Last year we saw Ben Caplan and his Casual Smokers play an exilarating show in London. We caught up with the Canadian troubadour for a quick Q&A about his whirlwind 2012 and plans for 2013. It goes a little something like this:
Cougar Microbes: This past year you’ve had a wild ride. You transitioned from a relative unknown to an internationally touring artist, and spent a cumulative 9 months on the road. How do you maintain such a ridiculous schedule?
Ben Caplan: The last year has been crazy. It was a year of touring non-stop, and slowly transitioning from doing all of the behind the scenes business stuff myself, to having a wonderful team around me. That team is one of the most important things for keeping me sane and keeping me on the road. Touring full time can be quite taxing. Although each city, venue, and crowd is quite different, given enough shows over enough time and it can all blur into a strange monotony. The most important thing for keeping me grounded and sane is to treat each show as a unique challenge. I am constantly trying to better myself as a musician and performer. There is a certain sameness to each audience but also a certain uniqueness to each audience. The beautiful challenge is to try to discover each night in which ways the specific crowd and room relates to the archetypal audience, and in which ways it differs. I spent many years practising writing songs and playing instruments. The best way to learn those skills was usually solitary. This year has been a fruitful year of more public practising: developing my skills of being onstage and being an entertainer. I think that the most important thing for keeping me sane while touring full time is to treat each show as an excellent opportunity for growth and learning.
CM: What’s the best part of being home?
BC: Cooking. Good, nutritious, home cooked meals can be hard to find on the road. When I am home, I love going to the farmers market, picking out fresh local produce and products from Nova Scotian farms, and preparing fresh food for myself and my friends. It’s also quite nice to sleep in the same bed every night.
CM: What’s the hardest part of your job?
BC: Writing songs. Writing songs is hard. Some songwriters have the stuff just pour out of them. For me it does not come so easily. Occasionally a tune will just fall through me, like a gift from the muses, but most times it requires days of work and focus. All the rest of the business is just determination, luck, elbow grease, and savvy.
CM: Your album has a strange and long title. What does it mean to you?
BC: The title of the album, ‘In the Time of the Great Remembering‘, was inspired from a passage in a book by Daniel Quinn. The title reflects my optimism that we are entering into a period in history that will hopefully become a period of renewed interest in living in conscious harmony with our surroundings and its natural rhythms – instead of in opposition to them. We have forgotten a great deal about very old strategies for living that are rooted in place, specific landscapes, and local living culture. We have shifted to a one-size-fits-all civilization. I see the seeds and roots of a movement to remember and re-invigorate what has been lost. I hope we are moving into a time when the waters of this Great Remembering grow from a trickle into a stream, into a swift and undeniable river.
CM: You seem to have taken a break from touring until February 2013. What do you do when you’re not on the road, and what’s next for you?
BC: Right now I am focused on daily practice and writing. I am spending an excessive amount of time playing the piano. I am holed up for hours in my notebook. I am reading lots of books. I am sleeping in. Right now my focus is doing the groundwork for my next album and figuring out what I want it to sound like. I am focused on deepening my appreciation and understanding of words and music. That’ll be the number one thing until I hit the road again. Then from February till May I’ll be touring back through some old stomping grounds and discovering some new places too. I’ll hopefully have a few UK stops. I’m hoping to have my next album finished by the end of the summer.
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