Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – NX35 Profile

Since the release of his fourth album Etiquette, Owen Ashworth entered his thirties and found inspiration in bank robbers and babies for the upcoming album, VS. Children.
“It’s mostly about parent-child stories spanning two generations,” says Ashworth. “I was interested in the balance between a standard family kind of life and being an outlaw , all while supporting a family. Also, a lot of religious themes like guilt, praying and redemption.”
Ashworth recorded half of the album in his hometown of San Francisco and the other in his current town of Chicago. The album reflects his maturity and it’s his most ambitious album to date. However, he says it’s still a scrappy, humble little record but with a lot of thought.
Under the moniker of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Ashworth began his solo career by making tapes of noise collages. His instruments of choice are mostly of the battery operated kind and his narrative driven lyrics are woven with imagery, metaphor and symbolism.
Inspired by film and short fiction, especially Southern Gothic masters likes Tennessee Williams and Flannery O’Conner, Ashworth’s songs offer only glimpses into the lives of his complex characters. He says that he tries to develop his narratives around sound.
“I’ve never made a point to write about myself. It’s more interesting to make things up,” says Ashworth. “I would be concerned with the music feeling overemotional if I were trying to amplify certain experiences or feelings going on just with me. They’re not meant to be journal entries but something universal that people can connect with.”
As a teenager, Ashworth found inspiration by a range of music from Hip-Hop to Blues, Folk and Country Western. Later, fascinated by the accessibility of the DIY scene and its punk influences, Ashworth adopted the home-made mantra and molded it into his own. Now, he says his inspiration has come full circle.
“I’ve always liked the directness and personal feeling of blues, folk and country music,” says Ashworth. “There’s just something really unglamorous about it. There’s a human connection and vulnerability. “
NX35 is one of a handful of shows before Ashworth embarks on a large European tour to promote Vs. Children.
“I have a lot of expectations about NX35,” says Ashworth. “I expect to have a really good time. And I expect to eat at the “Taco Lady.”

Sarah Jaffe- NX35 Profile

As Sarah Jaffe strums the first note on her guitar, a wave of silence sweeps Dan’s Silver Leaf. There’s no chatter, no clinks, no coughs, only soft swooshes as the bartender rinses pint glasses. Cigarette haze curls around Jaffe’s copper hair in grey tendrils. As her voice crescendos and then fades, the crowds’ silence hovers with the smoke before exploding into cheers.

When asked to describe her sound, Jaffe says she doesn’t know. Shaking her head she looks down and blushes, “Honestly, I don’t know. I can’t hear it. I don’t know.” At 23 years old, Jaffe sounds like a woman that has experienced all the love and loss of a lifetime. Peering through delicate features hidden behind wispy hair and large, black framed glasses, Jaffe’s grey-blue eyes reflect her music.

She says her writing style is retrospective. Each time she writes a song, she dips her hand in the cookie jar of experience. “It’s always whole truth or exaggerated truth. It’s one sided and I always make my side of the story right,” she laughs. “I’ve tried to write about fantasies but it becomes contrived, so now I just write from experience- experiences I’ve had in my naïve 23 years of life.”

After graduating high school early in the small town of Red Oak, Jaffe spent a brief stint in L.A before moving to Denton in February of 2008. In December, Jaffe finished her first full-length album titled Suburban Nature. Recorded over three days with producer John Congleton, the fourteen song album is expected to release sometime before the summer of 2009.

During the day, Jaffe works as a pastry chef and says now she can make great Tiramisu, but only in bulks of 40. She doesn’t have a backup plan if her music career fades, it’s something too scary for her to consider. “I don’t love anything else,” says Jaffe. “There’s nothing about music that I don’t have to make myself like. I really, really hope to God that it does work. Even if it’s just a tiny, tiny means, I don’t care, as long as I get by.”

Brent Best of Slobberbone

It is two hours before Slobberbone’s reunion performance and Brent Best still hasn’t written the set list. Hunched over a table in the dimly lit office of Dan’s Silver Leaf, Best is alone, scribbling and slashing through a long list of songs.
“I’ve had, like, all week to make this thing,” says Best. “I was gonna do it last night after practice and I didn’t, I stayed up drinkin’.”
Five years ago, Slobberbone played their farewell show at Dan’s Silver Leaf, returning now to the place Best fondly refers to as his home base. In 2007, the band snuck in a secret reunion at Dan’s under the guise of Whiskey Glass Eye. Tonight, they are officially Slobberbone. The reunion is not a result of extensive planning (they’ve never masterminded anything in their life says Best), their bassist just happened to be in town so they thought, why not?
During Slobberbone’s absence, lead singer Brent, guitarist Jesse Barr and drummer Tony Harper formed the Drams. Best says that the experience of touring and playing with the Drams helped him see Slobberbone from a new perspective.
“There is something you don’t really see about yourself as a band until you get away from it, especially a band that went as long as we did.” says Best. “I guess what you don’t see till later is that the real character of your band isn’t something you can control, but it’s the people that come to see you.”
Leaning back in his chair, Brent sips on a “cheap beer” and reminisces on Denton’s profound effect on his music. Fifteen years ago, Slobberbone premiered inside the Park and Go beer store (now Lucky Lou’s). They only intended to wrangle up some free beer but instead, found a home in Denton’s nurturing, music community.
“Early on, the majority of songs I wrote came from that life of everyone living together in a crappy house, just getting by,” says Best. “Lately there’s been a lot of exterior attention on Denton and that’s cool but I’ve always known what it is and been really happy to be here and be a part of it.”
Best is excited about NX35 and hopes to gather Slobberbone to perform at the conferette.
“I’ve been going to SXSW for years now and I’d do anything to get out of it,” says Best. “The idea of having something here in Denton that’s more like what SXSW used to be and the fact that it’s very Denton-centric, well, I agree with it and I’m glad that it will happen.”
Slobberbone’s future is uncertain. Their bassist still resides in Florida, making the possibility of touring and recording difficult.
“I would love to do an album and go out on tour again, but there are no immediate plans,” Best says, smiling. “I’m pretty lazy too. It would mean I’d actually have to write an album.”

Mike Miller- NX35 Profile

For most of his life, Mike Miller’s songs existed only in his mind. A box stuffed with hundreds of random lyrics and song ideas never amounted to reality until he purchased a Macintosh in 2004. Slowly learning recording techniques through the Garage Band application, Miller produced three albums and is currently working on a fourth.

The result is a sound that is lo-fi, dissonant, crisply southern and, well, interesting. His songs are stories that reflect his life and many have a somber, wistful quality. In the song “Fictional Girl” he longs for a girl to write a song for, “she could be anyone, we can have so much fun.” He says that it conveys his general feelings of alienation and isolation within the world. The song is bittersweet and though simplistic, it’s touching.

The theme of anxiety resonates through Miller’s music. Many of the songs meander in a stream of consciousness fashion, at times lack choruses and are jarring in a way that is remarkably pleasing.

In 1982, Miller graduated with a Master’s in English Literature. His passions for poetry and Greek mythology fuel his songwriting as well as musicians such as Neil Young, Brian Wilson and John Lennon. Until October of 2008, Miller worked for two years in gas fields and spent many nights alone in the spacious darkness playing his guitar, reading English textbooks and sketching. He’s the author of six childrens’ books and until he finds an illustrator, he’s teaching himself to draw.

Sipping on iced tea, Miller runs his fingers nervously through his russet hair, playing with the tufts of grey peeking out by his ears. His expression is earnest and uncertain, seeming to search for validation as he finishes a thought. In a soft and southern voice, Miller expresses his excitement over his acceptance to NX35.

“Music really is the most important thing in my life,” he says, smiling. “And I hope that I can continue to be creative and leave some sort of legacy for the future.”

Matthew and the Arrogant Sea- NX35 Profile

Matthew Gray says he doesn’t write songs-he writes stories. Instead of slipping on a pair of headphones, Gray flips open Hemingway or Bukowski for musical inspiration. His devotion to literature is apparent in the band’s name. Matthew and the Arrogant Sea sounds like a children’s fable rather than a folk- rock band comprised of a mish-mash of local musicians that Gray says he stole from other bands.

In 2008, the Denton label Nova Posta Vinyl picked up the band and in October released the full-length Family Family Family Meets the Magic Christian. The album is only available on vinyl and the title’s meaning is a secret that Gray says he will take to his grave.

A bushy, amber beard outlines Gray’s baby face and his large frame is draped in checkered flannel. Onstage at Hailey’s Club, Gray coos, “Hey Annie don’t shoot me down/ Not this way/I rode my broken bicycle just to see your face”. With his pitchy high-notes and oddball lyrics, Gray channels Neutral Milk Hotel or a cathartic Neil Young. In You Still Love Me Blondie, Gray warbles, “Carry you heavy through a burning masonry /Even if the ant hills stop making way for my skinny toes”. His quixotic word play conjures surreal landscapes against grandiose storylines.

In 2008, the band played the NX35 showcase at SXSW and say that they’re incredibly excited about the conferette’s premiere in Denton. A few large-scale festivals are possibly in the band’s future.

“This record took a long period of our lives and we believe in it,” says Gray. “I hope that lots of people get laid while listening to it. Because we did not get laid while making it.”