Kasey Chambers

By Alex Teitz and Karen Weiss

Kasey Chambers new album Barricades and Brickwalls comes out September 3. FEMMUSIC had a chance to speak with Chambers shortly after her receiving the Aria (Australian Grammy) for Best Female Artist last year. Chambers has an unusual background. She grew up in the Australian backcountry with a musical family, who eventually made a name for themselves as The Dead Ringer Band. Her brother, Nash Chambers produced her hit album, The Captain. Together they started to hit the American country music scene. Chambers speaks with a strong Australian accent mixed with a touch of twang. Her music on The Captain is infectious, and Barricades and Brickwalls should be the same. Kasey Chambers

FEMMUSIC: How has having a musical family influenced how you’ve matured as an artist?

KC: Everything’s from my family, really. As far as music goes, my dad has definitely been my biggest influence musically in my life. He kind of brought me up on American country music, with Hank [Williams] and Graham [Parsons] and Emmylou [Harris] and that sort of thing when I was growing up. I started singing with my family band when I was nine, and that’s the only band I’ve really ever been in. So I guess everything I’ve learnt from them, really. It’s all their fault. (laughs)

FEMMUSIC: Can you describe for me what your songwriting technique is like?

KC: I don’t really have a technique. I kind of—it’s different all the time. Sometimes I write words, and sometimes it’s music, and sometimes I write on the road, and sometimes at home. I just really have no pattern. I think I really don’t have much control over my songwriting, really. Sometimes I wish I did. It just kind of comes out the way that it comes out, and I don’t really get to decide how the song ends up. It just happens, but that’s usually how you get the best songs.

FEMMUSIC: How long did it take you to write songs for The Captain?

KC: Some of them are about eight years old. “Don’t Go” is the oldest song on the album. I actually co-wrote that one when I was 16, or something like that. And “The Hard Way” is very old. And then songs like The Captain were written about three years ago. But it’s kind of been…this album is pretty much the story of my life, looking at all of the different things that I’ve been through throughout my life. Some of them are about my childhood, and some of them are about around the time I was recording the album, and all in between as well. There’s a bit of everything on there.

FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making this CD?

KC: I don’t think there was any challenge, really. We made it in our own studio, and we went to Norfolk Island to record the album, which is a little island in between Australia and New Zealand. A lot of the songs were inspired by Norfolk. But we weren’t really treating it like a really big thing or anything. The Dead Ringer Band had stopped working for a little while, and I just kind of thought I better do something. I had all these songs sitting there, so I said, “I’ll record an album”. The whole process was great fun. I got my brother to produce it, and my dad played on it. They’re all really involved—my whole family were really involved in the album. We just kind of stayed up and played the songs and the songs just come to life in the studio, really. Waiting for it to come out was probably the biggest challenge. (laughs) I recorded it but it didn’t come out for another six months after that, so just kind of sitting on it for a while was a hard thing to do. But it did come out finally, so that was good.

FEMMUSIC: I understand that you’ve played a couple of times in Nashville and also did some work on the CD in Nashville. What is your opinion of the American country music scene?

KC: The part that I have anything to do with is fantastic. (laughs) I came over and finished my album in Nashville. I got Buddy and Julie Miller to sing and play some on the album, which was just like the biggest thrill of my whole life. They’re like two of my favorite artists. That was fantastic. And going into Buddy’s house to record was great. The whole studio there was fantastic. And since then, every time I’ve been to Nashville and done a few weeks, it’s been fantastic. I love it. I just love being in Nashville. There’s so many great artists playing all the time, just in little bars down the road. It’s just fantastic. But I do understand that not all country music in America is all about all of those great artists. There’s a whole lot of crap going on there too, which I’m not really big on. (laughs) But I kind of just stay away from that, so it doesn’t bother me. (laughs)

FEMMUSIC: How do you think you’ve changed as a person with being so popular first with the Dead Ringers, and now as a solo artist?

KC: Really I’m doing pretty much the same thing I’ve always done with music, as far as that side goes. I’ve always just to it, my whole life. Since I’ve nine we’ve pretty much been touring Australia with the Dead Ringer Band, and just doing shows all the time, traveling around Australia. And that’s pretty much all I’m doing now. It’s really good I get to go to a lot of new places now, and meet a lot of new people, and travel overseas which is fantastic. And I’m a little bit busier than I was maybe two years ago. But that’s great, I’m loving it. And I’ve still got the same touring party that I’ve always toured with. My family all come on the road with me as well. So as far as that side, it’s all pretty much the same, and I really like it that way. I’m not really interested in changing any of that side of it. I just do a whole lot more interviews than I used to. (laughs) But that’s ok, that’s good. I used to complain cause there wasn’t enough interviews, but I don’t complain about it now. (laughs)

FEMMUSIC: What direction would you like your music to head towards in, say, five or ten years?

KC: I’ve never had that much direction. (laughs) I just play the songs that come out, I don’t have much control over it. They just come out, and they sound like that. And I’m really happy with the way they come out sounding. And musically, I’m doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to do, you know? And I’m hoping that I stay on that track, and stay happy with what’s going on. As far as where my music goes in the market, I mean, I just want people to hear the album who are going to like it. And the people that aren’t going to like it, then I don’t care where they hear it. (laughs) I’m not trying to be a big star or anything like that. I realize that this sort of music is…it doesn’t really make you a big star. If I kind of compare myself to where I would like to be in ten years’ time, I guess where people like Lucinda and Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle and people like that are. They get to play the music that they love, and they can pretty much tour anywhere they want, even throughout the whole world. They can draw crowds wherever they go, and yet they can still walk down the street and not be hassled by people. I think that’s the perfect world there.

FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry, have you been discriminated against?

KC: No, not at all. I’ve heard that some people think it’s a lot harder, but I don’t agree. I think it’s kind of hard for anybody in the music industry, if you really speak to what you’re doing and you don’t sell out. It’s obviously a lot harder, but it’s so worth it. I don’t feel any different being a woman in the music industry. I’ve been quite lucky here in Australia with the success we’ve had with The Captain album, and I think we were just probably in the right place at the right time frame. I don’t think it’s got anything to do with being a woman, and I don’t think I’ve lost or gained anything by being a woman. I think it’s pretty hard for everyone.

FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry itself?

KC: I think probably I think record companies. I have great respect for my record company. (laughs) I’m very, very lucky. I’ve got the best record company in the world here in Australia, EMI Records, and they have been absolutely fantastic. And Asylum in America has been equally fantastic so far. I think that the record companies around the world should take more chances and stop following what everybody else is doing. I just think that—you know, as soon as something gets big in the world, they think they have to go out and find somebody exactly the same. And they end up with a one-hit wonder. It kind of goes well for a little while, but you look at all the artists in the world who have done well over a really long period of time, and done majorly, majorly well—they’re always artists that have been original and haven’t copied anyone else. Like the Eagles, and Dan Taylor, and Emmylou Harris, and people like that. They’re all very original artists. And I just think that record companies should take a lot more chances, and not look for guarantees every single time.

FEMMUSIC: What advice would you give to an artist who’s just starting out?

KC: I just think do what you like to do, whether everyone else likes it or not. I think too many artists want a record deal way too badly, and they’ll do anything to get one, and sell out. They’ll end up hating themselves for it. I just think artists should just do what they do. I think you should listen to what everybody has got to say, but always just go with your gut feeling and do what you think is right. And I think eventually, if your music’s worth being heard, then it will be heard. Anyone who’s really gonna like it is gonna eventually seek it out anyway, whether it’s being played on the radio or not.

FEMMUSIC: You’ve made reference to Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams and a couple of others. Who have really been the ones who are your biggest influences?

KC: Well Lucinda is, definitely. Apart from my dad, who’s been my biggest influence all my life of my favorite artists that I’ve looked up to over the years, Lucinda Williams is definitely Number one. Iris DeMent, I love her music. Probably Graham Parsons has had the biggest influence on me as anybody. I was born a few years after Graham died, but my dad listened to that sort of music that whole time I was growing up. And I didn’t really realize it was having an influence on me when I was really young but I’ve just always loved it, and it’s still…both of Graham’s albums I still listen to once a week, without fail. I take my Graham albums everywhere I go. He’s been a huge, huge influence on me. In later years, I would have to say Matthew Ryan has been a big influence on me, and Freddy Hooten, he’s definitely one of my favorites. A lot of alternative Americans, really. Nancy Griffith and Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt. Lots of people. Too many! (laughs) I can’t remember them all.