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Interview by New Reform
For some people, I think that finding out Tim Kasher moved to Los Angeles is probably a little bit like learning that their parents are about to be divorced. Much like a mother and father, Kasher and Omaha are things that tend to go hand-in-hand in people's minds. And discovering that he's writing screenplays can possibly be compared to finding out Dad has a new girlfriend. One of the hardest-working performers alive today was kind enough to discuss his new living situation, custody of The Good Life on holidays and Cursive on weekends, metalheads, and several other notable things.
NR: How are you adapting to life in Los Angeles?
TK: I’ve actually only been here for the summer and haven’t done much other than just staying at home and working on stuff. In a lot of ways, it’s similar to moving into a cabin in the Dakotas or something. But it’s been nice, I like that kind of living. I live pretty far Northeast, actually, in this area called Eagle Rock...it’s basically Pasadena. It’s about a 45 minute drive into Hollywood.
Do you see yourself staying there long-term?
Well, I didn’t move here looking to stay, I just kind of lived here as uh.. I think I’d like to live a few places before I settle down, if I were to settle down. I guess settling down would be maybe like, if I were to have enough money someday to buy a house. But I guess even then you can sell your house.
Do you think your work has been influenced by living in the Midwest?
Yeah, I mean inevitably, I would think so. I guess the area that one lived in would inevitably influence them, but I guess it depends on how. I think that it influenced me in a good way, as in, I’m pretty okay with the Midwest. But I can see other people having a serious hatred for it and then somehow capturing it. Like maybe that’s what Slipknot did. They’re out of Iowa.
The new Good Life album was released on September 11th. Was there any hesitation in regards to setting that as the release date, because I know some people are still sort of weary about it.
Yeah, there was. It seems kind of funny to me the way it all laid out. It was brought up initially as, ‘Well, September 11th falls on a Tuesday this year, and that’s the release day.’ So you know, do we feel comfortable releasing on that date? Everybody had to mull it over for a while, and it seemed like a good week to release on that day, and as it turns out, there’s a ton of bands releasing on that date. I don’t know what that means exactly, I just have a hunch that every band went through the same thoughts and decided it was probably okay.
Help Wanted Nights leaked on the internet a couple weeks early. What are your thoughts on your records hitting headphones before store shelves?
The label saw it as a success. The last record I put out, Cursive’s Happy Hollow...I think that leaked like three months early or something like that. They kind of tried to keep this one from leaking too soon. So yeah, the fact that it didn’t leak until a few weeks prior, they saw that as pretty good, because it seems like everything kind of leaks. So that’s fine, it seemed kind of good to me, as well. Good, I don’t feel so guilty then, because I downloaded it and seriously listened to it for maybe a week straight. Sooo yeah... (laughs) Thanks!
How did the concept for the album come about?
It was just kind of trying to write songs. I had a small group of characters that I was kind of writing about and writing for, and so I just, for any given song, tried to take different, small aspects of what they might be going through. Different relationship struggles they might be dealing with at any given time.
Which came first, the album or the screenplay?
Some of the songs had come before the screenplay. Just a few of them. But then we started writing in bulk to finish the record, but that was all after the screenplay.
What made you decide the screenplay and the album were going to be connected?
They’re not necessarily connected, I mean, the album’s being released as The Good Life’s fourth album, and we kind of want the band on its own. But if the film can be made at some point, then these are the songs I’d like to have be the soundtrack to that.
Where would you like to go with your interest in screenwriting?
I just really love doing narratives in a longer form. As a musician, I like the fact that the performer has its own story that’s both visual and audio that combines these two things. It’s just something I want to keep working on indefinitely.
I read that The Good Life came close to disbanding a couple years ago. What was it that kept things together?
We took some time apart and we weren’t really planning on doing another record, and I started working on new songs for this record. We’re all friends, so we just got together one night and decided as long as I’m working on this stuff, and it’s in the same vein as what we’re doing with The Good Life, then why don’t we just finish it together and release it together.
I’m kind of curious as to how you develop albums that pretty much tell stories. Do you normally start out with one song and go from there, or do you start with a plot line of sorts and work around that?
It’s kind of different for different records. For The Good Life’s last record, Album of the Year, that was the most ambitious I’d gotten as far as having a specific narrative that I was plugging songs into, so as I was writing songs, the lyrical content had to match and be about a certain aspect, because then it would have to be plugged into track three or track seven or whatever. That was interesting. I liked doing it that way, but it was pretty rigid. Other than that, I think with all of the other records, like Happy Hollow, it was just writing and trying to stick with the themes that we were working with.
‘Rest Your Head’ feels fairly epic in comparison to most other songs by both The Good Life and Cursive, and the last half of the ten minutes is totally instrumental, so would you ever consider experimenting with composing an album without lyrics?
I think probably not at this point, but you know, I like music a lot, I just don’t think I’m there as far as music is concerned. I’m kind of a pop song writer and still kind of have an interest in writing lyrics and vocal melodies over music.
After including a horn section on Happy Hollow, is there anything else you would like to add into song compositions but haven’t yet?
Yeah, I think at some point, though I don’t really know what it would be right now. As with Help Wanted Nights,we kind of stripped it back down, and that’s the kind of direction I’ve been more interested in lately... just using less instrumentation. So I haven’t been thinking a ton about different exotic instruments and stuff, but I think that will definitely come around someday.
Why did you choose to do the "Bad Sects" remix contest and put it in the hands of fans as opposed to working with a producer or another artist?
You know, I personally thought that sounded more interesting that way. As Cursive, I’m not sure if we would have had that kind of interest in people wanting to remix a Cursive song. As far as other artists and producers, it just didn’t seem like our vein of music at all. So, it was just an idea, I don’t even remember… Somebody came up with it at the label or something, and I just thought it sounded fun and said ‘Sure, go for it.’ I didn’t realize at the time what I was agreeing to, but it was fun. There was some pretty good stuff.
How did the metal fans you played for on the Mastodon tour react to your sets?
It actually went really well. We were really surprised. We spent half the tour getting on stage every night being worried that we were going to get booed off, but it never happened. Everybody seemed really polite and open to it, although it seemed like we heard a lot of comments of metal fans being like, fuck these guys.
What’s going on with Cursive throughout new Good Life material and the touring that goes with that?
Well, the Good Life is touring in two to three week blocks and between those tours, Cursive is getting together and working on a record.
What can people expect from the Good Life on the upcoming tour as far as set lists and such go?
As of right now, I think our plan is to play Help Wanted Nights front to back and then play a handful of older songs at the end of the set.
Any last words you’d like to include?
(laughs) Last words? That’s so grim.
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