Larry recently caught up with good friend of the AU – and winner of Canada’s best beard – Ben Caplan to find out what he’s been up to since he was last in Australia for Bluesfest, and to get a taste of what we can expect when returns over New Years, performing with his full band The Casual Smokers for the first time, with stops that include Sydney Festival and Woodford! Read on and then find out how you can win tickets to the tour at the end of the interview!
I believe the last time we spoke was at Bluesfest in Australia?
Yeah! I’m looking forward to coming back again!
It isn’t too long away now.. I imagine it’s quite cold at home?
Yeah it is cold, it’s long john weather… I don’t even know if you have long johns there… they’re like long underwear (laughs)
You’ll start a fashion trend down here! Indeed it rarely is cold enough here… You’ve had a pretty crazy year, you haven’t really stopped… we got to catch you at CMJ. How did that event treat you?
It was great! My first time playing CMJ, my second time in New York. It’s a funny thing y’know, from my experiences there it seems there’s no New Yorkers in New York City! My shows were like that as well, I think there was maybe two people from New York city at the gigs and there was a lot of Europeans. It was surreal!
I imagine CMJ helped with that, too…
Absolutely.
You’ve got a little bit of time off at the moment. Is this the time of year you dedicate to spending time with your family, or are you working on new music?
Yeah y’know I think I’ll actually be working on new music, getting stuff together, experimenting with some new ideas, collaborating. Just taking the time to try some different stuff. It’s easy to get caught in the same formula so I wanna try some different approaches… the best approach for the song and not just what’s comfortable. But I’ll also be catching up on some pop culture I guess!
Getting all your TV shows up to date? (laughs)
Yeah! I’ve gotten into this show called Breaking Bad, I dunno if you’ve heard of it there…
Ah yeah, I’ve been trying to avoid watching it because I know I will be addicted and not leave the house for a month (laughs)
Yeah, it’s taken over my life. But I’ve probably earned it (laughs)
Indeed! Well, we’re looking forward to having you back in Australia. What can we expect to see from your shows back here this time? Will we hear some new songs?
Absolutely. There’s a bunch of new material I’ve been wanting to put into the set for a while. I’ll be touring there with a full band for the first time… it’s a top-notch rhythm section with a drummer based in Melbourne. So that will be a difference from the shows last time!
Fantatsic. And this will also be the place you’ll be bringing in the New Year, which will be a great part of the world to do it!
Absolutely.
As part of that, you will performing at the great Woodford Folk Festival, which is probably the Bluesfest of the summer for us…
Yeah it seems like it. I’m just excited because I’ll get to see so many great acts there and watch the sun come up over the festival.
It’s a stunning place. It’s unique festival for Australia and the rest of the world. Over the years, you’ve been involved in some pretty unique festivals and events. What’s the strangest place you’ve ever performed?
One of the strangest festivals was one closer to home. I mean I’ve played some outlandish places on islands and forests… but I played this festival in rural Nova Scotia, and the festival was based around art installations, with music second. So the stage I was playing on was itself an art installation. There were three levels on it, and I was playing on the third level as this Dr. Seuss-esque structure boomed over the crowd, while theremins were being played off in the distance out in the forest. That was by far the most interesting experience I’ve had while performing.
I bet! And did it inspire you at all to get a bit more theremin in your set?
Not yet! We might leave it in the forest for a little longer yet… when the budget increases, then I’ll order my own forest dwellers… (laughs)
You have mentioned though that you love to experiment with your music, how has that influenced your newer material in particular, and perhaps what we’ll see in Australia?
I think the number of songs I’ve written on piano has gone up, and my approach to song structures… that’s all changed a little bit. I think the biggest difference for this tour though will be the depth of instrumental complexity. I’m used to holding tunes together on my own as a vocalist and guitarist, but when the band joins me we get to be a bit more experimental with jazz and world sounds and things like that. So that’s going to be a part of what to expect.
We look forward to hearing that when you return to Australia!
Absolutely. Thank you.
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Ben Caplan tours Australia with his band The Casual Smokers through New Years Eve later this month and then dates in January. For your chance to win tickets to the event, see the Show Us Your Beard competition below (click the graphic for more details), and full tour dates will follow.
Ben Caplan & The Casual Smokers Tour Dates
THURS 2 JAN at Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
FRI 3 JAN at Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
SAT 4 JAN at Caravan Music Club, Melbourne
TUE 7 JAN at Lizzottes, Newcastle
WED 8 JAN at The Spigeltent, Sydney Festival (TICKETS)
And don’t miss Ben Caplan at the Woodford Folk Festival for multiple performances leading into the New Year.
