Wright. “He expanded my world view,” Buchheister says, “I learned a lot from him about how to play chords and melody at the same time—that’s a very important part of how I play.” Says Wright of Buchheister, “He’s fluent in so many musical genres while maintaining his own voice. He’s also a great improviser. I can always count on him to grasp the feel and play what’s needed.” Of Buchheister’s role as a producer, songwriter Dan Mollen says, “He helps me form songs in ways I wouldn’t have anticipated. He’ll say, ‘Oh, what we need here is some glockenspiel,’ and then he just pulls one out and plays it amazingly well. It never ceases to astound me.” Buchheister’s songwriting has evolved over the years. Initially focusing on his own personal experiences, he’s shifted to social issues, presenting them through an intimate view of someone else’s life. Most of what he considers his best songs are still in production and will take a few more years to release. “Songwriting is the melody—the chords, and the lyrics, at its barest elements—and that is a beautiful thing on its own. But production is equally as important,” he explains. In the duo Black Rhinoceros, Buchheister and Snedecor write together, usually starting with a riff, then playing off each other. “He has so many ideas and such a clear vision. It’s an interesting collaboration that never gets old or stale. He’ll say, ‘Let’s just work on it until it’s good, until we both love it!’ It would be so easy to give up, but he can’t,” Snedecor laughs. He’s proud of Pompeii Graffiti’s Internet World Tour, a 13-part multi-media video series. Over a two-year period, he released one song at a time over the internet. Each piece was introduced by a phony host, ostensibly from a different location—a jocular acknowledgment that the band couldn’t tour. Buchheister engaged different videographers, recording
26 | Spring 2019
Erin Snedecor and Ahren Buchheister make up the duo Black Rhinoceros.
Internet World Tour (2018) album by Pompeii Graffiti. L-R: Host of the IWT video series "Rolland Feldspar," Ahren Buchheister, Cara Jamison, Tyler Grimsley, Robin Eckman, and Erin Snedecor.