Casual Sex Interview
"The name is not an attempt to glorify a lifestyle as many people first assume. The words were frank and honest and for the most part, discouraging of entering in to the world of casual sex."
If you see a band named Casual Sex passing by, then it’s really difficult to hide your curiosity. Especially if you find out that they dress like bankers and make great original music. In order to come up such combination requires a healthy amount of creative insanity. The 4-headed Glasgow band often gets compared with Franz Ferdinand, but guitarist Edward (Ed) Wood seems to have no problem with that at all. “They're in my record collection and are part of my culture”, he states.
We know you first met each other at Green Door recording studio but why was every band member there in the first place?
I met Sam at a party in the basement of a cafe only a year before we started working together. There was a photography studio down there and everyone ended up dressing up in vintage costumes they had for period style portraits or something. We both chose to dress up as hessian soldiers and gravitated towards each other. We ended up dealing with the police after the neighbours complained, in full military regalia, wigs and all. It was ridiculous. I didn't see him for another year, then out of the blue a friend asked me to come up to the Green Door studio to work on some music with this guy Sam. I loved the songs and was a fan of his last band and that was that. I was originally supposed to play drums but to my embarrassment I couldn't get close to playing anywhere near the standard he had already demoed himself. So I learned the guitar parts and stuck with that. Both Chris, (Drums) and Pete (Bass) had worked with Sam at the green door on different workshops they had going and had a project of their own. They both had a really good attitude and were great musicians. Most importantly all of our tastes crossed over and everyone had a completely different list of influences.
Did you already know at that moment that you were going to form a band?
To be honest, It was just a case of who could come along for a while. We got the songs we had down, and were invited to play a show with Sons and Daughters after Scott, the guitarist of that band, heard the demos during a session at the Green door studios. This was the test that really got things going. The show was well received by our friends and soon after that we started writing together. That’s when the line-up solidified itself.
Was it a musical match at first sight or did you have to work on creating the unique sound you have now?
We never really worked on a sound deliberately. We all have our own take-on things. We all play guitar with completely different styles and some are more accomplished than others. When we are writing there is an appreciation for each other’s style and it seems to marry together to sound like Casual Sex. There are no rules but we deliberately try to change the formula from track to track.
Your music is a combination of different genres. It seems only natural that your sound has come a long way. How has it evolved along the way?
We realized from the beginning that we wanted to strip back as much from the music as we could, to allow space for everything and get the feeling across. At first the ethic was: if we can't play it live, it didn't go down on tape.
We usually tape live takes, all of us playing together usually in one room. This gives us no choice but to play to our best ability and seems to work. I'm usually the one coming back to overdub stuff. I very rarely play something the same way twice until it's drummed in there. The writing process has definitely evolved and we have found out that we work best placed under pressure.
You’ve probably had to answer this question already a dozen times, but how did the name of the band come about?
The name was already set in stone when I met Sam. There was a body of work ready that he had been working on for some time while setting up the Green Door studio in Glasgow. The name closely followed the theme of the work. Not an attempt to glorify a lifestyle as many people first assume. The words were frank and honest and for the most part, discouraging of entering in to the world of casual sex.
It sounds as if you’re having a great time making music and having fun is the most important thing. Is this statement correct or do you take yourselves more seriously than that?
We are completely about having fun, there are far too many poe faced overly sincere bands around these days. We are supposed to be entertainers. It's hard work but we're not out there risking our lifes or forced to make life and death decisions on a daily basis. We have all had shitty jobs in our lifes and know what it is to work hard, it's good to have a sense of perspective on things. It's a luxury being creative and having such a direct means to vent ideas and share our energy. As long as it lasts we will make the most of it.
Sam said in an earlier interview that the song ‘Stroh 80’ is about “being caught doing the nasty with your girlfriend's pal in the aftermath of a drug party on the floor of a local occultist”. There is no way you could come up with such a subject as this without having experienced it first-hand. Is there?
I was Sam's friend in the wake of an incident not dissimilar to the one he describes in that song. It wasn't pretty.
The Guardian stated that you look like stylish bankers walking right out of the pages of a Franz Kafka novel, did you deliberately choose that style or is it just a magical snap between your music and your appearance?
I think boys copy each other.
Casual Sex are always mentioned in the same breath as Franz Ferdinand. Do you feel like it’s an example of lazy journalism, based on your locality?
I kind of get it, people can hear a similar tone in our music. I think we share a lot of the same influences. There have been a few articles aligning us with Postcard records and I get that completely, that group of artists influenced all of us. I personally don't mind being dropped in with Josef K, Orange Juice, The Fire Engines or Franz. They're all there in my record collection and are part of my culture. Maybe there will be more to write about this year?
You’ve had a tour around the US lately. What was it like? Did your life during the tour involve any casual sex?
It was exhausting, surreal and amazing. We were really well received and the two dates we played in Canada blew us away. We had our fair share of disasters and overcame most of them loving every minute. We were on tour with Franz and Franky Rose and they were all really cool. And about the casual sex? I have a beautiful girlfriend and I love her, unfortunately she wasn't on tour with me so in that respect it was two long weeks.
20 February you’ll be playing in Norwich. How do you guys prepare for a live show?
It just depends on our mood. It can be quite tense before shows. I try not to think about it too much and usually go on thinking this is going to be tough but I always relax as soon as we start. We practice when we can but it's always different live. better!
A live gig always has to give this “extra musical dimension” to the audience. How does Casual Sex fill up the holes?
Do I really have to answer that?
Casual Sex will be playing at EPIC Studios, Norwich on Thursday 20 February – info and tickets at http://www.epicstudiosnorwich.com/events/casual-sex-support/
If you see a band named Casual Sex passing by, then it’s really difficult to hide your curiosity. Especially if you find out that they dress like bankers and make great original music. In order to come up such combination requires a healthy amount of creative insanity. The 4-headed Glasgow band often gets compared with Franz Ferdinand, but guitarist Edward (Ed) Wood seems to have no problem with that at all. “They're in my record collection and are part of my culture”, he states.
We know you first met each other at Green Door recording studio but why was every band member there in the first place?
I met Sam at a party in the basement of a cafe only a year before we started working together. There was a photography studio down there and everyone ended up dressing up in vintage costumes they had for period style portraits or something. We both chose to dress up as hessian soldiers and gravitated towards each other. We ended up dealing with the police after the neighbours complained, in full military regalia, wigs and all. It was ridiculous. I didn't see him for another year, then out of the blue a friend asked me to come up to the Green Door studio to work on some music with this guy Sam. I loved the songs and was a fan of his last band and that was that. I was originally supposed to play drums but to my embarrassment I couldn't get close to playing anywhere near the standard he had already demoed himself. So I learned the guitar parts and stuck with that. Both Chris, (Drums) and Pete (Bass) had worked with Sam at the green door on different workshops they had going and had a project of their own. They both had a really good attitude and were great musicians. Most importantly all of our tastes crossed over and everyone had a completely different list of influences.
Did you already know at that moment that you were going to form a band?
To be honest, It was just a case of who could come along for a while. We got the songs we had down, and were invited to play a show with Sons and Daughters after Scott, the guitarist of that band, heard the demos during a session at the Green door studios. This was the test that really got things going. The show was well received by our friends and soon after that we started writing together. That’s when the line-up solidified itself.
Was it a musical match at first sight or did you have to work on creating the unique sound you have now?
We never really worked on a sound deliberately. We all have our own take-on things. We all play guitar with completely different styles and some are more accomplished than others. When we are writing there is an appreciation for each other’s style and it seems to marry together to sound like Casual Sex. There are no rules but we deliberately try to change the formula from track to track.
Your music is a combination of different genres. It seems only natural that your sound has come a long way. How has it evolved along the way?
We realized from the beginning that we wanted to strip back as much from the music as we could, to allow space for everything and get the feeling across. At first the ethic was: if we can't play it live, it didn't go down on tape.
We usually tape live takes, all of us playing together usually in one room. This gives us no choice but to play to our best ability and seems to work. I'm usually the one coming back to overdub stuff. I very rarely play something the same way twice until it's drummed in there. The writing process has definitely evolved and we have found out that we work best placed under pressure.
You’ve probably had to answer this question already a dozen times, but how did the name of the band come about?
The name was already set in stone when I met Sam. There was a body of work ready that he had been working on for some time while setting up the Green Door studio in Glasgow. The name closely followed the theme of the work. Not an attempt to glorify a lifestyle as many people first assume. The words were frank and honest and for the most part, discouraging of entering in to the world of casual sex.
It sounds as if you’re having a great time making music and having fun is the most important thing. Is this statement correct or do you take yourselves more seriously than that?
We are completely about having fun, there are far too many poe faced overly sincere bands around these days. We are supposed to be entertainers. It's hard work but we're not out there risking our lifes or forced to make life and death decisions on a daily basis. We have all had shitty jobs in our lifes and know what it is to work hard, it's good to have a sense of perspective on things. It's a luxury being creative and having such a direct means to vent ideas and share our energy. As long as it lasts we will make the most of it.
Sam said in an earlier interview that the song ‘Stroh 80’ is about “being caught doing the nasty with your girlfriend's pal in the aftermath of a drug party on the floor of a local occultist”. There is no way you could come up with such a subject as this without having experienced it first-hand. Is there?
I was Sam's friend in the wake of an incident not dissimilar to the one he describes in that song. It wasn't pretty.
The Guardian stated that you look like stylish bankers walking right out of the pages of a Franz Kafka novel, did you deliberately choose that style or is it just a magical snap between your music and your appearance?
I think boys copy each other.
Casual Sex are always mentioned in the same breath as Franz Ferdinand. Do you feel like it’s an example of lazy journalism, based on your locality?
I kind of get it, people can hear a similar tone in our music. I think we share a lot of the same influences. There have been a few articles aligning us with Postcard records and I get that completely, that group of artists influenced all of us. I personally don't mind being dropped in with Josef K, Orange Juice, The Fire Engines or Franz. They're all there in my record collection and are part of my culture. Maybe there will be more to write about this year?
You’ve had a tour around the US lately. What was it like? Did your life during the tour involve any casual sex?
It was exhausting, surreal and amazing. We were really well received and the two dates we played in Canada blew us away. We had our fair share of disasters and overcame most of them loving every minute. We were on tour with Franz and Franky Rose and they were all really cool. And about the casual sex? I have a beautiful girlfriend and I love her, unfortunately she wasn't on tour with me so in that respect it was two long weeks.
20 February you’ll be playing in Norwich. How do you guys prepare for a live show?
It just depends on our mood. It can be quite tense before shows. I try not to think about it too much and usually go on thinking this is going to be tough but I always relax as soon as we start. We practice when we can but it's always different live. better!
A live gig always has to give this “extra musical dimension” to the audience. How does Casual Sex fill up the holes?
Do I really have to answer that?
Casual Sex will be playing at EPIC Studios, Norwich on Thursday 20 February – info and tickets at http://www.epicstudiosnorwich.com/events/casual-sex-support/
