You can see Casey and Sunset Hearts live at Empire Dine and Dance on Friday, August 5th with Hi Tiger (their CD release) and Marie Stella (their farewell show). Tickets are available HERE.
How did the band come about?
We formed pretty organically from a band I had put together for a local cover show. I had the opportunity to perform a whole set of Talking Heads material with a ten-piece band... but it became too much fun to just set aside after the show. I had been thinking about putting something together after the demise of my last band, Satellite Lot, so it wasn't the only impetus to form Sunset Hearts. I guess I was secretly hoping that this would happen.
Where'd the name come from?
A lady never tells... and a gentleman never asks. But I'll tell you why I like the name. Because it's symmetrical!
There are an awful lot of people in the band? How does the music get written?
Do you mean "how does music manage to get written?" Anyway, I write the songs and what I call the "hero" parts. Those are parts that are kind of what I consider indispensable to the song. Everything else is handled by the band. They have a lot of freedom to write or change their parts as they see fit. They may cringe when they read this!
And who takes care of the lyrics?
I write the lyrics. For me, songs start with images or dreams. I won't get into what these are like for fear of sounding esoteric, but the lyrics are what makes me continue writing because it's the most satisfying part. The song starts with an image, then I write the music, and then I write the lyrics. I think a lot of writers work this way. I may be mistaken.
How do you get along? Are you all friends or is it more taking care of business?
I like to describe this band as a moveable party. It's great to know that, whatever foul condition a venue may be in, when Sunset Hearts shows up we have a portable comfort zone of friends. Almost all of us go way back as far as friendship goes, and the newer people may as well have. That said, there's a unique joy in being a part of something so drastically different from a typical four-piece rock band... In that sense, it can be very business-like because no one wants to look like a primadonna in front of seven other people.
What sort of response do you hope to get from the crowd with your music?
This is kind of a difficult question to answer. We're a very young band, in fact I wrote ninety percent of the Sunset Hearts oeuvre less than a year ago. So maybe I don't know what I want yet... Ultimately I'd want people to come out and enjoy my music, and to understand my lyrics, be a part of them, and to be fully entertained. Probably like any other musician.
What makes your live show worth going to?
I like to think that our live show is this diabolical thing that is very volatile. Our shows can be drastically different from each other depending on where we're playing. There are a lot of variables. My favorite shows are when we show up to a club and the stage can only fit two of us and a bunch of us get to be eye-level with the crowd. I consider that the ideal setup for a live band. We hear what they hear. I can make eye contact.
If you had to choose one album that you couldn't live without, what would it be?
In a very literal way, and from a practical standpoint, I guess I'd say I couldn't live without the "Blade Runner" soundtrack by Vangelis. Because it is the single piece of music that will, guaranteed, rid me of a headache, put me to sleep, or wake me up. It's fantastic and it does everything. If I were answering on the basis of pure art, I'd say "Songs of Love and Hate" by Leonard Cohen. Because it has everything.
How about best album by a Maine band?
I think the best album ever released from a Maine band is "Crash My Moon Yacht" by Cerberus Shoal. "Ice Arena" by Cult Maze is a close second. But "Crash My Moon Yacht" is just flawless, and it improves with each listen. It sounds newer every year. To me, it's one of those rare albums that just seems effortless and unselfconscious.
What's next?
Well, our album is scheduled for release on October 1st, with a show at SPACE Gallery. We have a few other shows around town, like the PICNIC Festival later this month. But what we're really excited to do is branch out. By the way, this is what any band will say. And there's been a lot of talk around town lately about "touring Portland." In other words, playing every show you play in Portland, just moving down Congress St. a couple blocks for each show. I went from the mentality of Satellite Lot, which was predominantly "cobble together a live band in order to play one show every six months" to the Sunset Hearts mindset, which is "devise new ways to turn down shows in a polite way." Because I don't want to burn out here. Most bands, especially good ones, will burn out; I'd rather burn out on the road than here at home. Anyway, getting back to your question, I've got some new songs for the next album ready to go and hopefully we'll be performing more material by mid-Fall.