CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE

“When I was 19, I was really into Jean Luc Goddard. I thought he was genius and I still do. I’m really into American cinema of the Seventies…Directors like Malick and Peckinpah. I also really love people like Elliot Gould, Warren Oates, George C. Scott. I love horror movies as well…the Giallo flicks by Argento and Bava. Actually Zombie movies are probably some of my favorites. Zombie 2, the Fulci one, that’s awesome. That’s the one that has the fight between the zombie and the shark!”

Owen Ashworth loves movies.

Or it may be more accurate to say that the 28 year old who performs under the Moniker of Casiotone For The Painfully Alone loves stories. After dropping out of film school with the realization that films just cost too much to make, Ashworth set about recording heartbreaking miniature epics onto a four track armed with old synths, keyboards and drum machines. This has resulted in three Lo-Fi LP’s and the latest offering Etiquette which sees CFTPA’s musical palette evolve with strings, flutes and even a touch of slide guitar.

“Etiquette was much more of a collaboration than the other records, even though I recorded of all the songs on a four track beforehand.” He explains. “Jherek Biscoff (The Dead Science and Degenerate Art Ensemble) and Jason Quever (The Papercuts and Pan American Recording Studio) came on board and really helped expand the sound. With the other records I was really limited by relying on synths and so by bringing in other musicians it helped take the songs to a different place.”

Even though a majority of the tracks are laced with a sense of regret and sadness, the tunes on Etiquette wear their Indie Pop roots on their sleeves
with subtle nods to Pavement (New Years Kiss) and The Magnetic Fields (Nashville Parthenon). Was crafting the songs born out of a musical background or was it something that came out of a need to accompany the stories?

“I think I may have taken one piano class while I was at college but apart from that I’m self taught. I really learnt piano through simply sitting down and writing songs. I can also be really stubborn so I guess I wanted to prove that I could play without the musical education.”

Even though Casiotone For The Painfully Alone is one of the great band names (along with Oingo Boingo and Dead Kennedys), how hard was it to get your first gig and what was the leap like from playing in your bedroom to playing to liquored up punters?

“A friend of mine asked me about the music that was on my answering machine so I made her a tape of a bunch of songs I’d written. Along the spine of the tape I wrote ‘Casiotone For The Painfully Alone’ without giving it too much thought. Anyway, she went off and decided to stick me on the bill as the opening act for other friends of hers that were playing. She didn’t ask me…I just got the flyer and saw Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. I remember writing a couple of songs the night before. I set up a keyboard and a drum machine, both coming out of one amp. It was terrible. I was so nervous. Then another friend came up to me after the show and asked if I wanted to play another gig a week later so it all snowballed from there.”

People tend to inevitably lump you in with The Mountain Goats, Bright Eyes and everyone else who released home recordings as albums. Do you see those connections or is it simply something the music media has created?

“People always make those comparisons but when I’m in my living room writing a song the last thing to come into my head is ‘I wonder if Bright Eyes has done something like this’. I grew up listening to bands like The Mountain Goats and the first thing that hits you is the earnestness and the intimacy, no matter how bad the production is. The same goes for Daniel Johnston. The songs are just so personal and brilliant that they outshine the obstacles of the environment they were created in.”

You’ve got quite a large presence on the Web. Aside from your own website and Myspace page, what’s your involvement with Daytrotter?

“Daytrotter is a website run by a music journalist called Shane Moller and it’s basically a place where he posts mp3’s different recording sessions that are made in his studio in San Diego…kind of like small versions of the sessions John Peel used to do for his radio show. We were in town and he asked us to record a few songs (which are available as free downloads at www.daytrotter.com).”

With your first major world tour fast approaching, is this something you ever imagined happening back when you were releasing records out of your house?

“This is just surreal at the moment. I was actually gonna come down to Australia and tour with the last record cause the label that was handling the release there was trying to organize it. Obviously it didn’t happen as they couldn’t quite justify it. To be honest, the whole thing feels like a dream at the moment and I don’t really know what to expect. I’m just grateful to be able to have this opportunity.”

Are you a fan of any Aussie bands?

“I’m actually not that familiar with too many Australian bands, though I will say that I Need You Tonight by INXS has to be one of the greatest Pop songs ever written. Period.”