Cagey House is a one man project, done by Dave Keifer, just him and his sequencer. He cranks out original tunes that make for a little something different, Dave did an email interview with me in June/06.
You've mentioned that your new EP is about 'the kind of future that was foretold in civics books in the 1960s', can you get into that a little more?
Dave: There was this image of the future as some kind of technocratic utopia that subtly, but thoroughly, pervaded U.S. culture between, say, the dawn of television to the end of Vietnam. This future was characterized by fantastic devices like jet packs, and hovercraft, and tiny personal helicopters, etc. It was very gizmo-oriented. There would be moon bases, and space stations and colonies on other planets. And meals would come in pill form--so that a typical kid could harness all the awesome muscle-building nutritional power of broccoli without having to actually taste any. Video phones were big in this future. And video phones are maybe the only thing that really came to pass--except, maybe for the space station--which is hardly the big Ferris wheel type thing that was promised. And as for robots--compare the cool robot house-keeper the Jetson's had with the Roomba. It's a joke. So consequently, there's this sense --in the U.S., anyway, and among people (mostly men) of a certain age--that the whole thing was a gyp. I mean, you can Google 'Where's my Jet Pack?' and see that it's practically short hand for a general sense of dissatisfaction with the world-as-is compared to the world-as-promised.
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But to look at it that way, I think, is to miss the richness of the thing. You have to remember that the promise of any kind of future at all was very tentative the 50s and 60s. It's easy to forget--for so many reasons--how heavily the mushroom-shaped cloud hung over everything back then. There were these yellow Civil Defense placards on the doors to the basement of almost every public building --to let you know that "in the event" this would be your best bet. There was that "doomsday clock" on the cover of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists--on display at every public library--the hands of which were more-or-less always stuck at 5 of midnight. And there were references everywhere in pop culture--from Gregory Corso to the Kingston Trio--to the fact that at any time, instant incineration was distinct possibility. And this, I think, consciously or unconsciously, was the reason that that image of the rosy technotopia was planted--to give kids something to hope for. And in that light it doesn't look bogus or kitchy at all, but somehow touching--heartbreaking, even. A little sinister, to be sure, but still a legitimate object for nostalgia. And that was the tone I wanted to get in the songs on Aloha, Moonmen.
So what's up with the self-described 'semi-cheesy' syth sounds?
Dave:
That's where the whole thing started. I never sit down to write "about" stuff. In fact, I like to sit down with nothing in mind and just play with sounds until something resonates. With the track that eventually became "Aloha, Moonmen," I had this two chord vamp and this synth melody that had these nice big jumps in it. And I started tweaking the synth voice and eventually tweaked it until it took on this--to my ear--incredibly ridiculous tone. Really just a bad prog-rock sound. But that noxious tone combined with that particular melody over that particular vamp--just wiped me out. It was at once extraordinarily grandiose and completely inadequate. Like Achilles with a rubber chicken instead of a sword. And that silly tone made me flash on the whole cold war/jet pack thing. It was great.
The problem was that the song just didn't fit with anything else I was working on at the time--stuff that eventually wound up on Octopus Two--so I just set it aside. Eventually, when I had some time, I came back to it and found that I liked it so much I wanted to come up with some companion material to keep it company.
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Dave on songwriting
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'I never sit down to write "about" stuff. In fact, I like to sit down with nothing in mind and just play with sounds until something resonates.'
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What was the recording process like for this release?
Dave: It was different for me, in that I had to observe certain parameters of cheesiness. I had spent years learning to use Fruityloops (which is the software I use) in a way that didn't sound cheesy, and I had to for go all that. For instance, the drum parts on "Atomic Secret" are very lightweight. And that's good because that complemented the synth sounds--which seem ferocious but are really pretty thin--but it was hard to resist the urge to beef them up. It was one of those "do the opposite" situations.
I also felt like I needed to come up with certain types of songs--like I wanted to round things out with a ballad and then a really cheery up-tempo thing. So I was actually hunting for specific characteristics instead of just exploring when I was working on 'Star Set' and 'Our Friend the Future.' Which is something I generally try to avoid, but I think they turned out okay. Especially "Our Friend the Future"--even though it's almost a joke. I mean, I like to think there's a certain amount of humor in all my stuff--but that one is really silly. The chirpy computer voices practically have quotations marks around them. But there's a hint of dub in the bass part, so that gives it a bit of a kick.
Promo plans for the disc?
Dave: Not really. I might put it on some mp3 hosting sites, but I might just leave it on my website. Right after I finished it I started putting together another EP called Drawing Monsters. And for various reasons I decided to send that one to Tunecore, which is a service that gets music in iTunes and Rhapsody. So I'm going to try to put my promotional efforts behind those songs. It's not that I don't want people to hear Aloha, Moonmen—it's just that it's a strange little project and I like the idea of it just sort of being there. That people might just stumble on it.
Are you looking for label support? What are you looking for in a label?
Dave: As far as I can tell, I really don't think I'm cut out for a label. I've talked to people who liked the music enough to be interested in putting out a Cagey House release, but since I don't play live, there didn't seem to be any way of recouping the initial investment. So I think I'm going to focus on web distribution. And I think that can be done without a traditional label. It's kind of a shame, because I really like working with other people—and I've always been a big believer in two heads being better than one—especially since, my head, left on its own, isn't always that effective.
If you've been in bands before this one, how has the experience been different this time around?
Dave: The other bands I've been in have involved other musicians. Which in a way made things more fun—you can bounce ideas back and forth and goof around and stuff. And play live. Being alone with a sequencer leaves a lot to be desired socially. But there's something really neat about being in a situation where it's just you and the music. It can be a very deep, satisfying form of play.
What are you reading right now?
Dave: I just finished reading a book about Led Zeppelin called In the Houses of the Holy, by Susan Fast. Which was great. She's an academic and there was a lot of analysis of various sociological aspects of the band, and gender issues—as well as a lot of really interesting technical stuff about the music. I've also been getting lots of art books out the library lately—mostly about the Abstract Expressionists. But with those I just look at the pictures.
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The Playlist
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Dave's Playlist
1. Wille McTell - Delia
2. Brian Eno - On This River
3. Wesley Willis - Outburst
4. Roberta Flack - Suzanne
5. Fred and Adele Astaire - The Babbit and the Bromide
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