Real Sounds Feature
James Casper - Video Interview
By Real Sounds
We had the chance to interview James Casper before his upcoming show with us at Mascara Bar in London! Live performance: James Casper -...
We had the chance to interview James Casper before his upcoming show with us at Mascara Bar in London! Live performance: James Casper - Holding On
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Transcript
Hi, this is James Casper and welcome to Real.
Thank you very much for being here and thank you for attending this interview.
Thank you so much for having me.
My first question, rather simple one, is can you share the story of what inspired you to become a singer-songwriter and when did you write your first song?
I got into making music mostly down to like my parents, simple answer. Like my dad always just played everything and anything. But it wasn't until I was like 13 or 14 when I started playing in some bands back home. They were terrible songs, they were not good at all but that was like how it all started I guess.
Can you walk us through the creative process or theme behind your latest single, Open Arms?
That came around mostly from my good friend Pitt, who's an incredible drummer. He plays in like 80 million bands because there's no drummers in London. Me and my girlfriend had a little bit of an argument. And it was a thing of just being like, we can end this argument and we can just go on and it'll be fine. And it was a great way of tying it up, if that makes sense. But I wrote it with my good friend Pitt, he did the amazing drums.
Does your girlfriend listen back to that song every time you have an argument?
Yeah, I hope so. I'm like, we can get through this, send the link. She's a musician as well. She just writes, she writes like heartbreakingly great songs and it's just like, oh.
What is the best piece of advice you heard that could help other aspiring musicians?
I mostly come from like the production side. I mostly produce other people but I always want to do my own music. For me it's just, you just got to keep doing it. You just got to keep like turning up and just work on something. I started off mostly doing like electronic stuff. But I always know I want to do like indie pop stuff, indie rock stuff. But it was kind of, from learning electronic stuff you understand how to do all the production side of it. And then you can integrate it into other parts. So I'd just say just do it. Don't shy away from it. Just do everything and anything really. It's just fun at the end of the day. If it's not fun, stop. Walk away for a minute. Yeah. Come back when you want.
If you could compare yourself to an instrument, a bit of a funny one, what would you be and why?
I don't know.
Just take your time to think about it.
I mean, if I was going to do a really silly one, there was, I found a video of some like drum machine from the 70s. That was made in like Scotland. And it's this weirdest bit of equipment. I was like, I love that. It was cool because it was like, you can have like a really sloppy drum beat, but then they would like mess around with the knobs on it. And it would create a whole new thing. I was like, that's really cool. Yeah.
Would you maybe compare yourself? Would you maybe compare yourself to that? Like your brain is kind of like that: you're messing around and then you have something.
Yeah. That's a good way to explain it, especially when it comes to building a world of sound. I like to make as much as possible and then dial it in. So, a bit of scatterbrain, but also a bit of fun.
What do you find the most challenging aspect of being a singer-songwriter and how do you overcome them? For example, have you had artist's block or any other challenges?
Comparing myself is the devil. It's the worst thing. But you work through it, I guess. That, and just getting things out, because I'm always thinking, I could do it better. It is about stopping yourself and saying, no, this is where you're at now, and getting it out. That's how I want to move forward.
If you could gain a new skill or ability instantly, like right now, what would it be?
To just get a grasp of what music theory actually is. Because like, I don't understand some bits, but then it's just like, you always have to learn. So just to be a master would be lovely.
That makes sense. Would you say that you have any like basic theory or have you learned any theory at school?
No. No. I like, chord theory can be pretty cool. Like the rule, is it the circle of fifths? Like just working out that stuff. Again, it can be kind of bad because you're like, Oh, that's how everything sounds. Like a pop song is just this type of thing, but it'll be nice to know. For sure. But not be like stuck to it. If it wasn't musical, I always get jealous of people who can ride bicycles and just like do a massive wheelie down the road. Like that's pretty cool. So it'll be fun. Or drive. I can't drive.
Can you talk about any upcoming projects or collaboration or any like future goals for your music? And where do you kind of see yourself evolving in the coming years?
Yeah. So I have a gig with you guys on the 28th. Should be great. I've also got two other gigs that I'm playing for other people. Should be fun. For myself, I'm planning to get something out for New Year around beginning February, end of January. Because I've been working on like an EP with my friend Sam. He goes by Cackle. He's an incredible producer and musician. And my girlfriend, who I ought to say is Aniwa. We actually both worked on a song for her. That's coming out next week, which will be fun. For the future, I hope to be able to make a living from it. Really, and just be touring. Yeah, that's the goal.