We interview Jerry Castle about his new project – Midnight Testaments – his new single ‘Make Do’ and more.
How have you been navigating this strange time? You’ve been inspired obviously in your new single ‘Make Do’ but as a rule how have you found it?
Yeah, ugh, I don’t know… Probably no better than anyone else, it’s been a mixed bag really.
Have you found yourself being inspired as a general rule?
It has been both, everything just seems to have been extreme and as an artist you’re already navigating in the extreme zone in the first place, everything is always more dramatic. If that’s already in the nature of your personality, you throw this in… In the very beginning, it was nice because we didn’t have to go anywhere or anything and we could party, but a couple of week after that you think I can’t go on like this for very long. It’s just been an emotional rollercoaster, but I don’t think that’s different than anyone else.
I know it’s been frustrating not being able to release the record, do you think that’s been a positive thing for you?
Yeah that’s been the unsolvable puzzle, I’m the kind of person who runs my label, I have people that help me with different things but when I sit down and look at how to make things profitable. The only thing that I can really do is build more and take it on the chin as much as I can in building and planning for when it’s ok to tour. In the US, we’re thinking that might be in the Spring, but nobody knows that and the plan the whole way has been to get to the UK after things open up.
In terms of the record, you talk about the tumultuous times so specifically in the record. You wrote it a while ago, so does it feel like you could have written it now? What was your mindset writing it initially?
When this record was written, I had just finished another record in studio. When I’m recording, I just dive in with every single thing that I have, writing and recording, everything else becomes secondary. I had just been fully dug into writing the record and I’d sent it to a few people and was getting mixed reviews, a few people that I really respect had said ‘hey, it kind of sounds like you’ve got a couple of different records here, it’s pieces of two different records rather than one concise record.’ I thought ‘ok, I’ll go back to the studio and write more.’ I was already worn out and I think the good thing about being worn down when you’re working is that you don’t try to drive the songs as much, you’re kind of just reacting to what you’re feeling at that point. I booked one day per week in the studio for a three week period, and so the way that I wrote those songs was that I’d record any melody idea or lyric ideas, but I wouldn’t sit down to write. For the first five days of that week, I wouldn’t write anything and then two days before I’d go into the studio I’d sit down and make myself write. The record was all written like that, so I’d go into the studio barely knowing the song myself. After the first week, it felt like there was an identity as far as the songs were coming together. I thought I’ll just make myself miserable for two more weeks and I’ll have a record!
Do you find it easier then to be still in the same headspace when you go into record the songs as you were in when you first wrote the songs?
I don’t know if I find it easier, but all of my first three records, I have definitely written and recorded all quickly and together. When songs sit for too long, two things can happen, either you get sick of it or you can overthink it. When you’re writing and recording at the same time, instinct kicks in and I think by and large you can follow that and it will make it more authentic.
You grew up in Virginia, but have spent time in LA and Nashville, do you think your music has changed a lot from being in those different musical environments?
Yeah, I put out a record in 2015/6 and 2017/8, so one every two years, I think around 2016 I started making a conscious effort to change up my writing process on every record, and so when I lived in Virginia or Hawaii, going from the Appalachian Mountains to a beach town, I’ve always been drawn to the ocean – it’s bizarre, it must be an ancestry thing – all of those things come into my music. It’s funny, with there being different elements like country and rock, soul and gospel, different pieces of those things seem to rise to the fore at different times of what I’m writing and recording.
The current single is ‘Make Do,’ can you talk a bit about that one and the inspiration behind it?
You know that was one of the quicker written songs on the record. Everyone had gone to bed and I decided to see if I could come up with something, trying to occupy my mind and I went in and wrote it. I had the song finished before I went to bed that night. I think that was a subconscious concept that I was telling myself, I find a lot of that in my songs after the fact. I think it was the universe telling me that I wasn’t in control of all this stuff and that if I’m miserable while I’m doing this then what good is it. Our society holds success and working hard in such a high regard, but you can drive yourself into holding zero fun from it.
In terms of the actual concept behind ‘Midnight Testaments’ where did that come from, was that from your late-night writing process?
Yeah I have a studio in my home, so while I record everything with a band, I do all of the overdubs late at night in my studio. Idea-wise, all of those seem to come late at night. I don’t set out to write as a writer who’s really heartfelt, but when I go back and listen after the fact that is the kind of stuff I write. I grew up with gospel music as far back as I can remember, so when I was trying to find the title for the album, this is my Midnight Testaments, late night, somewhat under the influence.
Jerry’s new single ‘Make Do’ is available everywhere now.
