Feature: Jake Cassman Decodes ‘Static On The Radio’
How did everything come together?
I first worked with Ironfist in the first few months of the pandemic -- we'd gone to college together, but had fallen out of touch and reconnected randomly in LA just before the lockdowns started. I had a bunch of songs that were more electronic than what I'd put out to that point, and since we were all communicating remotely anyway, it seemed like a great time to work on them. Those songs became an EP called ‘It's Only Temporary,’ and "Static On The Radio" was supposed to be on it, but we didn't have enough time to finish it.
Once lockdowns were lifted in LA, Ironfist and I loved the idea of heading in the polar opposite direction -- making a straight rock record and recording to tape. I'd originally envisioned "Static" as a more organic-sounding rock song, so it got thrown in the mix for this new EP, ‘An Awful Lot Of Nothing.’ It turned out really well. But I always wanted to revisit the electronic version of the tune, and so Ironfist and I kept the conversation going.
The icing on the cake is Ironfist's incredible remix -- I never saw that coming. He's currently making kickass music under the moniker Nikki Manos, so I'm thrilled he brought out his dormant alter-ego to add to this EP.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for "Static On The Radio?"
I started writing the song almost a decade before we first recorded it in 2022, but could never finish it. I loved the chord progression, but couldn't find a way out of it. I tend to write chord progressions that are hard to transition out of, and I wanted to write a chorus, but couldn't find my way to a new section that I liked. Eventually, I realized that the loop I already had was great, and more than good enough to contain a song within itself. The song is about two things, really: being trapped inside during a long, dark, Boston winter; and the paranoia and conspiracism that creep in when you spend too much time in the dark spaces of the internet and political media. A song structure that keeps repeating and building up as it goes along actually reinforces those themes in an effective, sinister way.
Can you share any interesting or unique musical elements or production techniques used in this Remix EP?
I'd originally written the opening hook on piano, which is my principal instrument -- but the rule for An Awful Lot Of Nothing was that we weren't going to use a keyboard. I had to find an alternate tuning that would help me pull that part off, because I'm not a great guitarist, and I needed the open strings to resonate in a specific way to emulate the sustained sound of the piano. In pre-production for the original version, Ironfist lent me an analog drum machine that you can hear enter with the second verse. That really broke the vibe and sound of the song open for me, and we had a lot of fun using it in rehearsals and recording. Jason Soda, our engineer, also ran my vocals through a guitar amp to get a sound that felt uncomfortably close and hauntingly distant at the same time.
The alternate version is based on the demos I had from ‘It's Only Temporary,’ but I completely reconstructed it around the vocal tracks from the original. One of the original guitar tracks and the analog drum machine are also in there. I tuned the vocals a little more harshly, and ran the lead synth through a guitar amp plug-in to get a more ominous, ambiguous sound. It's very cool to hear the similarities and differences between these two versions -- I think they both are very effective in their own ways. The alternate version is also the first song I've released that I mixed entirely myself, so I'm very proud of it. (But I also have no one to blame but me if you think it sounds like crap).
How has your music evolved since you started as a singer-songwriter? What have been some key milestones in your artistic journey?
Well, this is my first release as Jake Cassman -- everything else I put out before this year was under the name Drunken Logic, which was at times a band as well as my solo project. I'm proud of everything I did under the old name (3 albums, 2 EPs), but I can definitely hear myself growing more craftsmanlike and confident as a songwriter and musician with each record (the albums in particular). Shortly after the band broke up, I moved back to California after a decade out of state. ‘The Loudness Wars,’ our third album, had been recorded with my old bandmates, and I think it's the best thing we made -- I put it out shortly after I moved to LA in 2018. But even though ‘It's Only Temporary’ and ‘An Awful Lot Of Nothing’ couldn't be more sonically different, they were both born out of mourning for the old band and not knowing what to do myself during two years of COVID. ‘Static On The Radio’ ties a bow on that era in a really fitting way.
Making these last three EPs, which are also the most experimental records I ever made as Drunken Logic, and returning to California really helped me define the sound of the new album I'm going to release later this year. It's called ‘Idling High,’ and it's a modern reinterpretation of the echo-in-the-canyon folk rock that defined LA in the late '60's/early '70's. I can't wait to show it to the world -- the first single should be out in July.
What challenges have you faced as a singer-songwriter, and how have you overcome them?
I've struggled with self-esteem for a long time -- even my old artist name, Drunken Logic, was unnecessarily self-deprecating. I've come to realize that starting a band, too, was partly about safety in numbers. I believed in my music, but I don't think I believed in myself, and sure as hell didn't think people would flock to my music if I was the face of it or the entry point. I'm also uncomfortable with self-promotion, and the idea that people want to see unfinished, imperfect work on social media and elsewhere. And on top of that, I was a freelance musician for almost my entire career, meaning that nothing in my life was stable for very long.
How did I overcome all that? Years of therapy, regular pickup basketball, a steady job, hugs from people and dogs who love me, and a beer or a joint here and there. You know, the usual. Soon, I'm gonna start selling t-shirts that say "Jake Cassman Doesn't Suck." You can tell I've come a long way.