Canshaker Pi dares to be more serious on ‘Okay Decay’

This interview was first published in April 2020 on the Indiestad website (in Dutch).

Even though 2020 is turning out to be quite a complicated year, let’s not forget it started off pretty nicely. In February, the new Canshaker Pi album ‘Okay Decay’ was released, which was quickly followed by rave reviews. Indiestad ambassador Marieke Hulzinga sat down with Willem Smit (Canshaker Pi, Personal Trainer, The Industry) to ask him about the recording process, how he is able to juggle all these different projects at the same time, what he thinks is the most suitable Canshaker Pi lyric for a tattoo and how he came up with the artwork.

Hey Willem, how are things? The new album has been out for a few weeks now. What kind of reactions have you guys received?

Willem Smit: I’m really happy the album is finally out! We have been working on it for quite some time, so I’m really excited to have it released. We are really proud of it and have worked very hard on it. The responses were quite good as well, I don’t think we have seen a negative review. There was one that was quite mediocre though..

Oh really? From who?

The first review we got was from the Dutch newspaper NRC, which was quite mediocre. So that sucked. I would have preferred if it was either very negative or really positive. But they thought it was quite vanilla. And you know, you put a lot of time and love into it. So that was too bad.

Can you tell a bit more about what started the new album? And how it was created?

I wanted to make a new record again and really focus on the next step of us as a band. Two new members had joined us: Leon, as our new drummer and Cees, our new guitarist. We had already been touring our older songs together, but I felt like we had changed quite a bit as a band. It felt a bit more ‘controlled’ now, like we had all gotten better at what we were doing. I think we are all pretty good as individual musicians, but I do still think we are a bit of a 'messy' band. It’s no rocket science what we are doing. However, I must say that we have gotten much better.

I make a lot of music at home and I had about 30 new songs in total, which we were able to narrow down to 20 songs for the new album. We then had about five rehearsals to see which songs we liked best and we went into the studio quite quickly after that.

Canshaker Pi playing Paradiso Noord in March 2020

And when did you really start seeing the new album come together?

Well you go through different phases with a new album. In the beginning, you’re more focused on seeing what will work together, but it doesn’t necessarily have a clear direction yet. Lyrically I’m a bit all over the place. I try to stay quite abstract, but sometimes I do start to see certain patterns or ideas that start to repeat themselves. At one point it became a bit more clear what we already had, what fitted together and what was still needed. And that’s when the new record really started to come together.

You are all quite busy with several different projects: Personal Trainer, Steve French, Korfbal or Smith & Paris, to name a few. What do you think makes Canshaker Pi what it is now, even though two new members have just joined the band?

I was actually talking to Ruben, our bass player, about this recently. Which is a bit lame, to talk or think about what you are as a band. But we think it is mostly about how we do things live. For me, the most important thing is that when you see us live, you only hear what you see happening in front of you. Which is: four friends who are making music together. That is the most important thing for me. There is still a lot of crazy and silly things happening as well, but all of it is live. Which I think is a big theme for us. Every record in itself is pretty much a live registration.

Do you think you are able to do more things with Canshaker Pi than with Personal Trainer, for example? Or the other way around?

I think there is a bit more restriction with Canshaker Pi, because there are only four guys playing one instrument each. With Personal Trainer there is a bit more space for silliness. With Canshaker Pi we were really focused on finetuning our sound a bit more, and with Personal Trainer we are a bit more loose in that sense.

How would you describe the growth of the band? Looking back at how the band was when you first started, releasing Shaniqua, then JALS, Indie Academy and now this record.

With Canshaker Pi, it was just a bit of fun at first. We were only doing things very ironically or very loud. When people started getting a bit more interested in the band, we decided we probably needed to take things a bit more seriously. With this new record, for example, we learned that things can be good on their own. You don't always have to add a fart noise to it, just because it might be embarrassing for something to be good. We learned that when you commit to something, that it can also be cool. I think I was a bit too cynical at the beginning.

Talking about the first singles: ‘Nest’, ‘Potwash’ and ‘Glass’. Why did you release these first?

I enjoy thinking about what the first singles will be. I always focus on this with other bands too, like: “Hmm interesting choice.” I wanted to release a more quiet song first, which was ‘Nest’. It seemed like a cool move to release a more quiet and wholesome song first, to get people thinking. With ‘Potwash’, I was really happy with the drum and bass line. I really enjoyed the catchy, recognisable and loud melody. It definitely needed to be loud. And with ‘Glass’, it was pretty obvious when we were recording it that it was going to be a single. We were all dancing a lot during the recording process, including our sound guy Jan. He could really dance to ‘Glass’.

What is the story behind the artwork?

One day, Pip [Blom] and I were at a second hand store. I was browsing through the records, and I found this record which is basically our cover now. There was this guy who worked at a bank and went to retire, and all of his colleagues had created this compilation album for him. And instead of “Okay Decay”, it said “Easy Listening” in big white letters on the front. With the flower and a really ugly logo. But it looked quite punk rock next to the flower, like it was some sort of Parquet Courts record. So I basically removed the title and the logo and replaced it with “Okay Decay”.

Amazing! Do you still have the record at home?

Yes, I bought it. I listened to it at home but it is really shit. It’s basically elevator music. But yeah, I still have the record at home. It's standing right next to our own record now.

Regarding your song lyrics: how do you write your songs? Where do you find your inspiration?

I am quite insecure about my lyrics. I often meet people who I find really smart and clever. Cees [Paris] for example. He joined the band and I think his songwriting is really good. He reads a lot of poetry and understands how to add a certain energy to words and lyrics. He really gets it. Sometimes I will send him a draft, when I'm feeling brave enough, and then he will write something back like: “I think the first sentence is really strong, it’s too bad that all disappears in the second sentence” (laughs). Or well, he didn't say it was terrible. He said: "You’re building up a great energy, and it's too bad that all goes out of the window in the next sentence". And then I think: "Fuck, he is right."

Imagine, someone would pick a Canshaker Pi lyric to get tattooed on their body. What lyric should they choose?

Oh wow, I have never thought of that. “Put your arm up for sale” maybe? Or would that be stupid?

Yeah or for merch - your lyrics added to a kitchen towel. What text would that be?

Then I would have to go for “Potwash”. That would be amazing.

What are your plans for the rest of the year? You have a couple of shows planned for March. What are the plans after that?

I talked to Leon about this recently. I always found it a bit douchy to just jam with someone else, or to make music together in a public space when it’s not meant to be recorded. But then Leon said: let’s just continue making music together. And I don’t see him an awful lot, only when we need to do something with the band. So I reckon we’ll continue to make music together, just not as often. The thing is, Leon, Ruben and Cees are three of my favourite musicians in the Netherlands. And they are three of my best friends. I really enjoy making music with them and it would be a shame not to keep doing that.

Are there any bands you would like to put on people’s radar? Bands that deserve to be put in the spotlight a bit more?

There’s this great band from Amsterdam called A Fungus. I met the guitar player in high school, he is a big fan of more obscure stuff. He likes a lot of loud things. He is currently a big fan of Black Country, New Road, which I’m also a big fan of. They sound quite similar to that, very dramatic but really really good.

I also really like the British band Home Counties, who are dear friends. The singer even played with us, when we had a gig with Personal Trainer in the UK.

I also heard some new stuff from KIEFF, which sounded genius. It’s very bold. At first they were a bit more ‘angular’, a bit like Crack Cloud. And they have now created a new record that often sounds a bit like Linkin Park. It’s really “dirty”, but in a good way. They really go for it, which I find really cool.

There’s also Eigen Risico, which I’m a big fan of. I saw them live once, playing with De Witte Kunst. The singer of Eigen Risico was singing really loudly through a really tiny microphone. Very loud and noisy. And Jesper, who plays bass in Korfbal, drums along with the backing track. And then there was also a dude in the background drawing on this big piece of paper. Truly amazing.

You can find ‘Okay Decay’ on streaming platforms, but you can also buy the record online on the website of Excelsior Recordings. The band can be found and followed on Facebook and Instagram too.