The Ledge Interview: Cairo Gang's Emmett Kelly
Nobody can say that Emmett Kelly, the leader of The Cairo Gang is a lazy person. Over the course of his career fronting the band, Kelly has also been a hired gun of sorts recording and touring with the likes of Beth Orton, Angel Olsen, Joan of Arc.
Most notably, Kelly has appeared on records by Bonnie āPrinceā Billy and Ty Segall, both of whom Kelly considers mentors. But obviously The Cairo Gang is the main focus of Kellyās life, especially after the release of the bandās great new record, āUntouchableā. Co-produced with Segall, āUntouchableā is one of the yearās best records, filled with the DNA of rock and rollās greatest moments. Thereās a little bit of Byrds here, some Love over there, and quite a bit of Big Star in the guitar tone. Add in some of Tyās drive and some catchy melodies from Kelly and you have the makings of a timeless classic.
The Cairo Gang will be at Total Drag this Saturday (June 24), along with CFM, who also just released a monster album, āDichotomy Desaturatedā. Doors open at 7, with music starting at 8. Tickets are available at Total Drag Records, and from Tuesday through Friday any Total Drag purchase will include an entry into a drawing to win two tickets and a CFM 7ā.
Kelly says that this show is āactually really exciting because it fills my 50 states. When I play in Sioux Falls I will have played in every state. Itās so weird. Youād think it would be Hawaii or Alaska that would be the last state.ā
To hear the entire conversation with The Cairo Gang's Emmett Kelly, tune in to Live Ledge this Friday night at 7 pm ET on realpunkradio.
Q: At what age did you become a music fanatic, or was it just always around?
A: Music was always around, but it was around, I guess, when I was ten or something I started playing guitar. But I was always playing around on drums. I went to a progressive elementary school where everybody was playing music. So as long as I can remember it was a musical world.
Q: Was there a specific band or album that completely changed your life?
A: I think the first record that tripped me out was āDisraeli Gearsā by Cream. It still trips me out because itās like the weirdest record. Itās one of the most underrated albums I can think of. Everyone hates Eric Clapton, but you canāt deny that this is one of the weirdest, coolest sounding records.
Q: I agree. The post-73 or so Clapton stuff was boring, but what he was doing earlier with Cream, John Mayall and the Yardbirds was amazing.
A: When he was super-high, he was rad. (Laughs)
Q: You said you picked up the guitar at ten. Was there a specific inspiration?
A: Itās kind of stupid, actually. I used to go out for commercial auditions. I grew up in Los Angeles, and as a kid Iād go out on commercial auditions because my mom thought it might be a fun thing to do. I was terrible at it. I barely applied myself in that way. One audition thing that I went out on was one where you needed to play guitar. My mom knew a few chords from back when sheād busk on the streets in the 60ās, so she taught me a few chords. Two chords, E and A minor, because they look the same. I went in there and tried playing these two chords back and forth. It was, obviously, not impressive so I didnāt get the commercial. But it was the beginning. The first time I got my hands on the instrument.
Q: Did you become one of those kids who became inseparable from your guitar?
A: Yeah, pretty much from the get-go I was pretty nuts about it. I was pretty lucky to encounter some pretty far out things early on. I was into all this classic-rock shit when I was young, and then when I was in junior high I moved to this Catholic school. I was a total outcast there, and I got into this habit of going to the record store and buying CDās. I got really into Dinosaur Jr. and then Sonic Youth. But it was the first album I bought, and (for) Sonic Youth I got āConfusion Is Sexā, which was really far out. I listened to it obsessively because I had no idea how this was all done. For a thirteen year-old itās pretty trippy because itās like is this even music? Are you allowed to do this? That just opened up the whole thing. Oh, the guitar is an instrument that you can do lots of shit with. You donāt have to just be Eric Clapton or whatever. You can run a screwdriver through it. So in high school I was just like doing noise music.
Q: At what point in your life did you begin to write songs?
A: I always did ever since I was a kid. The Cairo Gang actually started when I was sixteen. It was always kind of like my outlet; my personal outlet.
Q: How did The Cairo Gang first come together?
A: It came about just because I wanted to play...I was playing in a bunch of punk bands and stuff, and I started to get into different shit. I thought I should start a band, and so I started a band. Simple as that.
Q: Has The Cairo Gang evolved into more of an Emmett Kelly project than a real band?
A: Iāve been calling everything I do The Cairo Gang for so long. I never felt the need to change my identity in that way. I donāt like the idea that of being like this is my name. I donāt think that Iām very representative of myself a lot of the time because Iām constantly changing into multiple characters. It made sense to me that (The Cairo Gang) is a collection of people. Itās made a lot more sense over the years of what The Cairo Gang actually is.
Q: Youāve worked with two people in particular who are legendary for their prolific output, Bonnie āPrinceā Billy (aka Will Oldham) and Ty Segall. What have you learned from them?
A: Itās interesting because theyāre such different people and they have a different approach to what they do. For a long time, my relationship to Will and his music was like he was my mentor. Which is weird, but it was good. Heās just phenomenal. Heās a very hard guy to describe so I wonāt even attempt to but I feel like he reminds me of somebody who is very into recognizing a path and a process. That was sort of where I was. I was definitely on a path...so it was really important for me to learn about. I still struggle with the idea of that. Then Ty is really interesting because he is all about (doing) what he likes. Itās just so good to be around. I feel like songwriters are just inherently tormented. I donāt know why. We have such good lives, so it doesnāt make sense why the torment is there. Itās almost like you want to be tormented, but Iām also somebody who has that as well. So itās amazing to be around somebody who relates to music in a different way. Itās so hard to say because Iām not trying to say anything about his music being lighter or anything. I just feel like itās more of an opportunity for him to have a great time. So for me, it was really great to be around him. He also has this amazing ability to finish his ideas all the time, whether or not itās something heās going to stick with or whatever. Who knows, heās going to finish it. Itās amazing to be around that as my biggest problem is finishing stuff. I have hundreds of songs in my computer that are like half-songs. They drive me insane. They make me feel like Iām losing my mind. So itās really inspiring to me to just be like, āfucking finish your shitā. In the end, both Ty and Will are among my most favorite musicians. I have this amazing privilege to kind of think about them as normal people who have a process in their life. Itās great to see peopleās different processes as what it yields is so powerful and inspiring to me in the first place.
Q: The record that Ty put out earlier this year that you play on is so amazing. Itās definitely in my top five releases of the year so far. While all of his stuff is pretty top-notch, did you have any indication that maybe this one was going to be special?
A: I definitely did. I started working with him in the āEmotional Muggerā time, and it was really cool. It was totally different. The band was super gnarly. Every person in the band was a band leader, and there was a lot of heavy energy. Itās also funny because it didnāt mean there were all of these alpha dudes because there were all of these band leaders. But there is some alpha vibe, you know what I mean? It wasnāt a strange thing where we were constantly battling each other volume-wise and like in general. It was a good band, it yielded some amazing results. We made this album at kind of the tail end, sort of...I guess it was midway in the āMuggersā touring. We just wanted to make something really super-positive. When we were making it, I was like ādude, this is going to be sick and people are going to be really down for thisā.
Q: Letās talk about the new record, āUntouchableā, a bit. Itās pretty much just you and Ty, right?
A: Ty played drums, and I play pretty much everything else. Except on two songs different bass players were there. Yeah, I play the vast majority of the stuff on there.
Q: Both you and Ty are extremely busy. Is it difficult to coordinate schedules?
A: The brilliant thing is that Ty and me are busy in the same way. It had been many years since I recorded a record that involved anybody because I do everything myself. Thatās been the way for the last five records. I felt like part of my coming to California and my life change had to do with opening up to certain things. Me and Ty have this sort of beautiful musical relationship in the works, and I appreciate him so much I wanted to bring him into my thing just the same way he was bringing me into his thing. I wanted it to be like a symbiosis that we were part of each otherās thing. That was just that, and we just kind of worked on it when we were off the road. But he doesnāt play in the live band. We did a west coast tour that he played drums, and that was amazing, but what he wants to do as far as touring is one thing and I wouldnāt expect heād want to do what weāre doing because weāre trying to hit it as hard as possible.
Q: I get a bit of a Big Star vibe from quite a few of the tracks, especially in the guitar tone. Is Big Star an influence?
A: Definitely. Big Star is a weird one. I love Big Star, obviously. The third album is entirely perfect, but the other two albums are pretty spotty. I love some of those songs like theyāre some of my favorite songs, but I donāt love the whole albums. But āSeptember Gurlsā is a full-on classic. Thatās like the best song ever.
Q: What else do you have coming up in the future?
A: Weāre doing this big U.S. tour, and then I have some more gigs with the Ty band in July and early August. Then we go off to Europe for a couple of weeks. Then my other band, The Double, is hopefully going to play some shows this fall. But Iām going to go back to L.A. sometime, hopefully in September, and try to make a new record.
Q: Youāre always busy!
A: Itās your job. Youāve got to do it! No one has any fucking time off, you know what I mean?
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