“Just Like You Wanted It”: Casey Smith Project Talks About New Album and Touring Iceland (Part 2)

By Manuel A. Melendez

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. All photos provided by Manuel A. Melendez.

Manny: We talked about how you have finished a music video for one of your singles for this album. Talk briefly about your new video and when we can expect it.

Casey: I'm hoping it'll come out this month. I was pressing the cinematographer to get it before the album's release, which I'm shooting for October 25. We have a show at 49 State Brewery in Anchorage as a fundraiser for going to Iceland. So that's a big goal. And I was like, Oh, well, I wanted my album out before that happens, if possible, it's a Friday. We'll see if it happens. But, you know, I still have to upload it. But working for this music video, Caleb Kuntz, who used to be a UAF student and a film major, I believe, went to Austin and got his master's down there. And we were both in similar bands in college. I was in a band called Batre. He was a band called These Doors Must Remain Open During Closing Time or something. (laughs) They reduced it. We were both instrumental bands, math rock kind of bands, and we grew a rapport from that scene. And then he moved on to, like, just focusing on film, letting him still live in Austin, and he comes to Alaska in the summers and shoots documentaries. That's his specialty. And he hit me up this summer. Last summer, I helped him with some gigs for some comedians, and we just scratched each other's back.

Manny: That's the business.

Casey: Yeah. So we were, we were always good chums. But, like, I think we both went through a divorce, and we had something to bond over, and he came up, and he made time when only came up and, like, it was, it was cool, because I felt like I knew the guy, but not that well. And then, I always respected him, and you watch people go off in the directions, like after college, and he was doing his thing. And I was like, “Yeah, this guy's doing his thing.” So, I was super excited for him to continue doing art and stuff. And I feel like I'm doing the same, and he’ll still try to do art, which is hard. Art isn't always easy, but we shot the film to “Confess My Love,” which came out earlier this year, [and] is one of my favorite singles. And, like, I've gotten the most compliments from that song because it feels very consolidated as a song. It's got hooks and repetition, and, for me, it's got enough psychedelia that I'm like, “Oh, I like, I like where it goes.” It's going, but it's not so poppy that I'm not interested, you know?

Like, for me, I like that. It's raw because I like West Coast psychedelic right now, really hard, and like that, I'm feeling like, oh, that's, that's like Acid Tongue, or that's like, The Black Angels, or whatever it's like. That's the vibe I'm going for because those are the scenes I'm looking into. But I don't know if I could focus the whole album on that, but we shot it at this excellent, derelict housing that used to be this old hippie thing in the ‘70s, back at the end of Chena Pump Road. And I lived down the road from there. And I walked down there one time and found all these old buildings. And I was like, “The Blair Witch Project.”

(Manny laughs.)

Casey: So I always kept that squirreled away in my brain. And then I was trying to entice this documentary guy to come. And like, I have this place we can go. And we went down there. I took a walk and had a couple of beers, and, like, he's barefoot, he's a documentarist, or whatever. That's his vibe. And we walk into the rain.

Manny: Glass shards be damned!

Casey: And there's like, you know, a goat trail that we have to walk down. And they were just like, it painted it perfectly, because it's just him and I, and it was, like, it was supposed to be like, thirty minutes. It turned into hours. I showed him the place, and he loved it. I reached out to my band and saw who wanted to participate. Because I'm like, I'm not paying you, and then you're making time for it. They both work in the summer. You know, I got Morgan Hough, my drummer, and I got Luke Ponchione, and we somehow shot it inside of this building, which was like, literally, could fall and had glass, and the floor was spongy.

Manny: Well, it looks great. I've seen the clips that Dawson Gentleman [from Carnelian Woman] shared, and it's [shot] almost with a fisheye lens—

Casey: He's, like, really, he was in our face, yeah. Like, it was awesome. Caleb's amazing. And I feel like I am way more bonded with the guy now than ever.

Manny: Well, I'm personally looking forward to it. I think it's a great song. We've talked about how much I enjoyed that track, specifically. Okay, let’s talk about this past summer. Because you've been playing, you played—

Casey: Yeah, like fifty shows this summer. We played “In and Out of View” and “Hold On.” This is funny because the boys say, “[‘Hold On’] is a very ‘pop’ song.” My boys want me to be like a pop artist. I'm not worthy. Some of these songs are not solo songs, and others are. It's funny how a song you write on the guitar or acoustic, and when you record it, maybe there won't be any acoustic on it. So it's an exciting journey.

Manny: You got to go with the journey. You talked about how songs sometimes shape themselves from whatever conception, and you, as an artist, shouldn't be denying that for yourself either [and] be, “Well, this song doesn't want to be what I want it to be, so now we're—”

Casey: Not going to psychedelic enough, right?

Manny: Yeah, no, you just have to do whatever it is that it wants to be because that's how you continue to develop yourself as an artist.

Casey: Chad Reynvaan asked me, “Are these all going to work?” Because he has songs that we work together on his hard drive. And he's heard some of the other stuff I worked with Derek on, and they're all cool. They play well together. And they're like, there's a small community in Anchorage of producers, engineers, and I, and he's just like, “Oh, cool. It's like The White Album.” And I was like, “I know the White Album, but do I know it?” And then you listen to it, and it's like, it is a conglomerate of songs, and it's not just one thought, it's multiple thoughts. And that's what this album is. It sounds like me because I have a unique sound already. But it's not there's, like, all genres on it, in my opinion, you'll hear it. Sorry, I don't have it ready for you right now. I'm working hard on it. I don’t want to give you some sloppy things,

Manny: And now, when I listen to it, I'll ask you, but I want to ask you now, actually: one of my favorite things about making an album is the order of tracks, like the sequencing. How did you sequence your album? Because that's one of the most important things for me as a listener.

Casey: That's been a cool process. I listened to all the tracks with Derek and Scott, and one of them said, “Well, you don't want to lead with the single you've already had.” So I was like, okay, rule that out. Okay. I wanted to start with “What Do You Say” because it has a clock that ticks, like the beginning of something. But Derek and Scott said, “You should start with ‘Hold On’ because it's got this pop vibe and, like, a different sound, kind of country.” So I decided, from that angle, to start using that as the beginning song and just kind of working my way through. And it begins, I think, a little bit poppier, like cleaner, and then it goes in a sort of more garage-y and then comes out on, like, more groggy. So there are some movie score vibes, some of them because there are string instruments, [working with] the Mellotron keyboard, and I've been working with people who can use samples and whatnot. And so, yeah, that was kind of how I made the track order. I always overanalyze it, but I think it's a feel thing.

You know, like, what does it? How does it flow? This is what I've settled on. The artist I collaborated with, Caleb Kuntz, this summer for the music video for “Confess My Love.” I asked him, “Hey, do you know anybody who could help me with some cover art?” Because I'm like, I can do it myself, but I want to have a more interactive process. And he reached out to me and told me about Maisie Kane (Instagram: giraffesdoingthings), which he didn't know that well, but she does a lot of kind of surreal imagery, so I worked with her, and she was very iterative with me, and we put [the cover art] together.

Manny: It's a very psychedelic Route 66 vibe.

Casey: I like vintage shit, so it works for me. The title of the album has changed [too]. It used to be called Longevity. And I was going to say, "Oh, okay, you know, you're keeping on. And like, I think longevity for me was like, was like euphemism for I love you, yeah? It was like, Oh, I don't want to say I love you, like longevity or whatever. But this is a verse from the chorus of “Hold On.” It's just like you wanted it, just like you wanted it. So I felt like it tied in a lot better to the tracks me because they're kind of love songs, and they're going through life. And there's some get over it shit, there's some I love this feeling, and there's some pain, and it's not just one feeling. It's all kinds of feelings, but primarily relationships and the experience of growing older. And I think just enjoying the process, enjoying the process, and having people come in and out of your life is part of the process. And I've enjoyed that much more than I would have had when I was younger. You know, when you're younger, you take everything so personally. It's like new. It's the first time, and it hurts. And now it's like, “I value what we have, man. Thank you.” Thank you for giving me your time, for being a part of my band for a bit, for putting the keys on that song, and for singing harmony on that part. Thanks for just, like, giving me feedback on a part, you know, like--

Manny: Maybe I should have more grace about how things end up if they don't go the way you think I would or should.

Casey: I never considered myself mature before, but I feel more mature than I was in my twenties. 

Manny: Trying to form some kind of music enterprise, significant or not. Maybe it is part of it like you need to grow that patience.

Casey: Yes, being a parent.

Manny: I have one question before we wrap it up. This album feels explicitly like, just from the time that I've known you, like a crossroads for you because it comes at a point in time where you're starting to feel more comfortable, not just as a creative but as someone who can curate music, like the experience of music for other people and other bands. And so you're not just like, “Every man for himself. I gotta do my own shit because I need to, you know,” but now you're like, “I'm giving back.” It says, “Just like you wanted it.” And so now—

Casey: What does that imply? Is it me or someone else? I don't know.

Manny: There's a sense of, at least for me right from the from what I've gleaned, there's a sense of you're looking at things more reflectively, and that the album is like a nice little “Here's where I am now,” but the music itself has changed a little bit. Like, like the sound of it–

Casey: Has different producers, [it’s] different in my ability to perform, [in] having more people involved in the album and being less controlling, just like other instruments, yeah? Because, I mean, yeah, it's “Just like you want it.” It also implies a sense of looseness. I think they're more relaxing, and it's less angst. I feel like, more like, like, I don't know, maybe I dropped too many, you know, ex-wife bombs. Still, I feel like I'm coming to terms with my new reality as a person and my new identity as  I feel like, wow, I feel good about being forty and, you know, not married and having a kid, and like being a pretty solid musician and living in Fairbanks. There may not necessarily be a community I want, but that doesn't stop me from finding it wherever I need to and connecting with interested people, like I was having a beer earlier with two guys who make solo music around the same age. And like, man, it warms my heart to not necessarily mentor but to have people on the same quadrant and, like, respect what I'm doing. And it's just humbling. And for anybody, for that matter, that does any art, it doesn't have to be explicitly singing or playing guitar, just like, Oh, wow. You play art and like you, and you're interested in it and pursuing it as far as you want to take it. And you can be as hungry as you want in it. 

Manny: I mean, that speaks to your confidence because you know what works for you, and you know that you can only do so much for someone else, regardless–

Casey: Or myself, right? Like, I'm just trying to have stamina and longevity, yeah? It’s why I going to use that title before. Just like, just setting a realistic pace and a realistic goal–

Manny: Maybe for the next album [title], Longevity.

Casey: I haven't started on it. I told somebody, “Man, I'm not ready to write again.” I put everything on the last track, “Love Appeal.” We recorded it at Frostline, and it was like, I didn't get to the vocals, so we recorded everything but the vocals, and then I had this shell. I had to do the vocals at my studio, which I've been better at, like getting demos and tracking and multitracking by myself, with my vibe, you know, no one else is there. I'm trying to recreate magic alone; sometimes, things have to sit and percolate as long as they need to be created. I have some help, some good, talented people who give me some of their time, but they are swamped. Honestly, most people are more talented than me. But as far as perseverance goes, I have a goal and will get there whatever it takes. And I won't be offended by how much time people can't make.

Manny: I'm happy that we made the time. Yeah, and I'm looking forward to the album. Please let me know when it comes out.

Casey: I'm hoping soon. I'm guessing a couple of weeks. I recommend loving arms. I work with James Blades, which is the only one I have worked with. He popped it up.

Manny: Is that your favorite?

Casey: It's the most consolidated pop song. But I had a voice memo, just like the bones of a song with no vocals, yeah? And I was like, I have scheduled a date, and then the band canceled. So then I was like, hey, what's Blade’s number? And he was available. So that, like, all developed in a week. And then I was, like, feeling the pressure. The song I was going to work on I wasn't vibing on. And then I just listened to this whole song recording, and it just– I could hear the melody from long ago, and I just finished it in a week, and, like, it's that, and that's cool. It's like, boom, he put pop magic on it, which he should just basically write me songs because he's that great. His parts are at the end like I had at the beginning and the main song, and then he puts this magic touch on the back. And he had this session drummer that he suggested we use because Derek was busy. His life is busy, and he just keeps moving and moving forward. And, yeah, great. He did it for free because he loves me.

Manny: That's great. We will be in touch about the album. Thank you for talking with me today.

Casey: Thank you.