Richard Sallis Interview
Q: Congrats on the new album Casino, what made you want to revisit songs from when you were younger?
A: I wrote the album whilst living in my grandparents' guest room, using their old iMac with a basic version of Garageband on it. I was completely alone, no musical collaborators to speak of; it was just me, the iMac and my imagination. I wrote this record as a way to keep myself sort of sane, and pretty much all the arrangements were there back then. But I had to use MIDI and crappy VSTs and such, so it sounded more like a 90s video game rather than a chamber pop masterpiece. I never forgot how I wanted it to sound though; string sections, church organs and the like. It was impossible at the time, so I put all that in the mental file of “maybe one day”.
Fast forward over a decade: I’m at home with my wife, expecting a kid, and working frantically to finish my last album Felix. With Felix I was working with a bunch of great collaborators who I had befriended over the years, and was managing to come up with these huge fantastic sounds. It occurred to me that I finally had everything I needed to finish Casino - I have all the right gear, I’m friends with all the right musicians, I have slightly more money to spend, and my skillset is now big enough to produce such a thing.
What I didn’t know was how popular Felix was going to become, and that there would soon be a public demand for more music! I’m going to be candid with you. I wanted to keep the momentum going so people didn’t completely forget about me in a hurry. But writing and recording a new album in under a year just wasn’t doable. I don’t have the free time to work that quickly anymore, and writing something Felix quality or higher could potentially take years to get right. But the circumstances were perfect for Casino; to record it properly and to release it to a wider audience. I figured the time to make that dream come true is now - if I don’t use this chance then it will never happen.
Q: What are some of the themes and concepts with Casino?
A: For me a casino is a really beautiful looking place. Big chandeliers, cool lighting, just a very classy atmosphere. People turn up in fancy suits and dresses having the time of their lives, and a part of you really wants to get in among that. But then you look around at what’s actually happening there, it’s just people gambling their money away. I might lose some fans for saying this but I fucking hate gambling, I’ve seen people fuck their lives up with gambling addiction and it’s not pretty. If you turn your head away from the suits and dresses you’ll find a bunch of people blowing their children’s inheritance on the pokies. I certainly don’t want to get in among that. So for me, the casino is equally discomforting and alluring.
The album doesn’t talk about the gambling issue really, but I like it as a bug-to-zapper metaphor. Being attracted to something you know full well is bad for you. Most of the songs off Casino deal with that feeling in one way or another. There are songs about the people who were in my life obviously, but it’s not just that. There’s also the idea of wanting to live in a pining nostalgia, whilst knowing doing that is only gonna depress you more. Or drinking knowing it’s gonna fuck up your health but doing it anyway. That sort of thing.
The other element most people aren’t going to get is how each song was inspired by a different place in Adelaide. It’s a very local record, directly inspired by my city specifically. You’re a Casino is the SkyCity song obviously, Table 41 is the Stamford Grand in Glenelg, The Castle is the Adelaide Uni campus, Mandolin Gun was inspired by Hindley Street, Yesteryear was inspired by Thorndon Park, etc etc… Most people who listen to this album will probably never set foot in Adelaide, but perhaps this album will bring their minds a little closer.
Q: I’m interested in the creative process of revisiting songs from a different perspective as you aged and probably feel differently about the songs?
A: There was a lot of stuff I noticed whilst recording where I thought “I definitely wouldn’t write that today”. But to change any of it would be to miss the point. I wanted to stay as true as possible to the originals as I knew they were powerful as they were, that was the whole point of revisiting them. For these songs to stick in your head after 15 years and still feel so meaningful, there must be something to that, right? They’ve stood the test of time, which is the hardest test of all I think. Now I just want to put this album to bed once and for all, 15 years is enough! I’m pretty bloody eager to move on now I’ve got it out of my system. If you don’t like Casino then good news, I’m never making another album like this one again.
Q: Congrats on the new album Casino, what made you want to revisit songs from when you were younger?
A: I wrote the album whilst living in my grandparents' guest room, using their old iMac with a basic version of Garageband on it. I was completely alone, no musical collaborators to speak of; it was just me, the iMac and my imagination. I wrote this record as a way to keep myself sort of sane, and pretty much all the arrangements were there back then. But I had to use MIDI and crappy VSTs and such, so it sounded more like a 90s video game rather than a chamber pop masterpiece. I never forgot how I wanted it to sound though; string sections, church organs and the like. It was impossible at the time, so I put all that in the mental file of “maybe one day”.
Fast forward over a decade: I’m at home with my wife, expecting a kid, and working frantically to finish my last album Felix. With Felix I was working with a bunch of great collaborators who I had befriended over the years, and was managing to come up with these huge fantastic sounds. It occurred to me that I finally had everything I needed to finish Casino - I have all the right gear, I’m friends with all the right musicians, I have slightly more money to spend, and my skillset is now big enough to produce such a thing.
What I didn’t know was how popular Felix was going to become, and that there would soon be a public demand for more music! I’m going to be candid with you. I wanted to keep the momentum going so people didn’t completely forget about me in a hurry. But writing and recording a new album in under a year just wasn’t doable. I don’t have the free time to work that quickly anymore, and writing something Felix quality or higher could potentially take years to get right. But the circumstances were perfect for Casino; to record it properly and to release it to a wider audience. I figured the time to make that dream come true is now - if I don’t use this chance then it will never happen.
Q: What are some of the themes and concepts with Casino?
A: For me a casino is a really beautiful looking place. Big chandeliers, cool lighting, just a very classy atmosphere. People turn up in fancy suits and dresses having the time of their lives, and a part of you really wants to get in among that. But then you look around at what’s actually happening there, it’s just people gambling their money away. I might lose some fans for saying this but I fucking hate gambling, I’ve seen people fuck their lives up with gambling addiction and it’s not pretty. If you turn your head away from the suits and dresses you’ll find a bunch of people blowing their children’s inheritance on the pokies. I certainly don’t want to get in among that. So for me, the casino is equally discomforting and alluring.
The album doesn’t talk about the gambling issue really, but I like it as a bug-to-zapper metaphor. Being attracted to something you know full well is bad for you. Most of the songs off Casino deal with that feeling in one way or another. There are songs about the people who were in my life obviously, but it’s not just that. There’s also the idea of wanting to live in a pining nostalgia, whilst knowing doing that is only gonna depress you more. Or drinking knowing it’s gonna fuck up your health but doing it anyway. That sort of thing.
The other element most people aren’t going to get is how each song was inspired by a different place in Adelaide. It’s a very local record, directly inspired by my city specifically. You’re a Casino is the SkyCity song obviously, Table 41 is the Stamford Grand in Glenelg, The Castle is the Adelaide Uni campus, Mandolin Gun was inspired by Hindley Street, Yesteryear was inspired by Thorndon Park, etc etc… Most people who listen to this album will probably never set foot in Adelaide, but perhaps this album will bring their minds a little closer.
Q: I’m interested in the creative process of revisiting songs from a different perspective as you aged and probably feel differently about the songs?
A: There was a lot of stuff I noticed whilst recording where I thought “I definitely wouldn’t write that today”. But to change any of it would be to miss the point. I wanted to stay as true as possible to the originals as I knew they were powerful as they were, that was the whole point of revisiting them. For these songs to stick in your head after 15 years and still feel so meaningful, there must be something to that, right? They’ve stood the test of time, which is the hardest test of all I think. Now I just want to put this album to bed once and for all, 15 years is enough! I’m pretty bloody eager to move on now I’ve got it out of my system. If you don’t like Casino then good news, I’m never making another album like this one again.
Q: You collaborated with a number of musicians on this project, can you explain a little bit of what they added to the songs?
A: Oscar Hose was the first person to come on board all those years ago. He ended up replacing all my boring MIDI basslines with more clever and creative ones, and generally came up with ideas to make the arrangements more interesting. “The weirder the better” he always says, which is why I love him. For instance he came up with the idea to add a second drumset to songs like The Castle, he turned All Star Cast into a crazy sax thing which definitely wasn’t the original plan. Just lots of stuff like that. We performed the songs live together more times than I can count, which helped make them a lot stronger over the years.
Daniel Altmann came in quite a bit later and recorded the drums, piano and backing vocals for me. With the piano parts especially, he liked to make things a lot jazzier which I thought was really cool. His drumming is obviously insane. Plus, using his vocals meant you don’t have to listen to my awful voice doubled up a hundred times in the mix. Like Oscar, Altmann is someone who I spent years playing in a band with, so I like to think we’re very much in tune with each other at this point. He’s one of the most gifted and talented songwriters I’ve met.
On the more baroque side; I worked with Katrin Romanova, who did all the strings, and Nicolas Lapine, who did most of the horns. Their participation is the reason why the album exists, if I couldn’t get them then this stupid project never would’ve happened. I probably pestered Katrin with no end of stupid and insane requests for the better part of a year. But she was always extremely friendly and professional, and in doing so made all my sonic dreams come true. Nicolas really went above and beyond for me, literally working on horn parts whilst going through a massive life change himself. I can’t believe he did that, it really was a massive honor to work with him.
Q: Is there anything you hope people take with them when they listen to your music?
A: When I wrote Casino, I was isolated and going through a really rough time. The one thing that kept me going was listening to music that I could relate to emotionally, as it made me feel less alone. It was as if these other songwriters understood exactly what I was going through, and it made me want to extend the same kindness to someone else. So that became my mission whilst writing Casino, making something honest that can comfort other people when they’re going through a rough time. It’s partially why it was so important for me to bring it back after all these years. I don’t give a fuck if most people think it’s one of the worst albums ever made, if one person is able to find solace in it then my mission is accomplished.
Q: What other things should we know about the music? Anything you want our audience to know about?
A: I’m a creatively restless person and I don’t like to repeat myself. The three albums I have up on Spotify are totally different from one another, and the next record I make will be totally different again. The Richard Sallis ride is one with many weird twists and turns. If you’ve become a fan recently, you need to be prepared for that.
A: Oscar Hose was the first person to come on board all those years ago. He ended up replacing all my boring MIDI basslines with more clever and creative ones, and generally came up with ideas to make the arrangements more interesting. “The weirder the better” he always says, which is why I love him. For instance he came up with the idea to add a second drumset to songs like The Castle, he turned All Star Cast into a crazy sax thing which definitely wasn’t the original plan. Just lots of stuff like that. We performed the songs live together more times than I can count, which helped make them a lot stronger over the years.
Daniel Altmann came in quite a bit later and recorded the drums, piano and backing vocals for me. With the piano parts especially, he liked to make things a lot jazzier which I thought was really cool. His drumming is obviously insane. Plus, using his vocals meant you don’t have to listen to my awful voice doubled up a hundred times in the mix. Like Oscar, Altmann is someone who I spent years playing in a band with, so I like to think we’re very much in tune with each other at this point. He’s one of the most gifted and talented songwriters I’ve met.
On the more baroque side; I worked with Katrin Romanova, who did all the strings, and Nicolas Lapine, who did most of the horns. Their participation is the reason why the album exists, if I couldn’t get them then this stupid project never would’ve happened. I probably pestered Katrin with no end of stupid and insane requests for the better part of a year. But she was always extremely friendly and professional, and in doing so made all my sonic dreams come true. Nicolas really went above and beyond for me, literally working on horn parts whilst going through a massive life change himself. I can’t believe he did that, it really was a massive honor to work with him.
Q: Is there anything you hope people take with them when they listen to your music?
A: When I wrote Casino, I was isolated and going through a really rough time. The one thing that kept me going was listening to music that I could relate to emotionally, as it made me feel less alone. It was as if these other songwriters understood exactly what I was going through, and it made me want to extend the same kindness to someone else. So that became my mission whilst writing Casino, making something honest that can comfort other people when they’re going through a rough time. It’s partially why it was so important for me to bring it back after all these years. I don’t give a fuck if most people think it’s one of the worst albums ever made, if one person is able to find solace in it then my mission is accomplished.
Q: What other things should we know about the music? Anything you want our audience to know about?
A: I’m a creatively restless person and I don’t like to repeat myself. The three albums I have up on Spotify are totally different from one another, and the next record I make will be totally different again. The Richard Sallis ride is one with many weird twists and turns. If you’ve become a fan recently, you need to be prepared for that.