Casper & the Cookies is from Athens ' Athens, Ga., that is. Yet by setting out on its latest American tour, the band will be passing through Athens, Ohio.
We've interrupted the recording of the next record for this tour
said vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist and former Of Montreal member Jason NeSmith. NeSmith is joined by Kay Stanton on bass, keyboards and vocals; Jim Hicks on bass, keyboard, vocals and guitar and Joe Rowe on drums and keyboards.
But being interrupted by a tour does not mean that the band will sacrifice quality and quantity. In fact, it is recording as many songs as possible.
I'm going to keep recording until we have the strongest collection NeSmith said. Maybe up to 20 or 25 songs and then figure out what we have G? it could be awhile maybe fall of next year (until the new album is released)
he said.
This next album is a new step for the band because now that it has decided to play more than whimsical pop songs, it can release music without restriction.
Initially I wanted to do something along the lines of children songs for adults
and I did that for a little while and found it not as fulfilling as I thought
NeSmith said. And other ideas I had wouldn't fit into that kind of music G? now we can do anything with no limitations G? if we want to do a song about ice cream we can
but if we want to do a song about disappearing off the face of the earth we can
too.
With this eclectic group of inspirations and psychedelic '60s apparel, Casper & the Cookies attracted the attention of the Athens, Ga., label Happy Happy Birthday To Me. Once releasing its first songs with the label in 2004, the band knew things were starting to get serious.
(Before that) I was making cassettes in my room and asked Kay if she would join my band G? eventually we found people to lose money with us
NeSmith said.
But making money was never NeSmith's main concern; even as a child, he just loved the idea of being in a band.
I was making cassettes (as a child) and I would take singles that I didn't like and erase the name of the label and pretended I was on the label
he said.
