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Interview with The Casket Girls

Jon Berrien
Latest posts by Jon Berrien (see all)

 Savannah, Georgia based band The Casket Girls, consist of sisters Elsa and Phaedra Greene along with Black Moth Super Rainbow guitarist Ryan Graveface.  Together the trio have been producing electro based eerie-pop tunes. Their upcoming album True Love Kills the Fairy Tale drops Feb 11th, 2014. GroundSounds caught up with Ryan and Phaedra to talk about their upcoming album and more, check out the exclusive interview below. 

What has it been like growing up in Savannah, Georgia? How has the area influenced your music? 

R.G. I just recently moved to Savannah in 2010.  The girls have been here forever though, I think.  I adore it!  It’s absolutely strange and bizarre and gothic and beautiful and completely fucked at the same time.

What is the music scene like in Savannah?

R.G. Insanely supportive.  People actually care and are quite passionate.  The city is filled with a bunch of super talented folks currently.  It’s really inspiring.  
 
How did you guys decide on the name The Casket Girls?
 
R.G. It was something I saw pop up in some old book about weird USA stuff (but NOT the Weird USA books!).  The story and legend was all very interesting to me so when the girls and I decided to do a record together, I whipped out that band name and it stuck.  

How did the track “Holding You Back”, come to fruition? 

R.G. I had just gotten out of an 8 year long engagement and started making my own absinthe.  Haha.  Need I go on?  Seriously though, there was a week-long period after that breakup where I would just consume my homemade absinthe and write for LP2.  There are only two songs from that week that made it on the record.  About 10 more landed in the, “what do I with these”, pile.  As for the lyrics, that’s all the girls genius.  All I know is their lyrics tapped perfectly into what I was feeling with the music.
 
Phaedra:
 
Are you guys superstitious? If so, what are a few superstitions of The Casket Girls?
 
We are verrrrry superstitious.  It can be quite tedious at times.  We see omens everywhere.
 
What was it about the Autoharp that attracted you guys to this instrument?
 
We found our autoharp in our aunt’s basement, actually.  Neither of us really knew how to play an instrument at that point, so it was attractive to us because of the ease to play it.  Also, we loooooove the sound of it.  One day, we want to do an all autoharp record.
 
Can you tell us about the creative process and inspirations behind your upcoming album True Love Kills the Fairy Tale? How did this project come together? Did it all come together in one bizarre night?
 
We practiced a lot with automatic writing and wrote most of the record that way.  It seems a little bit like a dream now.  It’s either a record of our subconscious desires or the diary of a ghost.  
 
How has it been working with Graveface Records?
 
We love working with Ryan.  He’s so funny, and he likes to drive, which is nice. 
 
Who would you guys like to collaborate with in the future?
 
It would be great to collaborate with David Lynch.
 
Can you guys tell us about your upcoming tour? Are the dates mapped out yet? If so, what cities are you most excited to check out?
 
We just got the tour schedule.  We’re excited about visiting Fargo.  We LOVE that movie! Also, NYC, LA and Canada (we’ve never been!)
 
We’re doing a full tour in Feb/March with Stargazer Lillies and Dream End.  (waiting to see the tours schedule)
 
Besides the album release, what are you guys most excited for in 2014?
 
Touring!