{"id":2650,"date":"2017-03-30T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-tim-kasher\/"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:15:52","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:15:52","slug":"interview-tim-kasher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/interview-tim-kasher\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Tim Kasher"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

We\u2019re sat in the deceptively large beer garden hidden behind Guildford\u2019s Boileroom. What starts as a fresh spring evening turns into a bitterly cold night \u2013 and one in which a light windbreaker would be more use if used as fuel for a campfire. <\/p>\n

Tim Kasher<\/b>\u2019s a hardier sort though. Wrapped up warm in a lined coat and with a hat pulled tightly over his ears, many Nebraska winters have prepared him for life on the road. He looks snug. And I\u2019m insanely jealous. <\/p>\n

Yet it has not been the best of days for Tim<\/b> and his travelling companions, including cellist Megan Siebe. What should have been a straightforward journey from London to Guildford has taken a torturous three hours. For someone like Kasher<\/b>, who has many irons in the fire, you can imagine it made for a frustrating day \u2013 especially when still trying to arrange songs for an ever-evolving set list. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s one song we\u2019ve been wanting to pick up and work on for the live show, but to do that we need to avoid being in a car for three hours,\u201d<\/i> he half-jokes. \u201cMostly it hasn\u2019t been a problem, but we\u2019ve also been doing sightseeing and stuff like that. I think we have eight shows left and it still feels like the set is evolving a little bit. Last night [London \u2013 which was utterly compelling] was a really good example of how well-situated we are at this point in terms of what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Performing as a duo, Kasher<\/b> and Siebe have worked out the songs so they complement the guitar and cello set-up \u2013 including a haunting take on Cursive\u2019s \u2018The Recluse\u2019<\/i>. Reworking the songs wasn\u2019t difficult says Kasher<\/b>, \u201cIt\u2019s actually been a little bit of fun; I mean, it\u2019s not a blast or anything, but\u2026\u201d<\/i> he laughs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
Follow us on Spotify for more playlists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the songs we play come with the creativity of what you can do as a two-piece. It wasn\u2019t like \u2018OK, these are the songs I want to play, let\u2019s figure out how we can make them sound good\u2019. It was more like \u2018there are other songs that I\u2019d like to play, but they don\u2019t feel quite right.\u2019 So there\u2019s one song off the new album, \u2018Break Me Open\u2019<\/i>, that if the crowd is quiet and receptive tonight we might try it, but I\u2019d say it sounds good as a two-piece, but it\u2019s not awesome as a two-piece.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Kasher<\/b> and Siebe would indeed play \u2018Break Me Open\u2019<\/i> later, and it would in fact sound awesome, despite Kasher<\/b>\u2019s reticence. <\/p>\n

In town to promote new solo album ‘No Resolution’<\/i>, Guildford is the second stop in the UK on an exhaustive European tour. Kasher<\/b>\u2019s willingness to experiment comes from a need to be adaptable to the audiences; London was rowdy, Guildford much more reverent. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs you will have noticed, some of the stuff we\u2019re playing is so quiet,\u201d<\/i> says Kasher<\/b>. “If the crowd is going to be irritable, or in the mood for something else, then it might not translate.<\/i><\/p>\n

"The tour has been really nice overall, but Munich was a Friday night and the support act was a pretty upbeat pop thing, they brought in a lot of young friends, and after they were playing there was still a Friday night to be enjoyed. So we then had to make a decision; we don\u2019t just have upbeat numbers. At least two-thirds of the stuff we have is quieter stuff. So we played every louder thing we could, and it got to the point where it was this group of people talking and doing something else, but there were these other people who came for the show and they were quiet.<\/i><\/p>\n

"You can try and keep the wrong songs in the set to a minimum. We\u2019re hamstrung to a point because it\u2019s just the two of us, but the content is mostly pretty quiet and pretty dour. And then I don\u2019t want to completely flip it and be like \u2018OK, we\u2019re just gonna play Cursive<\/b> songs tonight,\u2019 as that\u2019s not why we\u2019re out here. <\/i><\/p>\n

"I think I\u2019m also being a little bit reserved trying to make the great \u2018right\u2019 show for everyone, but my assumption is, because the new album has been out for like two weeks, that people are going to be more interested in hearing stuff from ‘Game of Monogamy’ and \u2018Adult Film\u2019.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

The result is a set which offers a diverse journey through Kasher<\/b>\u2019s extensive back catalogue, including diversions through some Cursive<\/b> deep cuts and new takes on classic Good Life<\/b> numbers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI try to pick songs that the respective band almost never does, and that\u2019s probably a lot more nuanced than it has to be,\u201d<\/i> considers Kasher<\/b>.\u201cAt least I know if said show-goer is coming to the show and is a big Cursive<\/b> fan, then Cursive<\/b> almost never plays \u2018Into The Fold\u2019 \u2013 and I want that kind of reward to exist.<\/i><\/p>\n

"But then we also prepared \u2018Driftwood\u2019. Bringing a cello along, there\u2019s always a pretty big temptation to do something off of \u2018The Ugly Organ\u2019, and I think, thankfully, that\u2019s a record where people are familiar with most of the album.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Seeing Kasher<\/b> perform Good Life<\/b> and Cursive<\/b> songs as a solo artist adds an entirely different spin on the classic numbers, dragging out nuances and emotions that would otherwise have been missed. Kasher<\/b> talks about preparing for tour \u2013 when he gets back to the States after the European run he\u2019ll have a fortnight\u2019s downtime before the American leg \u2013 yet will spend that time preparing songs for that run instead. With three acts on the go, as well as a soon-to-be-shown film that accompanies ‘No Resolution’<\/i> and a new record label (15 Passenger Records<\/b>), more so than ever before, Kasher<\/b>\u2019s downtime is being eaten up by other projects. It also means he has to work smart to make the most of the available time. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe best times of the year are when everything is casually but diligently been worked on, and when I can have coffee and read the news, write a few pages and spend the rest of the day working on a song. Then I\u2019ll meet up with friends for a beer around happy hour or something. As in, that\u2019s something you can do when you\u2019re slowly plugging away at stuff. That\u2019s my favourite time of year.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cBut then, there are other times when things fall behind, like when touring season happens. I\u2019ll be home for two weeks between this and the next US tour, and I\u2019d love to \u2013 and I feel like I need to \u2013 get some songwriting done in that time. But I probably won\u2019t as I\u2019ll be editing videos and preparing for the next tour, and then the tour after that, and then there\u2019s the movie which I\u2019m trying to put out, so things are getting hectic. <\/i><\/p>\n

"What I do is so enjoyable, and I love working on it, but also, in a real nerdy way, I love writing things well in advance. So last September, I was writing a lot of music, knowing that I wasn\u2019t going to have much time, so I can also backlog stuff.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The result is that there is often a disconnect between what Kasher<\/b> is working on now and when we, as fans, will see it. Some of the rough versions of songs found on ‘No Resolution’<\/i> exist from as far back as 2013, having been written at a similar time to those that found their way onto \u2018Adult Film\u2019<\/i>. Yet ‘No Resolution’<\/i> found itself usurped by The Good Life<\/b>\u2019s \u2018Everybody\u2019s Coming Down\u2019<\/i>, which was released in 2015. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was working on it, then I set it aside, and that\u2019s something don\u2019t usually do,\u201d<\/i> says Kasher<\/b>. \u201c\u2019Adult Film\u2019 was hugely revelatory for me, I was like \u2018why did I do this rock band album? I already have Cursive<\/b> and The Good Life<\/b> \u2013 not that there has to be any rules to that \u2013 just that I had to try and spend some time and translate what I wanted. And it was like \u2018Oh, I want to do a Good Life<\/b> record. If that\u2019s what you want to do, you should do that\u2019. But I recognised, with myself and that band, that I had to get in touch with them to make a long-term plan, because if I didn\u2019t, the idea of doing another Good Life<\/b> record was never gonna happen unless I made it happen.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

On top of this, Kasher<\/b> has also been working on film scripts for the last decade, making for an interesting companion to his traditional songwriting. To go alongside The Good Life<\/b>\u2019s 2007 album \u2018Help Wanted Nights<\/i>\u2019, Kasher<\/b> had penned a screenplay, only for it to be held up in commissioning hell. It means the first Kasher<\/b>-penned film we\u2019re likely to see is the film that accompanies ‘No Resolution’<\/i>. <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Help Wanted Nights\u2019 was the first one that I finished,\u201d<\/i> says Kasher<\/b>. \u201cOriginally I was planning on shooting that one myself, but there was interest and people wanted to be a part of it. And that\u2019s not a bad problem to have \u2013 and it\u2019s not the type of assistance that you want to turn down. So I didn\u2019t [turn down the assistance], but it also never got made. I think it will eventually get made though. There\u2019s currently a production company that has actually picked it up again, so there\u2019s a small team trying to get it made.<\/i><\/p>\n

"Instead I have my own track. I\u2019m starting to show ‘No Resolution’ later this year, and I\u2019m finishing my next script that I know I can make myself, so that\u2019s where I\u2019m really focussing at the moment. The fact that this company wants to produce \u2018Help Wanted Nights\u2019, that\u2019s fantastic \u2013 I don\u2019t have to stress about it. And if it doesn\u2019t go through \u2013 I mean, I want it to succeed \u2013 but I can see what they do with it. And if, in a couple of years it doesn\u2019t go through, I can go \u2018yeah, let\u2019s see what I can do with it.\u2019\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

It means a lot of Kasher<\/b>\u2019s attention this year will be on gearing up for the film. An early edit has already been shown at the Omaha Film Festival, providing Kasher<\/b> with a lot of positive feedback, before he takes that on tour later in the year. On top of that, he also has his new label, 15 Passenger<\/b>, run in partnership with Cursive<\/b> bandmates Matt Maginn and Ted Stevens. Originally established as an imprint to push the Cursive<\/b> back catalogue, it\u2019s grown to be its own beast, with Kasher<\/b>\u2019s latest full-length finding a home on the label. Most of the business side is managed by Maginn (\u201che loves that stuff,\u201d<\/i> says Kasher<\/b>), with his own involvement somewhat more esoteric. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel I get to enjoy the best aspect of it, as I just get to do A&R,\u201d<\/i> laughs Kasher<\/b>. \u201cI just daydream, and then I get in touch with Matt and Ted to say \u2018this would be amazing to do if the artist was into it\u2019, and they\u2019re like \u2018yeah, that would be really cool. If you can pull it off, we\u2019ll do it.\u2019 It\u2019s fun though. It\u2019s another activity to play around with.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

As if Kasher<\/b> needs anything else to play around with. The busiest man in rock\u2019n\u2019roll? It\u2019s almost like he doesn\u2019t have time to sit through a three-hour traffic jam\u2026<\/p>\n

‘No Resolution’<\/i> by Tim Kasher<\/b> is available now on 15 Passenger Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Tim Kasher<\/b> is currently touring the UK:<\/p>\n

March
\n 29 Studio 2, Liverpool
\n 30 The Portland Arms, Cambridge
\n 31 Hope & Ruin, Brighton<\/p>\n

Words by Rob Mair (@BobNightMair<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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