Get To Know Casio Ghost
Local SLC indie band, Casio Ghost, is our Fresh Artist of the Month. We got the chance to speak with them about their newest and first full-length album “Postmodern Blues”! Learn more about their recent works, behind-the-scenes of the band, and more!
Interview by Destiny Ross.
Photo by Alec Moody
With this being your first full-length album, what are you hoping listeners' first impression is of the band as a whole from this piece?
I think the most we could hope for would be that folks will find the record thoughtful and relatable. Over the last year or so while we’ve been writing and demo-ing out the songs, we’ve put a lot of ourselves into it. We just want it to resonate with the people who listen to it.
Tanner, your graphics for your band and others are so well-defined in your styling as an artist. Is this something you did before music and did it inspire you to want to pursue it even more?
I think music is what got me into design and illustration, to begin with. I’ve played in bands since I was a teenager and I always loved the idea of being able to create visual art to accompany the music. The branding aspect of a band is just as much a part of the vibe as the music itself in my opinion.
As close-knit as you guys are, how did you meet and what inspired the idea of starting a band together?
Ethan and I (Tanner) met when our old bands played together back in 2018. When I moved to SLC in early 2020, I had a small batch of songs ready and really wanted to start another project with him. Ethan introduced me to Oliver and I found out he played keys, and after showing him the early demos he agreed to jump on board. Then we searched for a drummer for a bit, and through more mutual music friends we found Jared. We became fast friends from the early jam sessions and it’s been great vibes the whole time.
With defining genres these days it's easy to get thrown in a genre without knowledge of it, but for first-time listeners, how would YOU describe your genre?
You know, we’ve been calling it psych-surf from the beginning, probably because of a lot of the influences we were drawing from. But I think it’s evolved into something else. People have thrown around the word “cowboy” when describing the vibe, so maybe we should call it “existential cowboy rock”? I don’t know.
Your first few releases were seemingly released midst of the pandemic… Was this something that impacted your band negatively with recording, releasing, planning, etc.?
The pandemic was a great time for us to start a band. We weren’t able to gig, but we knew live music would probably come back sometime. So it really just gave us the time and space we needed to hang, write, and figure out what we wanted to project to be.
Being a big part of the local indie scene, and with all the cool venues SLC has to offer, what has been y’alls favorite venue thus far in your career?
All of the Salt Lake Venues we’ve played have their own bits of charm. That being said, the sound quality and crowds at Urban Lounge are hard to beat. That’s really why we chose it for the album release show.
We know you guys just went on your first tour earlier this year, congratulations by the way, what was the highlight of the entirety of it?
The whole tour was just a great road trip across the west coast. We had great shows and hangs in all of the cities we went to, and Portland really turned up for our set. We also had the dumbest inside jokes that were endlessly entertaining. Turns out Jared has a (pretty) good Southern preacher impression. Had us all feeling the holy spirit for sure. We’re definitely gearing up to do it again.
Who would be your top choice to double with on tour? Give me locals AND household-named artists.
Okay, locally there are so many fantastic bands to choose from, but I think we all agree that a tour (or even just a local show) with Fonteyn would be a dream. Hit us up?
As far as bigger bands go, Nude Party, Kikagaku Moyo, Levitation Room, Bulldada, and Alvvays are all favorites of ours.
We would love to hear the inspiration for some of your songs!
Everything That’s Hurt You
This song is one of my favorites we play. It’s about maturing, learning to see the world for all of its many flaws and perfections, and working to understand your inner self. It came about at a time when my worldview was quickly changing and I was doing a lot of introspection.
The Other Side
The Other Side is actually the first song we demo-ed out for this project. It’s mostly about the underwhelming experience of coming of age and being a bored adult.
New Sincerity
New Sincerity is a special one to me. Many of the songs came from a place of cynicism, but New Sincerity came about after hearing about the death of a good friend. I had been reading a lot of Albert Camus at the time, who describes the world as an absurd and chaotic place, but also as a place full of beautiful experiences that make life worth living. I guess I was just thinking a lot about life and what makes it all worth doing, even in the face of tragedy.
Do What You Want
I feel like this song is pretty straightforward, but it’s really just about realizing how precious your time is and making an effort to spend it wisely.
Bullet
Bullet is the opening track of the record. It’s about the uncertainty of a shifting worldview brought about by a psychedelic experience. It sets the stage for the rest of the tracks. It references the Harry Nilsson record, ‘The Point’, which is a pretty quirky concept album that ties in a lot of existential philosophy.
Do you have anything soon you can hint us to or promote, shows, collaborations, etc.?
Back in April following our tour, we decided to film a live session with some of the songs from our set. We recorded it in Oliver’s beautiful art studio downtown. He’s been working some video magic on it and we’ll be releasing it soon, likely with a premier party at one of the local bars. We may also put it out as a live album of sorts. Then we’ve got September 8th at DLC, September 9th at Whysound, and October 18th at Urban Lounge.
