{"id":24861,"date":"2023-03-30T05:30:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T09:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=24861"},"modified":"2023-02-02T15:53:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T20:53:01","slug":"avant-garde-in-wnc-okapi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/30\/avant-garde-in-wnc-okapi\/","title":{"rendered":"Avant Garde in WNC: Okapi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-24864\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/okapi.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/okapi.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/okapi-238x300.jpg 238w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Okapi is the duo of Lindsey Miller (cello) and Scott Gorski (upright bass). Originally based in Chicago, they launched Okapi in 2012. While the couple describes their project as a rock duo, the music they make doesn\u2019t conform to most people\u2019s ideas about rock.<\/p>\n<p>Miller believes that an unusual duo like Okapi \u201cisn\u2019t going to get as far trying to connect with people who see themselves as highbrow, people who [just want to] hear Bach for the 5000<sup>th<\/sup> time.\u201d For Okapi, rock \u2013 or their version of it \u2013 is the medium for their message. \u201cRock has always been a way of expressing what the current times are,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>The music of Okapi is in part a vehicle for the couple to share their philosophy of life. Miller says their beliefs are based upon the teachings of the philosopher Krishnamurti: \u201cDismantle what you feel is the truth, and seek to find the truth for yourself,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>Okapi has released a pair of albums \u2013 the spooky, subtly baroque <i>Carousel, Pt. 1<\/i> in 2018 and a second volume in 2021. But the duo\u2019s highest-profile endeavor to date has been scoring <i>The Wake of Dick Johnson<\/i>, a transgressive and controversial one-man play and film by Luke Walker. The duo\u2019s mysterious and occasionally unsettling music is an effective component of the work. That challenging character is part and parcel of creating in the avant garde mediums. \u201cPeople are either intrigued by something they can\u2019t understand right away, embracing the challenge,\u201d Gorski says, \u201cor they\u2019re deterred by it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A 2021 BPR feature on Okapi suggested that the couple \u201cmight be Asheville\u2019s busiest touring outfit.\u201d The duo does stay busy with performance tour dates, including upcoming local performances at Fleetwood\u2019s (Feb. 24), Revolve (March 11) and The Grey Eagle (April 20). Both Miller and Gorski have day jobs, so the demands of touring have to be worked into an already full schedule. \u201cWe try to do local shows, tours, and one-offs,\u201d Gorski says, \u201cthings where we can drive back that night, so we don&#8217;t miss work the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Okapi is the duo of Lindsey Miller (cello) and Scott Gorski (upright bass). Originally based in Chicago, they launched Okapi in 2012. While the couple describes their project as a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,41],"tags":[5089],"class_list":["post-24861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avant-garde","category-interview","tag-okapi","cat-7-id","cat-41-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24861"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24869,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24861\/revisions\/24869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}