LOCAL LOVE: BOY LONELY POSTED:: January 27, 2021
FILED UNDER::
Local Love
FILED UNDER:: Local Love
Milwaukee musician Casey Seymour‘s Boy Lonely musical persona was borne out of one of his full-time musical projects, Kiss Critique. Boy Lonely is Seymour’s role in Kiss Critique and on that group’s debut record, used it to explore themes of love in the time of sickness (vertigo, specifically). So, it should make sense that Boy Lonely would gravitate towards expanding on another “ill” theme, penned in response to the pandemic. Boy Lonely purely follows Seymour’s shelter-in-place script to the tune of new wave and synth-driven electro-pop, making use of ample time and nervous energy. The result – his debut release, The Hoax – was recorded at (where else but) home and was recently released on “Quarantine’s Day” (January 22nd). WMSE got the scoop on the project’s inspiration and inner-workings.
What are all of the musical projects you’re involved in? Is Boy Lonely a completely solo project?
My main project is Ravi/Lola, a psych/art pop group. I play guitar in Peeper & LePlay and am one half of the synth pop group Kiss Critique. Boy Lonely stems from Kiss Critique, which includes myself as Boy Lonely and Nick Wieczorkowski as Nick Sickly. Boy Lonely is considered a solo project as I play all the instruments and sing all the vocals but include the principles of Kiss Critique which are love, loneliness, fame, and feeling good about the self. The idea to do a solo Boy Lonely project started when the pandemic hit. I knew I couldn’t make music with anyone in person so I wrote a silly song called “Corona Kiss” and sent it to my friends. I got good feedback and decided to make a Boy Lonely album about my time during the pandemic. It evolved into love songs about my wife and I with language and hints that revolve around our experience during this strange time.
Is Boy Lonely purely a pandemic project? What are your musical plans once it’s safe to gather and play shows again?
Kiss Critique started a follow up album before the pandemic hit so I hope Nick and I can work on that once it’s safe. It has a really dark story that I’m excited to develop. The one song we finished is one of the favorite things I/we have ever done together. I kind of want to do another Boy Lonely album too because it’s a lot of fun to make something completely by myself. It allows me to work really fast and make quick decisions. I write and record the songs at the same time and typically only take a few hours per song. I’d love to perform The Hoax live once it’s possible to play out. Ravi/Lola will also continue to play and will record soon after it’s safe to do so. I am currently recording a Ravi/Lola album by myself at home.
What would you say Boy Lonely’s genre is? And did you learn any new instruments or learn any new sounds to make it come across the way you’d envisioned?
In general Boy Lonely is pop, but more specifically, I’d say synth pop or electro pop. I think it combines my love for Yellow Magic Orchestra and Japan with 90’s r & b/hip hop. I listened to a lot of Stimulator Jones, Freddie Gibbs, Danny Brown, Spank Rock, and 90s R&B/hip hop while I made this album and I think it shows. I didn’t learn any new instruments but I did play more keyboard than I ever have before. I used one Yamaha keyboard for the whole album so I got very familiar with the settings I liked and disliked. It’s a minimal setup but it works well for me. Mixing/programming beats was new to me but was rewarding and fun. If I make another Boy Lonely album I’d like to explore different equipment for programming the beats to expand the sound further.
You’re a multi-instrumentalist; what was your first/primary instrument that you picked up and what drew you to it?
Guitar is my first/primary instrument and I started picking up other instruments (keyboard, organ, bass, sitar) when I started recording at home about 15 years ago. I started playing guitar when I was 7 years old and took lessons on and off growing up. My dad is a Beatles fanatic and we listened to them a lot growing up. My mom took my siblings and I to the roller rink a lot so the songs of that time are part of my musical DNA. I think you can hear those hidden roller rink influences the most on The Hoax. The older I get, the more I love music you can dance to and this album begs for a dance floor.
You chose to use the pandemic for fodder for new songs – has it helped you process your own feelings?
Absolutely. A great friend of mine referred to the album as a “sexualized PSA” which I loved. I like to refer to the time in the pandemic as “dancing in Club Lonely” – aka making the best out of a hard situation. I consider my wife to be my “quarantine” (rhymes with valentine) as we are sheltering in place together. Other than my tight work circle, my wife and I were/are our entire lives. We learned how to live and handle this situation together. We decided to try for a baby shortly after the pandemic hit which influenced the romantic/sexy side of this album. “The New Safe Sex” is about my routine when I’d get home from work at the beginning of the pandemic. I’d get home and my wife would have the shower running, I’d come in the house, take off all my clothes and throw them in the wash, and head upstairs to shower without touching anything. I left everything from the work day outside so she could disinfect it all. At the beginning of the pandemic it felt like if you made one sanitary mistake you could get it because we didn’t know as much. “Slow Your Spread” is about my wife and I taking long walks alone during the pandemic for something to do. “Safer At Home With You” is about having date nights at home. I reference eyes a lot because that is what is most visible because of masking. I should tell you we are expecting Little Lonely at the end of February, hence the song “Pregnant.”
The pandemic has made it important for musicians to know (or learn) how to record at home – how familiar with the process were you when you started working on the songs for Boy Lonely? Have you learned any new recording techniques since starting this project?
I started recording at home about 15 years ago. I had no idea what I was doing then and am still learning how to record and mix properly. Overall I’m satisfied with how “The Hoax” sounds and feel I’ve come a long way with my recording capabilities since I started. I used different recording software called Logic Pro, which has more options than what I’ve used in the past which helped. A lot of “The Hoax” was d/i which simplifies things somewhat and It helps to have Justin Perkins of Mystery Room Mastering handle the mastering side. He’s very good at what he does.
Find Boy Lonely’s new release, ‘The Hoax’ over at his Bandcamp page. Keep supporting (and loving) your local artists.