ALEATORY #20: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

Owen Ashworth feels your pain.

This is probably why he records so many damn good songs as Casiotone for the Painfully Alone -- as perfect and descriptive a band name as there's ever been. Maybe you've heard his songs, or seen Los Campesinos! lead singer Gareth wear a CFTPA T-shirt in the documentary that came with the group's We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed album, or maybe you'll just see Owen at SXSW this year, or pick up his new rarities album Advance Base Battery Life on March 10th, or maybe even pick up his new new album Vs. Children in April. No matter what though, Owen's aesthetic -- after all these years -- remains almost exactly the same: plug in a keyboard, turn on the mic, and just play it baby. We feel for you.

Congratulations to both him and us: this Globecat's 20th Aleatory -- thanks guys.

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4. Favorite person to have worked with?

I used to work in a bakery with a woman named Kara who was really funny and great. we ate a lot of damaged baked goods together.

10. Favorite lyric?

I ain't no goddamn son of a bitch you better think about it baby

13. Favorite Shakespearean play?

Cats

14. Favorite sound?

Flute samples played in chords

15. Favorite exhibit or subject at the museum?

Wild animal taxidermy dioramas in natural history museums

17. Favorite plant?

I think it's a tie between kudzu and basil

39. What's something you could probably beat anyone you know at?

I don't mean to brag but I am very good at cribbage

40. What was your best/worst subject in school?

I took some anthropology classes in college that I did pretty well in. I never skipped my anthropology classes. I have never done very well with math. I skipped lots of math.

42. What's an image that haunts you to this day?

There was a picture of a dude who had done a mess of PCP and then cut off his face and fed it to his dogs. I saw it on the internet. I still think about it every once in a while and go "ugh" or "ack." Once you put something in your brain you can never take it out again, kids. Think twice before clicking those warning disturbing image links on www.snopes.com.

43. What's the road ahead look like?

It is covered with snow and hazardous

44. Something you've heard, know is false, but wish were true with all your heart?

I heard that polar bears hide their black noses with a front paw or leg when they hunt. This helps them blend in with the snow so they can sneak up on school children or seals or whatever. Sort of like a reverse negative Dracula. Polar Drac. I'm pretty sure this is not true but the image is too endearing and chilling to not want to believe in.

49. Now that you know a much larger audience will get to hear the music you've made, has your writing changed at all? How? What's changed and what's stayed the same?

Oh man I don't know. I think the biggest factor that has changed my writing has been my age. I get older and I think about different things so I want to sing about different things. Also, once you've written a song, you can't go around rewriting it forever so you actually have to come up with some different ideas every once in a while. I am averaging about thirty songs per idea these days.

54. So far in your career, what's been your proudest accomplishment?

Playing in Russia felt pretty nuts. I feel weird listing any names but there have been some people who I have been very proud to have met and shared mutual admiration with. Okay fine Tom Hanks.

57. Most rock star thing you've ever done?

I accidentally knocked all of my equipment off of a stage and the people in the front caught it and pushed it back upright. And everybody thought it was on purpose and some kind of cool trick. IT WAS NOT A COOL TRICK

63. Band/artist you're secretly envious of?

My friend Nick from No Kids because he lives in Canada and gets all kinds of amazing government grants to record expensive andfabulous sounding records. Also, because I would like to be able to play piano like him. I am pretty lousy musician and I am envious of lots of people's musical abilities.

67. Do you reach any kind of personal catharsis when it comes to songwriting/performing?

Yeah, I guess so

78. Your life has been reduced to a bumper sticker: what does it say?

NPR

92. Which venue are you dying to play but have not yet had the chance to?

I would like to play at the Warfield in San Francisco, CA. I saw Kraftwerk play there once and I hear it's haunted.

94. What's your hardest song to replicate live?

There are a few songs on my new record that were arranged for many more hands than I have. I haven't tried to play them live yet and I really don't know what to do with them. There are also plenty of old songs of mine that I just don't like to play because I just don't really like them anymore. I would find it hard to replicate those songs with any sort of sincerity, even though they aren't particularly difficult to play.

99. Licensing your music out to companies for TV ads: good or bad?

Shit I don't know. I haven't done it yet but maybe if I have a kid who needs braces some day I'll feel differently. You pick your battles, you know?

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Visit Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's website.

ALEATORY #14: The Burnside Project

Every once in awhile, a band comes along that just has everything you love crammed into one place. The Burnside Project is such a band: spry indie-rock guitars meet throbbing synths and techno beats, all while lyrics pour out Richard Jankovich's head that range from smart to smart-ass (I mean, c'mon, the guy gave an in-song shout out to Philip Seymour Hoffman years before that big Oscar win). Though their disc The Networks, The Circuts, The Streams, The Harmonies scored a minor hit with "Cue the Pulse to Begin" back in '03, they band has remained busy, releasing The Finest Example is You in 2005 and re-releasing their '00 effort digitially late last year. Now, Richard is busy doing lots of new songs and remixing under his Pocket guise, but, also, delivering terrifically sarcastic answers to Globecat's fourteenth Aleatory ...

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16. Favorite campfire story?

Unfortunately, I cannot remember any. It probably had ghosts in it.

26. Favorite badass?

Pat Buchanan.

33. What's something you could teach anyone in an hour or less?

Particle physics.

35. What's the best place you've randomly discovered while on tour?

The East Coast of the United States Of America - it is a lovely place!

36. Lyrics first or music first?

Differs on each track. Mostly, music first.

43. What's the road ahead look like?

Sleepy. Burnside is pretty inactive right now but my Pocket work is in full swing. Check it: www.music-by-pocket.com

52. At what point did you realize that music was going to be your full-time occupation?

Um...it's not. Well, actually it is - I work in music branding and licensing. But I don't think that's what you mean...

60. What's the worst show you've ever played? What would you have done different?

Way too many to count - probably at Pianos when I lost my shit and kicked a mike off the stage. That's about as punk as we get. It was pretty cathartic for us.

67. Do you reach any kind of personal catharsis when it comes to songwriting/performing?

I reach catharsis through kicking mikes off of stages, as I mention above.

68. Favorite interview you've ever been a part of (aside from this one obviously)?

No, this one is pretty terrible. My best interview was probably while on tour in Japan and I had no idea what they were asking - I just answered everything with "green and tumbleweeds."

81. If you could sync an album of yours to a movie (like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz), what movie would it be?

Magnolia.

82. Current pop song that you would file under "guilty pleasure"?

I really like Rihanna and I will kick anyone with a mike who disagrees with me.

85. What's the biggest mistake you've made that you inadvertently learned a great lesson from?

Agreeing to do this interview.

88. What's your deepest source for musical inspiration?

The world around me, television, paranoia.

89. You just died. I'm sorry. Fortunately, your will states that you want very specific music to be played at your funeral. What did you choose?

New Order for the upbeat parts, Replacements ballads for the part when everyone cries.

92. Which venue are you dying to play but have not yet had the chance to?

The Houston Astrodome.

94. What's your hardest song to replicate live?

Well, probably the ones we never played live like "Outside Tennebrae" or "An Easy Sell"

98. Would you say that there's somewhat of a political undertone to your music? If so, what motivates it?

Absolutely - though I keep it purposefully subtle. What motivates it? A deep and utter hatred for right wing lunacy and left wing failure to give a shit.

99. Licensing your music out to companies for TV ads: good or bad?

Have you seen our songs on TV?

100. Even with the gradual decay of the B-side, most artists still have vaults of unreleased songs. What's in yours?

Loads of garbage - it's unreleased for a reason, in my opinion.

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Photo by Angela Langer.

Visit the Burnside Project's website.

ALEATORY #10: Pocahaunted

Pocahaunted scares children.

Earlier this year, Amanda and Bethany played for a class of third graders, who described their sound as "scary Halloween music." It's not a bad description: their blend of drone, psychedelia and Native American music, full of reverb and foreboding, would make a great soundtrack to a haunted house. Remarkably prolific (their website lists well over 20 releases, often in runs of 100 or less), they are atmospheric in the good way, haunting without coming across as dark or gloomy, and of course, charming to talk to. The ladies of Pocahaunted:

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5. Favorite piece of equipment?

Amanda: Delay and reverb pedal.
Bethany: Holy Grail reverb pedal. I'd be nothing without one.

9. Favorite song to start (or end) a mixtape with?

Amanda: "Umi Says," by Mos Def.
Bethany: "Gold Dust Woman," Fleetwood Mac.

14. Favorite sound?

Amanda: Sax solos.
Bethany: The fan in my room blowing right at me when it's 400 degrees with 99.9% humidity.

20. Favorite new band?

Amanda: White Magic
Bethany: Vivian Girls.

22. Favorite vice?

Amanda: Dark chocolate.
Bethany: Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade.

23. Favorite natural oddity?

Amanda: Unibrows and lisps.
Bethany: Cats with thumbs.

25. Favorite historical figure?

Amanda: Queen Elizabeth and Nixon.
Bethany: Bruce Springsteen.

49. Now that you know a much larger audience will get to hear the music you've made, has your writing changed at all? How? What's changed and what's stayed the same?

Amanda: I'm always like to Bethany, "Oh man, in that last review they really didn't like this or that, we've got to grow or move away from our previous songs..." But you can't think like that, the writing should only change because we change and our influences change, and we try to stay true to that. I think we've gotten more sophisticated in our recording, with more collaborations with other amazing musicians, and that always morphs and improves our sound. But Bethany's voice is our rock and it's what makes us Pocahaunted, so that will never change. I'm just trying to get her to go off even more insane, deeper, crazier, with more soul, and more intensity. And she always brings it.

60. What's the worst show you've ever played? What would you have done different?

Amanda: Our worst show was at Echo Curio, when we played with our friend Jonathan. He was amazing, and the sounds he was making were totally beautiful but Bethany's amp was malfunctioning like crazy and feeding back, and I think we played for about six minutes. It was low... but when it was over we laughed. Like we genuinely laughed and hugged and got over it, so maybe that's not so bad after all.

61. What's the best advice you could give to a young, upstart band?

Amanda: Work hard and be sick and epic, I'd say. But I'd always say work hard, be sick and epic about anything. If you stay away from weird music trends and make yr own music then who cares if you don't get the recognition right away or ever? If they like punk and yr making experimental drone, keep on keeping on. If they like experimental drone and yr making experimental drone, then enjoy it while it lasts. And of course, work with the best people you can. They'll only make you sound better and go deeper.
Bethany: Move to Brooklyn.

65. Ever see yourself penning the score/soundtrack to a TV show or film?

Amanda: When we write a great song and we know it, like we hear it back and look at each other like, "oh yeah" — we always joke, oh just the perfect score for Last of the Mohicans 2. But it's changing now, we're trying to get more soulful... maybe like the soundtrack to an awesome movie about sad shit and redemption...
Bethany: The Sopranos movie.

70. What is a personal belief you hold that you would fight for to the death?

Amanda: My own aesthetics. And love, duh.
Bethany: Never eat mayonnaise.

72. A few years ago, Beck gave an interview for SPIN in which he lamented the glut of reality TV shows and blogs about musicians, wanting to know less details about their life because he felt they were more mysterious that way (he liked to envision Devo as living in a crazed art-deco pyramid when he was young, instead of just some guys in a tour bus). Do you feel that there's a lack of mystique out there for musicians in today's YouTube age? Do you feel your band carries any mystique?

Bethany: I guess it makes sense that there would be a total lack of mystique for this reason, but I am totally into YouTube—so I don't really worry about it. Pocahaunted doesn't seem to end up on the Internet as much, unless it's links to my personal Flickr site—so I think we are doing pretty good at keeping up the mystique.
Amanda: There's no mystique. My husband Britt used to be like, "I love that band, you can't even email them... they don't even exist on the Internet, it's amazing." We still get into that and get siked on it, then it comes time to email that band and it's like, oh shit, you can't even email those dudes. It's hard to stay mysterious when being out there comes with Flickr account pics, and YouTube videos, and Myspace comments... I hope we have a mystique, but we ruin everything when we speak. It's all jokes and Sopranos references. Not so strange at all.

77. What was the hardest part about recording your current release?

Amanda: Raising ourselves to the highest level. Each release has to be just a bit better or stranger or cooler than the last one for us. I get so stressed and go crazy over every song, and Bethany just trusts our performance and relaxes. Working with Bobb Bruno and Cameron Stallones is so dope, though. So there's a lot of trust there.
Bethany: I think just the timing. I was about to move, and was trying to finish up my last semester at school in LA—and Amanda was working hard on Crops and Rawbers stuff, and trying to leave her job... so we both had a lot on our minds, and were pretty stressed out... but we finished it, so I guess stress doesn't matter now.

80. Worst run-in with the law (to date)?

Bethany: The time Amanda and I got yelled at for peeing in a vineyard.
Amanda: The cops yelled at us because we tried to pee in a vineyard on the way to our Halloween show opening up for Thurston. We were totally late, had to pee of course, and didn't realize it was illegal. Which led to my famous (not so famous) quote, "Whatever, I pee in everyone's wine, it's fine."

81. If you could sync an album of yours to a movie (like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz), what movie would it be?

Amanda: Probably some James McAvoy movie. We love him.
Bethany: The Dark Knight.

83. Have you ever thought of pulling a Jack White-styled Raconteurs/White Stripes thing and be in multiple bands at once? If so, what would the other band sound like?

Amanda: Bethany's would probably sound more beautiful than anything in the world (Enya meets Kate Bush meets Mazzy Star) and mine would just be straight up afro funk or stupid acid jazz. Or we'd probably just try to hang around with rappers and hope someone would let us sing the hook.
Bethany: Yeah, I'm down. I'd like to be in a really poppy band that just sounds like The Beach Boys. Amanda would probably hate it.

84. Most disappointing concert you ever attended?

Amanda: Kraftwerk at Coachella. It was like a car commercial. Straight up.
Bethany: I don't know. It wasn't Billy Joel, that's for sure.

94. What's your hardest song to replicate live?

Amanda: We can't replicate any of them. We can't replay any of them. So I guess, all of them.

100. Even with the gradual decay of the B-side, most artists still have vaults of unreleased songs. What's in yours?

Amanda: So many weird live sets with different awesome friend musicians. And a few songs that I was like, no no no not good enough for the album. It gets shelved, and then Britt just archives it for us in case we get wistful one night and re-listen and go, ooohhhhhhh yeah.

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Visit Pocahaunted's Myspace.