The Allysen Callery Interview
Tell me about growing up in Rhode Island. What was your childhood like growing up? When did you first begin to fall in love with music, more specifically the guitar? Was this something that was relevant growing up in your household?
I had a young dad who played classical guitar, we had many instruments in the house and I was encouraged from an early age to play. I really wanted to play cello, but we could only afford a violin. I played violin for about seven years before switching to guitar after my dad died. I really wanted to honor him by playing his instrument.
What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years? When and where did you see your very first concert? When did you realize you wanted to spend your time pursuing music and art?
I was really lucky to grow up in the 1970s, I was a latchkey kid and could just ride my bike with zero supervision, I just had to be home when the streetlights turned on. There was a small gang of girls I hung out with, most of the time we were in the woods, but we did all love music and would sometimes sing together, every song we knew. I taught myself how to sing by singing along with Joni Mitchell, and Sandy Denny in her Fairport years. Incredible string band was a huge influence on me, because it was poetry driven, and it didn't have any verse, chorus, bridge rules. It granted me a freedom I kept with me when I started writing my own music. Some friends of mine from our alternative private high school school One in Providence were in a punk band called The Idle Rich. I jumped in the mosh pit, back then they called it Slam Dancing. Music, and art was always a way of life for me, my father was in medicine, but whenever he was home he was playing guitar, or working on art. He was a really wonderful example of that balance.
When and where did you play your very first gig and what was that experience like for you? Did you participate in any groups, or projects prior to setting out as a solo musician? Tell me about writing and recording your self released - debut album “Hopey” back in ‘07. What was the overall vision and approach to those tunes?
I was a teenager and a politician came to our high school for a talk, and hired me to play one of her private parties. I think she paid me 50 bucks? Lol it was a lot of money to me at the time.I was always a solo musician but around 2010 I formed a band called Allysen Callery and the Land of Nod with my friend and producer Myles Baer, and a bass player named Brendan Whipple. That was the Hobgoblin's Hat years. The guys were both really handsome, tons of girls used to come to our shows, I thought they were my fans lol. We played together only a couple years, but it was a very fun psyche folk band, we never practiced though, and we'd learn new songs during sound checks. There's YouTube's out there! I had just gotten out of a long unhappy marriage, the title song Hopey is actually about leaving. I met somebody new, and he liked Townes Van Zandt, so I was listening to a lot of that, but I had tons of poetry that I had written, and older songs that came out afterwards.
2010 and 2013 saw the release of “Hobgoblin’s Hat” and “Mumblin’ Sue”. Can you tell me about these projects, and how you wanted to approach them? When and where did recording begin for these albums and what was the overall experience like for you to bring these to life?
Hobgoblin's hat had a lot of the poetry I had been working on prior to Hopey. It's more true to myself, and the vision I had for my music. I like Folk that dips into psychedelic, and I was with my band The Land of Nod during that time period. Myles had free range to do whatever he wanted as far as production on that album. After Hobgoblins Hat came out, I started working with my first label, Woodland Recordings. They were into lo-fi, field recordings, and asked for no production. I put out Winter Island, and followed up the next year with The Summer Place. My second label JellyFant Schallplatten put them both on a single vinyl release. Having a vinyl record on a foreign label was one of the biggest thrills of my life! I began touring regularly in Europe. Mumblin Sue was the only record I cut in a commercial studio, lo fi was working for me, and I started experimenting with open tunings, and playing steel string guitar instead of nylon. It's the most Americana album I think, but it's still nice, and weird. I worked with the artist William Schaff for the artwork on the cover, and a local label called 75 Or Less for the CDs. German label JellyFant put it out on vinyl.
I first heard of your work with 2016’s “TSTSS”. How much has your writing and overall approach to your craft changed since first starting out on this journey? I would like to jump ahead to your most recent work with 2022’s release of “Unfortunately Spring” with Jeff Gallagher on Folk Archive Records. Can you tell me about this project?
Cosirecords Schallplatten released The Song the Songbird Sings, after JellyFant folded. The label was actually created by former punk rocker Cosima Liwa to put out that record. They've had several other artists join on since. Having the support of a label dedicated to releasing beautiful music, and who believes in me, has allowed me to spread my wings. They now have a sublabel called Gruselthon run by her husband Mario, and he's been encouraging for my folk horror themed music. I love horror, and it's the main genre that I like to watch, and read. My music has always had a little supernatural elements to it, and now I can explore that further. I had just released Lost Children on Gruselthon in 2021, which was a collection of home recorded demos. Jeff, and I know each other from doing shows at Mystery Train in western Mass, I write a lot of music that doesn't end up on one of my widely released records, so I was happy to collaborate by giving him a few of my more homemade, experimental pieces. Just some things I had to get off my chest at the time.
What have you been up to as of recently? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Gruselthon is releasing my new record Witch's Hand on July 14! It's a collaboration between myself, and german doom metal Mother Bear. It's folk horror, with doses of doom metal. It was so much fun to make, and I cannot wait for everyone to hear it!
