CASEY // Share How To Disappear ... And Return

After five years on hiatus, Welsh act, Casey, have delivered their moody LP, How To Disappear; A concept album that explores existence and grief.

MORE: COAL CHAMBER: No More Dark Days // NECK DEEP: Rating: 8 Middle Fingers REVIEWS: GREEN DAY: Saviors // CASEY: How To Disappear // NECK DEEP: Neck Deep // CASEY: How To Disappear

We caught up with vocalist Tom Weaver and guitarist Toby Evans who insist they’re not as emo on the inside as they may seem!

“There are probably a sizeable number of people in the world whose only experiences of me as a person have been through music and they probably think that I’m really miserable and that I’m really depressed, and that I’m really depressing.” Shares Tom, smiling. “And that’s not the impression that I would like to leave on the world really. I would like people to understand that I’m perhaps not that miserable all the time and I do have kind-of positive experiences to share!”

Self-reflection on how he would be perceived if he were to disappear was one of the prompts to write this new record. Obviously artists, like anyone, are multifaceted experiencing life like the rest of us and the spectrum of emotions that go with that. But there’s no question Weaver is drawn to some of the darker themes even referencing Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko as heavily inspiring the themes of the record.

“There are a few different interpretations of it. But it’s the idea that every individual that exists every experience that they ever have, they carry around with them internally, and then when they die, it’s not just the person that dies, but it’s the world that they carry with them and dies. And then the idea is reverted into the sense that every experience that you have been involved in front of a person, that person will carry with them forever.”

Work for the album began in late 2022 and Toby shares that Sanctimonious was one of the first tracks written for the album and set the tone for the rest of the tracks stating, “Everything for that track came pretty naturally to us all and I think it was the because it was written so early on. It was kind of the basis of the record, I’d say.”

Tom confirms, “Sanctimonious is one that we came back to quite a few times during the kind of writing process is like a reference point. And it further it just really held up for us. And we were already already in love with it.”

The band also share about the intention behind St Peter as the album’s interlude featuring ‘verby vocals and piano recorded via a bunch of room-mics live in a large sound studio. Tom paced around singing whilst Toby played. “It’s the same chords, and the same progression as well. Similar progression to Puncture Wounds to happen, which is the next song after St. Peter. So they kind of fit together in that respect.” Toby begins.

Australia to us represents the furthest distance that we could potentially travel to play music and I think it’s where that idea of how far we’ve come is really amplified for us.
[ Tom Weaver, Casey ]

“I just had an idea on piano, and I’m not a piano player,” he continues with Tom interjecting in the background insisting he is being far too modest. “I’m not, I can’t play – but I can play that … you can probably hear footsteps in the background. So Tom’s walking around, Latina photographer was walking around as well, at the same time taking some videos and content. But yeah, it just, again, something that just came out of nowhere really took us four or five minutes.”

Tom adds, “There’s a really lovely, like, old wooden floor in the recording room in in middle farm studio and just like the creaking, and then the natural panning of the vocal as I’m walking back and forth between the mic, there’s no automation on it or anything. It is literally just where I am positioned in reference to the mic.”

Vaness Carlon’s A Thousand Miles could seriously be on the cards for the group who generally enjoy finishing their sets with a randomly fun number. But it’s unlikely Tony will have his Axl-Rose-piano-rising-from-under-stage moment insisting, “I’m gonna I’m probably gonna get some piano lessons to make it a little bit easier next time.”

It’s clear that as Tom indicated, the band are a pretty fun and chill group despite the glaringly emo content. “I’m going I’m going to omit the person whose face it is, but the cover of Love Is Not Enough – the pink background – is actually just a single pixel from a celebrity’s face that is just like, incredibly zoomed in that we’ve then just overlaid the cream elements to and it was just an inside joke between me and Daniel who was the graphic designer.”

With the album out of the way, Casey have turned their attention back to live shows and are preparing to hit our shores in July. It was winter when they came last back in 2018 and despite the cold, they recount fondly jumping into the ocean anyway, much to the dismay of Queensland locals.

“And at some point in the night, we all looked at each other. We were like, we’re laughing, a thousand miles [no pun intended] from home and I think that Australia to us represents the furthest distance that we could potentially travel to play music and I think it’s where that idea of how far we’ve come is really amplified for us. So, just being on the other side of the world, it’s really humbling and incredibly like, like, gratifying to us as like validating to us as musicians to think that just, you know, five idiots that write songs together in a practice space in South Wales can travel to literally the other side of the world.” Tom enthuses.

As for any parting words of advice for upcoming bands, Toby says, “making connections and, I say, just write as much as you can because there’s always going to be gold that comes out of it at some point.”

Tickets are on sale now for Casey’s Australian tour supporting Dayseeker.