“I would describe the album as my playful attempt at writing the “perfect” pop song. It’s my interpretation of the late-60’s pop-psych movement," aldus zanger Kevan Caldwell.
For the greatest artists, making music is not a hobby. Neither is it a means to get paid. Instead, these are people with music flowing through their veins and the urge to share their wildest and most imaginative ideas with the masses. New Orleans-based musician Kevan Caldwell is one such creative force. Formerly known as a member of Rise Above alumni The Planchettes, he thrives on restlessness, never-ending creativity and a longstanding desire to commit the sounds he hears in his head to tape, for the benefit and pleasure of all. Now operating under the singular moniker of Caldwell, this dreamer of musical dreams has undergone a profound transformation, and the results can be found on his new project’s debut album, due for release in 2024.
A labour of love conjured from the ether in the aftermath of a global pandemic, Caldwell showcases its creator’s unique song-writing and devotion to the pop-psych ethos of the late ‘60s. With a history of involvement in all kinds of noisy and melodic endeavours, Kevan has pedigree and an idiosyncratic aesthetic that speaks of a life-long love of wondrous sounds.
“I was raised in a very musical environment,” he explains. “Thinking back to my earliest memories, I can see my father playing his bass guitar along to a Meters record, Sissy Strut, which was one of his favorites to jam. I naturally gravitated towards the guitar at a very young age. I began playing in punk bands and took complete creative control over my first band, Ozzy & The Bobos (I cannot believe I’m plugging this, but there’s a 5-song demo on YouTube!). I left my hometown of Lakeland, Florida, to travel the country at the age of 18 in my Toyota Camry. From Killington, Vermont, all the way to the Bay Area, I started playing on street corners for gas money, food and lodging in every major city I stopped at along the way. I eventually landed in New York City for a few years and played in several bands there before finally making the move to New Orleans.”
After settling in New Orleans, Kevan Caldwell continued his artistic life, joining forces with like-minded souls to form a new band, Planchettes. Released in 2019 to widespread acclaim, the group’s self-titled debut album dropped a few hints about where their leader would head next, with everything from rockabilly and swamp-dwelling blues rock, to ‘60s garage psych and primitive post-punk hurled into a heady and distinctive brew.
“It didn’t take long for me to find my bearings and form my own group,” he says. “We mostly played around the city and had one major release on Rise Above before ultimately disbanding due to Covid complications. I was searching for a lighter sound in the wake of the pandemic, something bright, and a little tongue-in-cheek. It didn’t take long before Caldwell was born, giving me just the push I needed to get back to doing what I love.”
An eight-song trip through the mind of a music obsessive with ideas to burn, Caldwell is both a paean to the past and a quietly subversive contribution to the future. This is deftly evolved psychedelia, fed through many decades years of sonic mischief and rendered in the bright, warm colours of garage rock and baroque pop. Drawing from dust-covered psych explorations on both sides of the Atlantic, Caldwell has hit a rich vein of inspiration.
From the lissom, wah-wah grooves of opener No Flowers Today and the breezy, acoustic-led pop idealism of Love Confessions, to the lysergic nursery rhyme strut of Picturesque Self Portrait and the twinkly-eyed, Byrds-tinged stroll of Garden Gnome, this is an album full of love, life and vibrancy, as the simplest of musical ideas are fleshed out into something brave and beautiful.
“I would describe the album as my playful attempt at writing the “perfect” pop song,” says Kevan. “It’s my interpretation of the late-60’s pop-psych movement. These songs came to life at a very transitional period for me, and served as a great distraction from the turmoil of my Covid-present world. I was listening to a lot of Kinks at this point and really started studying Ray Davies’ composition style. The way he masterfully paired sentimental storytelling with a surprisingly complex musical backdrop was very inspiring to me. It made me look outward to the world around me and inward to my own experiences at the same time. This mirroring effect is intended to create a nostalgic, familiar experience for the listener.”
The first release on Rise Above Records boss Lee Dorrian’s new Pop Claw imprint, Caldwell eschews the modern age’s sterile sonic values in favour of a rich blend of nostalgia and ingenuity. With all instruments played by Caldwell himself, it offers a tantalising glimpse into an endearingly authentic musical world with no limits beyond the need for big, bright-eyed tunes that seem to have been plucked from the ageless ether.
“This was the first time I abandoned that ‘purist’ mentality in over 10 years of working exclusively with tape,” he states. “Caldwell was recorded out of necessity, so I worked with what I had at the time. Tape can have its limitations, and I feel sometimes that interferes with the creative process. The flow of recording with a mix of digital and analog has become more enjoyable to me. However, there were some analog elements to it. I mixed the album through my ‘80s Soundcraft 200b to give it some flavor. It’s my favorite desk to date!”
A passion project with a personal touch, Caldwell is full of odd characters and peculiar tales. Whether it’s the self-explanatory Lonely Lad or the illuminated apocrypha of Theodore Sullivan, these are songs borne of a fascination with the human condition, and the mysteries that make the world go round.
“For some songs, I tried creating narratives for different events in my life by putting a fictional twist on those experiences,” says Caldwell. “I really wanted the album to act as a kind of storybook, with many characters, including versions of myself. For example, Garden Gnome was about a mysterious old man named Marcos who would come by my neighborhood once a week to manicure everyone’s front yard. Other songs are almost autobiographical. Lonely Lad was inspired partly by my isolation during Covid, Love Confessions describes the first time I admitted my love to my partner, Faye, and Theodore Sullivan is about an obsessive man named Curt Claudio who travelled to John Lennon’s estate in Tittenhurst from California because he believed Lennon had written songs about him. Lennon, of course, had never even heard of Claudio…”
It is plain to hear on Caldwell’s first (self-titled) album that this is the beginning of something fresh, fascinating and fun. In an era when many musicians seem content to conform to whichever new norm is being thrust upon the world via mainstream channels, Caldwell offers a quirky and nourishing alternative, with songs that become vividly alive whenever they are played. Plainly thrilled by his first venture as a solo artist, Kevan Caldwell is relishing the chance to watch his new creation blossom and bloom, both on pristine vinyl and on stage, where these songs will doubtless take on a new life of their own. Past, present and future are colliding, and the fallout is going to be mesmerising.
“I’ve spent the past few months getting a band together, so I’m really looking forward to gigging with these guys and eventually going on tour,” he concludes. “I’m hoping with more musicians in the mix, Caldwell will evolve naturally. I’ve always been open to the unexpected, especially when I begin to write again after some downtime. I’d love to travel more in this upcoming year, both for pleasure /and/ for new material! Before all of this, though, I’ve got my eye on a great local record store for a release party - costumes optional, but encouraged! This is New Orleans, after all…”
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