Kasey Chambers – Just Don’t Be a Dickhead

By starrymag | October 14, 2024

By: Mariah Thomas

 

 

 

Q) How would you describe your music sound?

A) I grew up on mostly country music and when I was learning to sing, I would mostly sing country songs so at the core of it I consider myself a country singer/songwriter here in Australia. I guess I sit in the Americana genre in America because country and Americana are quite different scenes over there, so I guess my musical sounds sits somewhere in those categories, but when I am writing or making records I don’t really think much at all about genre. Stuff just comes out and finds its way.  I trust that it will end up sounding the way it’s meant to.

 

Q) A common theme from these upcoming projects seems to be the idea of inner roots/core values. Who are some artists that have inspired you throughout your life?

A) My earliest female influence was Emmylou Harris and then later my biggest influence became Lucinda Williams, which sparked the songwriter in me. My dad listened (and played) to mostly country music like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. I went through a heavy metal phase as a teenager but that was mostly just to piss my dad off.  I can’t say I was very inspired by it.

 

Q) Since the book and album go hand in hand, did you write the book in mind also knowing there would be a correlating album? 

A) I had already saved up a few songs for my next album and was starting to write a few more around the time I started writing the book, but I didn’t really see the connection straight away.  It wasn’t until I was about halfway through writing the book that I realized how connected they were.  I started seeing that some of my new (and old) songs were inspiring some of the stories in my book and then some of the stories were inspiring more songs to come out.  None of it was planned in my conscious mind to connect them both together but they naturally did on so many levels that it was hard to not just succumb to that and let them both become one creative project with two sides.

 

Q) What is the connecting central theme between the album and book?

A) They both standalone without each but I do feel from a creative point of view a lot of the songs mean even more when you read what inspired them or how they grew and the stories come to life more when you hear the soundtrack to the book.  Throughout the book you can choose to follow a QR code straight to the song that is somehow related to the story you’ve just read.  So, it’s like you can go on the journey a little deeper with me and in the way that I created it all together.

 

Q) How does the book writing process compare to writing songs? 

A) I am no author, really, so the process is quite similar to me.  A lot of it is natural and I just let it fall out for the most part, but there’s almost always an element of writing a song that is hard, challenging and sometimes excruciating which was similar when I wrote the book.

 

Q) From your upcoming album, Backbone, which songs are you most looking forward to people hearing? 

A) I really love putting a body of work out there and seeing what songs people gravitate towards.  Seeing what ones connect and take on a new life through human connection.  I like to leave that up to the listener to decide and sometimes it surprises me.  Since I’ve started doing interviews with people who have already heard the album a lot of people have mentioned my song “Arlo.”  It’s written about one of my sons and how it is for a mother to see her boy grow into a teenager, but it’s very specific to my personal experiences and Arlo’s personality and moments.  So, obviously it’s a very personal song which I didn’t expect other people to really connect to.  But I think people gravitate easily towards authentic stories even if they are different to their own.  Or they are able to relate it to their own experiences in their own way which is beautiful too.  So, I’m interested to continue that journey through that song with people.

I’m really looking forward to people hearing “The Divorce Song,” too.  It’s a song that I wrote with my ex-husband Shane Nicholson about how we do divorce way better than we did marriage.  He also sings the song as a duet with me.

 

Q) What do you hope lingers with audiences that explore the journey of reading the book and listening to the album as a whole – either as a message or emotionally?

A)  Leading with an open heart.  It’s one (both the book and album) of the most open and deep creative things I’ve ever shared and the more open and real (good and bad, ups and downs) I am with my creativity and then share that, the more “me” I feel and the more I trust in myself to just own who I am and block out the bullshit flying around about how or what I am supposed to be.

I guess it would be nice if people reading /listening would feel inspired to do the same.  It’s complicated to live in a world where we are constantly being told what we should think, feel, be…. How we should look and sound…. but our strongest and truest guide is always within.  I call her my inner foghorn. She has most of my answers and whenever I tune into, I live a happier healthier life.  I hope that translates to others whole through this project but who the fuck knows?!

 

Q) Both the album and book have been described to be very honest, are there any tracks or chapters you feel nervous about sharing with the world?

A) There’s a couple of stories/chapters where I learnt poignant things about myself through my children, which are a little confronting and uncomfortable to admit. I guess we like to believe we are wiser than our children, but I’m not sure that’s entirely true. On paper maybe but my kids see a lot of things in such a simple, unconditioned, non-judgmental way that I take the time to listen to them a bit more maybe I can makes things a little less complicated than they need to be and actually more true, honest and free-spirited.  More like how I was as a child.

 

Q) The title “Just Don’t Be a Dickhead” seems to have been advice given to navigate your career. Was it more of a lesson to learn or a mantra always lived by? 

A) My dad used to say this a lot as advice, “Just don’t be a dickhead” and I think of it as more life advice than career advice really, but I try to put it into all aspects of my life. I do believe I can follow my true paths, stand up for what I believe in, get my point across, be strong and passionate and go against the grain if I need to but I don’t have to be a dickhead about it. Sometimes it looks like a fine line, I guess. I still get it wrong a lot and do dickhead-ish things, but I try harder these days to just not be a dickhead as much as I can.

 

Q) How do you plan to celebrate the joint releases?

A) I don’t have any celebrations planned. I’ll be very busy out on the promo trail, but I’m super excited about that. I’m ready to shout it from the rooftops. Putting your true self out there is very liberating (and scary too, of course) so I’m already feeling so happy to be at this point with the project.  Most of it is up to the universe or the gods (or as I like to call her “My higher old mate”) now, so I have faith it will reach all the eyes, ears and hearts that it was meant to.

 

Q) What would you like to say to fans and supporters of you and the music that you make?

A) I am so grateful to have connected to so many people around the world through music that sometimes I just have to pinch myself that I still get to do this beautiful job for a living.  Thank you thank you thank you to every single people who has supported my career in some way.  And thank you to you for asking this question so I could do a group message rather than having to personally say thank you to each and every one of them.  That might have taken a while.