100 Musicians Answer the Same 10 Questions

Part One: Casey Dienel

instigated by dave heaton

From New England but now living in New York City, Casey Dienel is a spellbinding singer, piano player, and storyteller-in-song, who released her debut album Wind-Up Canary earlier this year on Hush Records. It's a remarkable, endlessly enjoyable album - stylish, heartfelt, filled with flights of fancy and stunning moments. MP3s can be heard on her MySpace page, on the Hush web site, and through a great set of songs she recently recorded for Daytrotter.com.

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What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?

I love being able to pose questions in my songs. I have ideas running through my head pretty much all day, so songwriting is this wonderfully immediate outsource for all of my busy thoughts. Other than writing, I love the live aspect of making music. I once tried to be a composer--but it always felt like something was missing. Good art, the kind that really rivets me in the chest, stays with me after I've closed my eyes and ears. It might confound me or nourish me, but that's how I know I've been moved. That's what I'd like to be able to do.

What aspect of making music gets you the most discouraged?

Sometimes people want to sell you on a formula or instant-protein power for success. I never wanted to be a miracle bottle rocket. As long as you have a good inkling of who you really are, you just keep you eyes peeled for the like-minded people. They're easy to spot out! Wide eyes, good listeners. I like being a part of a community where people help each other.

What are you up to right now, music-wise? (Current or upcoming recordings, tours, extravaganzas, experiments, top-secret projects, etc).

I'm writing whenever I have downtime, recording some duets with my friend Sam Rosen for an EP to be released maybe later this year, touring in the fall throughout the US, and the big plan is to make a new full-length record by the end of the year...I am teaching myself to garden. I've got some zinnias, beefsteak tomatoes, basil and apple mint. I want to have a hydrangea plant, so I can stick rusted metal in the dirt and change the color of the blossoms.

What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording? How did the qualities of that place affect the show/recording?

I recorded a demo (that has been lost due to its sheer sonic mediocrity) in a friend's bedroom. It was the size of a cedar trunk. We drank a lot of whiskey and recorded 5 songs all night long. I went to sleep the next morning curled up next to my Roland FP-5, which was also the evening we christened my keyboard "The Beast." The demo has a lot of cowbell on it, it sounds like sweat & drink, with a little dash of back-porch-in-the-summertime ambiance for good measure. I wouldn't say it was my finest work, by any means. a start is a start.

In what ways does the place where you live (or places where you have lived), affect the music you create, or your taste in music?

I am very affected by my surroundings. I grew up in a place where I didn't feel very big or important, and where I was isolated. My tastes were crystallized at a young age. I listened to my parents' records exclusively until I was about 13. I moved to Boston for school, and suddenly I was barricaded with noise and bustle and new music. I became a compulsive eavesdropper. Now I live in Brooklyn, and I'd say that's crept in my writing, too. I like New York's unapologetic attitude towards work, art, and individuality. All of the cultures and sounds and architecture and people are just colliding all day long, making this beautiful mess! It's fascinating.

When was the last time you wrote a song? What can you tell us about it?

A few nights ago, I was up all night after a show and decided to drive down the beach. I like wind, so I drove with the windows of the mom-mobile down, and it was almost 5:30 in the morning so the sun was coming up over the water and the sky was hazy pink. I wrote a love song, I think.

As you create more music, do you find yourself getting more or less interested in seeking out and listening to new music made by other people...and why do you think that is?

I like to keep my ears stretched. When I'm writing, I tend not to listen to much music at all. I need a clean palette, I guess--but more often than not I am listening to the music of my friends. I don't read a lot of music magazines, so I'm always the last to know about new bands. I'm like an ostrich with my head in the sand.

Lately what musical periods or styles do you find yourself most drawn to as a listener? (Old or new music? Music like yours or different from yours?)

Older music appeals to my ear. Sometimes new bands sound like they're pissed at their own melodies, or something...I miss the warmth of old '40s-'50s recordings. Sometimes modernity can seem too closed off for me, and the music makes me feel like I'm a not supposed to be listening. Or worse, that I'm not intelligent enough to be listening, which to me tastes raw and awkward. That's why I like R&B so much, I think. Brandy wants you to listen to her. I hate that 90s reverb, but I love the reverb on Dusty Springfield or Kinks records from the 60s. Nancy Sinatra's songs sound fucking huge, you know! It's extravagant but you're invited. I like a lot of music that doesn't really sound like me at all, like the Talking Heads, the Velvet Underground... I've been into listening to the Debussy-Ravel-Dutilleux string quartets in conjunction. I think what I like is authenticity. I don't want to be thinking about their hair more than their songs, you know?

Name a band or musician, past or present, who you flat-out LOVE and think more people should be listening to. What's one of your all-time favorite recordings by this band/musician?

Ponies In The Surf. I could listen to their songs all day. My favorite is their EP, "A Demonstration."

What's the saddest song you've ever heard?

Baby Dee's "When I Get Home."

To check out the rest of the Q&As, click here.