ISR interviews emerging ukel-indie artist Galapaghost

ISR recently spoke with the indie psychedelic-folk and pop one-man-band (at least for now!), Casey Chandler, who performs under the name, Galapaghost.  Casey's music can best be described as a blend of Neil Young's raw folk rock and Animal Collective's lo-fi atmospherics.  His latest EP, Our Lost Generation, is available at iTunes and major retailers (Amazon.com).  Casey's music will also be featured on ISR's upcoming January Mix (as yet untitled).  Here's what he had to say about his music, his influences and what's in store for 2010:

ISR: You listed Neil Young as a huge influence in another interview. So what's your favorite Neil Young album, and why?

Casey: Yes, Neil Young is definitely a huge influence on my music. There was an entire summer of high school when all I listened to was Harvest and After the Gold Rush. His recording style is probably more apparent in my music than his writing, although my writing style is very similar to his.  My live stage persona is also very similar to Neil Young's as well. I just love how his recordings sound. They're totally raw and unperfected, how rock n' roll should be. I remember hearing the solo in "Southern Man" for the first time and laughing at how unbelievably sloppy it is, but I love it! That's the way I treat my recordings. I never perfect my takes and I rarely ever record one part more than a couple times. For me since I'm a one man band, I have to try extra hard to make it seem like a full band is playing in my recordings and that I have a somewhat believable drummer.  Oh back to the question, my favorite Neil Young album is tough, but I think I'd have to go with Harvest because I love every single song on that album, but he has about 5 albums that I think are brilliant. He's the original grunge rocker, that's why he's the man.

ISR: Have you been approached by record labels yet? If so, which ones? 

Casey: I unfortunately have not been approached by any record labels, but then again I've only played one show since releasing my EP a month ago so i'm not fiending for one yet. It would be a dream come true though to eventually get signed to the Bella Union label.

ISR: I also understand from another interview that you'll be moving to Austin -- home of SXSW. Will you be participating in it this year? 

Casey: Yes, I will be moving to Austin next August and I'm super excited about it.  I visited Texas for the first time last spring when I when i visited my brother and went to NX35 (he lives in Denton, which is basically a mini Austin and NX35 is basically a mini SXSW) and SXSW and it was incredible. So far I'm confirmed for NX35, which is being headlined by the Flaming Lips and Midlake (the band my brother plays in) but I'm (not) confirmed for SXSW yet.

ISR: So what inspired you to play ukelele in your music? 

Casey: What inspired me to play ukulele in my music was that I really like the sound of the ukulele. It's so sweet and innocent, which is the opposite of the lyrical content of most of my songs, so it's a perfect compliment to my songs.  I realize that it's becoming somewhat of a novelty instrument now in the indie scene, but I only ever used it in my songs as I deemed it necessary to enhance the song. It was just a perfect match, I never saw it as a gimmick instrument for me.  I actually heard the uke called the "fanny pack of the indie scene" today and I'm actually surprised they haven't made their way into hipster fashion yet, since they're so ironically un-hip.

ISR: Your current musical sound derives mainly from folk influences. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Fleet Foxes, Paul Simon...which artists do you most identify with?  

Casey: Not to keep harping on Neil Young, but he would definitely be the influence that I identify with the most. I have the same love for nature as he does, we both have deeply personal lyrics and like to tell stories in our songs. I also can be quite an introvert, especially on stage, which is something he struggled with as well.

ISR: I understand that you've been involved with other projects,bands etc that ran the gamut from rap to grunge to jazz. Do you foresee incorporating other genres of music into your repertoire, or do you feel like ukelindie pop is your final comfort zone? 

Casey:  Haha yeah I've been in many different bands in my short life so far. Most of them I'm ashamed of now, but I had a great time while I was in them so it was worth it. My first band in 9th grade, called Ice Cream Robot, I would rap because we did a bunch of Rage Against The Machine covers. I played in a bunch of much heavier bands because I do listen to a lot of heavy music like Black Sabbath, Rage, Queens of the Stone Age, etc, but I mostly like to write soft music.  I have a huge soft spot for grunge, I think I'm probably the only one of my friends that still listens to all that stuff, so it slips out in some of my songs, like the chorus of my song "Smile" but for the most part I like creating my own new and unique sound and although I'm a well trained saxophonist I believe that sax has no place in rock music about 99% of the time. So I don't think my jazz training will ever come back to haunt me in my songs. Ukel-indie pop is definitely not my last musical destination, but it's a good one to be at, at 22 and it's definitely the style I'm most proud of in my short musical history thus far. I do want to eventually branch out and try to write some more complex arrangements, though.

ISR: Your favorite album of 2009 is... 

Casey: My favorite album of 2009 was.....Animal Collective - MMP [Merriwether Post Pavilion). Big surprise! Haha I can't believe they actually made it to the Jcrew soundtrack now at work. That was a shocker the other day when I heard "My Girls."

ISR: If you could tour with any artist you wanted who would that be?

Casey: Wow that's a good question. hmmm I would have to say I would LOVE to go on tour with Queens of the Stone Age. I'm pretty much in awe of everything they do. Maybe Josh Homme will be open to ukel-indie rock sometime in the future and we can talk uke til we puke.

ISR: The title of your musical project evokes exotic and  mystical sensations. I think of the Galapagos Islands as well as the obvious allusions to phantoms. How did you come up with the name? 

Casey: I actually came up with the name by accident, at first it was just going to be Galapagos because my brother had been reading the Kurt Vonnegut book Galapagos over the summer and I just kept thinking about what a good name that would be for a band. At the same time I was obsessed with this Deer Tick song called "the Ghost" and I wanted to name my project that as well. So then a magic moment ensued, and I had a huge contraction. Nevermind, that's a conjunction.

ISR: What does Galapaghost have in store for 2010? Any New Year's resolutions?

Casey: I'm hoping that 2010 will be a big year for me, I'm moving out to Austin to start a brand new life with my girlfriend and starting my own band for the first time. I'm setting my goals high this year and my hope is that I can get signed by next year, so we'll see what happens.

ISR: What's the last artist (alphabetically speaking) playing on your iPod?

Casey: Hmmm the last artist on my iPod I'm actually unsure of since I haven't used it in 5 months, since it broke but chances are it was either Midlake or Queens of the Stone Age.