Kasey Chambers (04/09/2014)
An Australian country singer for the past fifteen years and a mother for seven, Kasey Chambers has established herself an Australian icon. Brazing across the Australian music scene for over a decade, Chambers newly released album, ‘Bittersweet’ clings onto her old country roots but explores the niche scope of something new for the veteran artist.
“I guess I feel like the album is very ‘me’. I feel like it still sounds a lot like me, but I feel there is a little bit of a new side of me that has came out on this record. With a few new sounds that I haven’t had before, but that mostly down to the producers I’ve never used and the different bands. I even went to a different place that I’ve never recorded in before.”
“But then there are some sounds on the record where I feel like I have really gone back to the roots of music for me. Like some songs that have inspired me, music that my dad brought me up from, those old timey sounds. So, it’s a little bit of everything I guess.”
Finishing shows in Australian capitals such as a Melbourne and Sydney, the fans of Kasey Chambers have come to expect an extended expenditure of songs at her shows. A mixture of new and old, I chatted with Kasey about her feelings when playing at gigs and how the sense of nostalgia continuously draws her back to her classical successes that gave her the longevity in her musical career.
“When I do go out and play live, I do like to try out some new songs on people that I’ve just written every now and then. But to be honest, I still love playing my old songs as much as anything. I can’t really imagine going to a gig without playing ‘Not Pretty Enough’ or ‘The Captain’. They’re so much apart of who I’m and not just my career but also who I’m as a person. So I still love that, I just don’t go out and play my old songs, because that’s what people want to hear. I actually love playing the old ones. That is still my favorite thing to do. I love writing new music I love recording new songs and all of that. But there still nothing quite like going out and playing old songs that people can relate to.”
Working alongside her brother, Nash Chambers in her past nine albums. Bittersweet marks the first entry in Kasey’s discography where she decide forwent Nash and work alongside a new producer to expand a greater choice in her harmonious horizon. However, Nash still played a strong part in the pre-production of Bittersweet, as Kasey let her brother and former producer select who would take the reins of producer and musicians on the new album. While daunting at retrospect, Kasey elaborated the need of chemistry when working with someone new.
“To a certain extent, it was just a bit scary in theory than it actually was. Because when I went into the studio, it wasn’t quite frightening as I thought it was going to be, since Nash was the one who helped me picked the producer, all the musicians and the studio. He really played a huge part in picking all of that and making everything happen, and also just making me feel comfortable. Nash knows that I’m not going to go in with a whole bunch of strangers and people I don’t connect or click with. So he was really in tune with that. He knew that even when he was helping me pick musicians, Nash took into account what these people are like personally and not what they’re like musically. That person maybe an amazing guitar player, but if it’s someone you don’t relate to and you don’t really get along with, then it doesn’t matter how great they play, it’s going to make it hard. So just having him involved in the production, made me feel a lot more at home and a lot more comfortable.”
Produced by Nick DiDia, whose works include Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteeen, The Wallflowers and Powderfinger and recorded in Studio 301 in Byron Bay, Nash’s methodology behind Bittersweet sang in tune with Nash’s approach to Kasey’s past albums, allowing a sense of acquaintance for the artist. ‘Organic’ in description, Nash picked Nick due to that familiarity between Kasey and her brother, establishing an album that allowed a sense of reminiscing but also the opening for something new for the singer.
“It was quite similar in a lot of ways where he sort of approached the music as Nash would. He likes to record things live, which we’ve always liked doing since it doesn’t require a whole lot of overdub. So his approach was very similar to Nash’s actually."
“It’s very organic. I think that’s the best way to describe it, where it’s not forced. I think a lot of producers like to go in and put their stamp on it and it’s about making artist sound like the producer. Where Nick was very organic and Nash worked in a way that was very similar to that. When it’s about bringing out the best in the artist, but also bringing out the best in the song and not letting the song suffer. But just going in and having faith in the musician and sometimes, it’s about what you don’t say as much as what you do say. Sometimes you just got to let the musician breathe, do their thing and find their magic.”
With a career exceeding more than 15 years, Kasey states that she owes her permanency to her uncaring nature about the latest trends in music landscape. Continuing that musicians contend the most when over-thinking about the opinions of those who control the developments in the music industry and essentially disallowing their work to reach their greatest capacity.
“It actually has nothing to do with that. I honestly don’t think about it. In fact I go out of my way not to think about that to be honest. I don’t ever want to try and keep up with trends or doing what anyone else is doing or not doing what everyone else is doing. I just really try not to have that effect when I try to do things creatively. I just sort of go in and make the best album that I can, base on where I’m in my life and my music at that point. So, obviously I hope people like it, but if they don’t, I don’t consider it a failure. If it doesn’t work with what is popular at the moment, then that’s just bad luck. I think that’s been part of my success over the years. Not worrying about anyone else is doing and just doing my own thing that works for me and hopefully that’s what makes it stand out.”
“To be honest, I think that’s one of the downfalls of the music industry. People think too much about what everyone else is doing or what they should be doing. In the end, I think everyone loses out in making awesome music. It means they’ve got boundaries in what they’re doing creatively, because you can’t go there or can’t do that since that’s not cool at the moment. So a lot of time, people miss out on making their greatest music by doing that. I think if you look at some of the greatest artists of all time, people that I look up and been influenced by. It’s the last thing on their mind. I don’t think Paul Kelly or Neil Young were not caring, but in fact leading in this sense and then people turn around and want to make music like them. So it’s the difference between being influenced by somebody or wanting to be them and once you want to be somebody else or have a certain success, it places boundaries on what you’re doing creatively and it stops people from doing their best.”
Bittersweet stroked an unusual cord for Kasey, as she fiddled with the uncertainty of a new producer. Working with her brother in past albums, together they have sold over one million albums; in-turn Bittersweet marked an expansion in Kasey’s music. However, while opting for change, Kasey kept that familiarity with her creativity by continuing to work Ashleigh Dallas, her longtime friend and background vocals.
“I actually never worked with Ash in the studio. I mean I’ve worked with her on her record, but Ash had never been in the studio and played on any of my records before, so that was a whole different approach. To be honest, the thing about Ash is that I really did want that sound of her singing harmony on the record, which I never had on any of my records before. I never had one girl singer who sort of sung all the harmonies like Ash, I never had that in band-tracking as well. Ash was there, doing a lot of the other instruments. So that was kind of a new side of her that we got to experience.”
As each album manifested a distinct stage in her life, songwriting has always represented one of Kasey’s strong suits. Bittersweet is once again a demonstration to the artist who has won ten APRA awards. Holding the record for the highest awarded solo APRA Songwriter in Australia, Chambers also boasts ten ARIA Awards, twenty Golden Guitars and nominations for two Americana Music Awards. Learning the need to let songwriting process go smoothly, Kasey spoke to me about the unncessity by forcing process.
“These songs kind of range over the four years of my life. So there have been ups and downs in that time slot. Different life experiences are definitely in there. Some songs were written three and a half years ago, some songs were written a week before we went into the studio. So, it does take in a whole lot of different sides of my life and some songs aren’t even about me, they’re just songs that I just woke up one day and they were there. But I try not to over-analyse it too much. I just like to let songs come to life themselves and I try not to force it. I went through a stage quite a few years ago, where I really tried to force songs because I was a bit worried that I wasn’t getting any songs out and I forced myself to write songs and I ended up making a record called ‘Carnival’, which even though I liked the record and I’m proud of it, I don’t have the same connection to that record compared to my others. I felt like it was really forced and there wasn’t really much me as in my other records. So I liked having that process again where I let songs kind of form themselves and not over-analysing too much.”
A mother first and an artist second, Kasey continued about the difficulties of maintaining a career while caring for her kids.
"Sometimes I just end up in the corner in the fetal position and say ‘What am I doing?’ No, like any normal working mum, I do have moments like that without a doubt. But for the most part, it’s just about balance I guess. I think I get to a point where I realize that I can’t do everything. So it means sometimes I’m going to have to give up some music things and sometimes I have to get people to help me out by picking up the kids from school. So it just means you can’t physically do everything if you’re going to have a career and children at the same time. I don’t always get it right, sometimes I think back and think I should have done that differently and I’m certain I’ll have more time for that. But for the most part, I’m really lucky that I have my family involved in my career as well, which helps me so much. Like my brother is my manager, he understands my commitments as a mother. My mother sells the merchandise on the road, so she can help with the kids as well and my dad plays in my band. So I’m lucky in that sense that I have all these people around me who help out.”
Jason Cheung
“I guess I feel like the album is very ‘me’. I feel like it still sounds a lot like me, but I feel there is a little bit of a new side of me that has came out on this record. With a few new sounds that I haven’t had before, but that mostly down to the producers I’ve never used and the different bands. I even went to a different place that I’ve never recorded in before.”
“But then there are some sounds on the record where I feel like I have really gone back to the roots of music for me. Like some songs that have inspired me, music that my dad brought me up from, those old timey sounds. So, it’s a little bit of everything I guess.”
Finishing shows in Australian capitals such as a Melbourne and Sydney, the fans of Kasey Chambers have come to expect an extended expenditure of songs at her shows. A mixture of new and old, I chatted with Kasey about her feelings when playing at gigs and how the sense of nostalgia continuously draws her back to her classical successes that gave her the longevity in her musical career.
“When I do go out and play live, I do like to try out some new songs on people that I’ve just written every now and then. But to be honest, I still love playing my old songs as much as anything. I can’t really imagine going to a gig without playing ‘Not Pretty Enough’ or ‘The Captain’. They’re so much apart of who I’m and not just my career but also who I’m as a person. So I still love that, I just don’t go out and play my old songs, because that’s what people want to hear. I actually love playing the old ones. That is still my favorite thing to do. I love writing new music I love recording new songs and all of that. But there still nothing quite like going out and playing old songs that people can relate to.”
Working alongside her brother, Nash Chambers in her past nine albums. Bittersweet marks the first entry in Kasey’s discography where she decide forwent Nash and work alongside a new producer to expand a greater choice in her harmonious horizon. However, Nash still played a strong part in the pre-production of Bittersweet, as Kasey let her brother and former producer select who would take the reins of producer and musicians on the new album. While daunting at retrospect, Kasey elaborated the need of chemistry when working with someone new.
“To a certain extent, it was just a bit scary in theory than it actually was. Because when I went into the studio, it wasn’t quite frightening as I thought it was going to be, since Nash was the one who helped me picked the producer, all the musicians and the studio. He really played a huge part in picking all of that and making everything happen, and also just making me feel comfortable. Nash knows that I’m not going to go in with a whole bunch of strangers and people I don’t connect or click with. So he was really in tune with that. He knew that even when he was helping me pick musicians, Nash took into account what these people are like personally and not what they’re like musically. That person maybe an amazing guitar player, but if it’s someone you don’t relate to and you don’t really get along with, then it doesn’t matter how great they play, it’s going to make it hard. So just having him involved in the production, made me feel a lot more at home and a lot more comfortable.”
Produced by Nick DiDia, whose works include Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteeen, The Wallflowers and Powderfinger and recorded in Studio 301 in Byron Bay, Nash’s methodology behind Bittersweet sang in tune with Nash’s approach to Kasey’s past albums, allowing a sense of acquaintance for the artist. ‘Organic’ in description, Nash picked Nick due to that familiarity between Kasey and her brother, establishing an album that allowed a sense of reminiscing but also the opening for something new for the singer.
“It was quite similar in a lot of ways where he sort of approached the music as Nash would. He likes to record things live, which we’ve always liked doing since it doesn’t require a whole lot of overdub. So his approach was very similar to Nash’s actually."
“It’s very organic. I think that’s the best way to describe it, where it’s not forced. I think a lot of producers like to go in and put their stamp on it and it’s about making artist sound like the producer. Where Nick was very organic and Nash worked in a way that was very similar to that. When it’s about bringing out the best in the artist, but also bringing out the best in the song and not letting the song suffer. But just going in and having faith in the musician and sometimes, it’s about what you don’t say as much as what you do say. Sometimes you just got to let the musician breathe, do their thing and find their magic.”
With a career exceeding more than 15 years, Kasey states that she owes her permanency to her uncaring nature about the latest trends in music landscape. Continuing that musicians contend the most when over-thinking about the opinions of those who control the developments in the music industry and essentially disallowing their work to reach their greatest capacity.
“It actually has nothing to do with that. I honestly don’t think about it. In fact I go out of my way not to think about that to be honest. I don’t ever want to try and keep up with trends or doing what anyone else is doing or not doing what everyone else is doing. I just really try not to have that effect when I try to do things creatively. I just sort of go in and make the best album that I can, base on where I’m in my life and my music at that point. So, obviously I hope people like it, but if they don’t, I don’t consider it a failure. If it doesn’t work with what is popular at the moment, then that’s just bad luck. I think that’s been part of my success over the years. Not worrying about anyone else is doing and just doing my own thing that works for me and hopefully that’s what makes it stand out.”
“To be honest, I think that’s one of the downfalls of the music industry. People think too much about what everyone else is doing or what they should be doing. In the end, I think everyone loses out in making awesome music. It means they’ve got boundaries in what they’re doing creatively, because you can’t go there or can’t do that since that’s not cool at the moment. So a lot of time, people miss out on making their greatest music by doing that. I think if you look at some of the greatest artists of all time, people that I look up and been influenced by. It’s the last thing on their mind. I don’t think Paul Kelly or Neil Young were not caring, but in fact leading in this sense and then people turn around and want to make music like them. So it’s the difference between being influenced by somebody or wanting to be them and once you want to be somebody else or have a certain success, it places boundaries on what you’re doing creatively and it stops people from doing their best.”
Bittersweet stroked an unusual cord for Kasey, as she fiddled with the uncertainty of a new producer. Working with her brother in past albums, together they have sold over one million albums; in-turn Bittersweet marked an expansion in Kasey’s music. However, while opting for change, Kasey kept that familiarity with her creativity by continuing to work Ashleigh Dallas, her longtime friend and background vocals.
“I actually never worked with Ash in the studio. I mean I’ve worked with her on her record, but Ash had never been in the studio and played on any of my records before, so that was a whole different approach. To be honest, the thing about Ash is that I really did want that sound of her singing harmony on the record, which I never had on any of my records before. I never had one girl singer who sort of sung all the harmonies like Ash, I never had that in band-tracking as well. Ash was there, doing a lot of the other instruments. So that was kind of a new side of her that we got to experience.”
As each album manifested a distinct stage in her life, songwriting has always represented one of Kasey’s strong suits. Bittersweet is once again a demonstration to the artist who has won ten APRA awards. Holding the record for the highest awarded solo APRA Songwriter in Australia, Chambers also boasts ten ARIA Awards, twenty Golden Guitars and nominations for two Americana Music Awards. Learning the need to let songwriting process go smoothly, Kasey spoke to me about the unncessity by forcing process.
“These songs kind of range over the four years of my life. So there have been ups and downs in that time slot. Different life experiences are definitely in there. Some songs were written three and a half years ago, some songs were written a week before we went into the studio. So, it does take in a whole lot of different sides of my life and some songs aren’t even about me, they’re just songs that I just woke up one day and they were there. But I try not to over-analyse it too much. I just like to let songs come to life themselves and I try not to force it. I went through a stage quite a few years ago, where I really tried to force songs because I was a bit worried that I wasn’t getting any songs out and I forced myself to write songs and I ended up making a record called ‘Carnival’, which even though I liked the record and I’m proud of it, I don’t have the same connection to that record compared to my others. I felt like it was really forced and there wasn’t really much me as in my other records. So I liked having that process again where I let songs kind of form themselves and not over-analysing too much.”
A mother first and an artist second, Kasey continued about the difficulties of maintaining a career while caring for her kids.
"Sometimes I just end up in the corner in the fetal position and say ‘What am I doing?’ No, like any normal working mum, I do have moments like that without a doubt. But for the most part, it’s just about balance I guess. I think I get to a point where I realize that I can’t do everything. So it means sometimes I’m going to have to give up some music things and sometimes I have to get people to help me out by picking up the kids from school. So it just means you can’t physically do everything if you’re going to have a career and children at the same time. I don’t always get it right, sometimes I think back and think I should have done that differently and I’m certain I’ll have more time for that. But for the most part, I’m really lucky that I have my family involved in my career as well, which helps me so much. Like my brother is my manager, he understands my commitments as a mother. My mother sells the merchandise on the road, so she can help with the kids as well and my dad plays in my band. So I’m lucky in that sense that I have all these people around me who help out.”
Jason Cheung