority on what the art represents. My analogy is that the artist builds the structure but only the listener/viewer can live inside it. I can tell you how long it took to build the walls or why I chose to put the windows where they are but I will never be able to experience it with the same clear and free mind as someone entering the structure for the first time. Our live audiences have ranged from elderly audiences in nursing homes to black metal fans in rock clubs and each have offered their own unique interpretations of our music so, as far as I’m concerned, the greater the variety of perspectives the better.
Raphael: I really enjoy hearing people’s perspectives on my own output, especially when they are not informed by my own vision or idea of what the music is about. I think that audiences can be a great teacher for us as artists; I believe we should look for common threads in the feedback we receive from them and learn from this as it gives us a clearer picture of ourselves and how our music is understood by others. I am not saying that we should necessarily listen to the demands of an audience when creating, but rather that the feedback we receive gives us a sense of the image we are projecting as artists and we can compare this with what we believe we are putting out there.
UO: Does your artistic intent when writing lie strictly in the
music with ancillary material as an afterthought, or do you consider the whole
project when you write?
Nathanael: While the music remains the most important component of Musk Ox I always consider every element of the project during the creation process. That being said, the ancillary material often emerges in unexpected ways. With Woodfall, I had the album cover photograph years before any music was written while the Inheritance cover emerged much later in the process. For Inheritance I also asked my partner Conyer Clayton to write a poem for the layout which added an even deeper dimension to the album experience. Creation is very intuitive so you’re always relying on your instinct to figure out what feels right. The entire process is full of surprises so it’s a balancing act between nurturing your creative intentions while remaining open to receiving unexpected inspiration and insights.
Raphael: Putting together the musical and visual components of an album requires an openness to various possibilities throughout the creative process. One needs time in order to reflect deeply on the nature of the project at hand and what combination of elements would form the most accurate and transparent rendering of the album at its core. To me, this is a process of listening to intuition and allowing the decision to reveal itself naturally. I had a very similar experience with my solo record Worlds Within where I had barely completed writing the material and was just beginning to record it when I realized that my partner’s resin paintings hanging in the apartment needed to be the front and back cover artwork for the album. Both the music and the paintings had a similar energy and since releasing Worlds Within I’ve felt that the two are inextricably linked. Every album has its own unique creative process and it’s important to be open to changing one’s approach and not necessarily following the same procedure every time. Making art is all about taking risks and avoiding one’s comfort zone in the pursuit of self-discovery and growth.
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Best listened to while contemplating existence in a wooded glade, or befriending your local druids to entice them to a metal show.
G
Links:
Musk Ox - Inheritance: https://muskoxofficial.bandcamp.com/album/inheritance
Music video for "Weightless": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmzoN7IQZCY
Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa: https://friendsofthefarm.ca/plan-your-visit/attractions/
Conyer Clayton's website: https://www.conyerclayton.com/
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