> > > Robert Joyner: What were your initial interactions > with Liz Phair? Did you meet her through Brad Wood or > were you familiar with her through others in the > Chicago music scene (John Henderson)? Casey Rice: I do think I first met her through John. She lived very close to where I did and I also saw her around the neighborhood from time to time. > > KenMLee: did Liz give you copies of GS to listen to > before entering the studio to record EIG? IF so, what > was the process of converting the girlysound sketches > to their final Exile form? An example: > Girls!Girls!Girls! from it's girly sound sprawl to the > more concise exile track? Casey Rice: I never had a Girly Sound tape. I do recall hearing it a little when we were discussing recording her first record though. I did hear a lot of her four track tapes of stuff she was writing, I guess that is Girly Sound technically speaking. > > > KenMLee: how involved were you in the recording > processes on EIG and WS? (Liz has stated many times it > was a highly collaborative process.) Casey Rice: We basically all sat around and thought about how to make the guitar and vocals versions of the songs into what we thought would be better ones. Listen to her four track versions of the tunes, and try to come up with ways of doing them as a 'band'. I do recall there being no lack of candor and if someone wanted to do something, we tried it. If it sucked, no one would hesitate to say so if they believed it. > > > Robert Joyner: Recording on whipsmart was divided > into two sessions, one in chicago and one in The > Bahamas. Was there something lacking in the Chicago > work that lead to the additional time in The Bahamas > or were just hating the Chicago Winter? Any > interesting studio tales from this era? Casey Rice: We had a lot of problems with distractions during the recording of the second record. The phone ringing, people dropping by the studio, and so on. Liz thought it would be good if we could get out of Chicago and go to New York to finish recording and mixing. I thought that was a bad idea as New York is probably the most expensive place in the world to travel to with the idea of making a record. We got some quotes from New York area studios and they were as I expected: very high. I decided to call Compass Point in that Bahamas on a whim. It turned out to be substantially cheaper than the places we were checking out in New York. We also really liked the idea of recording where so many records we knew so well were recorded. Back In Black by AC/DC just to name one! My highlight of going to Compass Point was meeting Terry Manning, who runs the place. He has recorded some fantastic records over the years and they all sound great to me. We got to take a peek inside the tape vault, it's quite a walk through history. There is a polaroid of me somewhere holding a 7" reel of 1/4" tape in a box marked on the outside with magic marker in someone's handwriting with the simple label "Feel". It's the tape used to make the single for the first Big Star LP. I was holding the actual tape of the mix of "Feel", a song I quite love. It felt quite special. Also, I played Terry's Fender Telecaster on "Jealousy", which he said Jimmy Page used on Led Zeppelin III a bit. I played through amps used to record the first few ZZ Top records too. I love those first few records of theirs. > > Robert Joyner: Whipsmart was quite a departure from > Guyville, a much more rhythmic album with lusher sound > scapes. Some of your creative efforts, like the bit > of "When the Levee Breaks" and some inspired > percussion work on title track, really stand out. If > you could elaborate a bit on some of the creative > decisions that shaped the sound of that album. Casey Rice: I don't think the process was that much different than the first one, just sitting around talking and recording. I think what did differ, however, were the decisions made about how to mix the record. I felt like the others were second guessing who this new Liz Phair audience might be (since the first LP had sold quite a bit), and trying to tailor the sound to meet expectations. I thought we should have just carried on with the way the first one sounded, but I think there was some push to somehow "improve" things. There are not a lot of specific things other than that, that I can recall. Oh yeah, my arm being very tired from swinging a mic round and round for "Nashville". > > Robert Joyner: We know about the tracks that made it > onto the final records , but were there any out-takes > or additional tracks from the Guyville and Whipsmart > sessions that were never released? The studio version > of Six Dick Pimp is belived to be such a track. Casey Rice: Yeah there are outtakes but they are all unfinished songs, I recall seeing a DAT tape of them at the studio some years later. I think some of them ended up on subsequent albums, but I haven't really paid a great deal of attention in subsequent years to her creative output. I gave all her records a listen at various points but don't really know them very well. > > > > > > KenMLee: what are your recollections of touring with > Liz? Brad relayed the story about the near fracas > with Oasis when you played Manchester UK, and the gig > in NYC the day everyone found out that Cobain passed > away, any other interesting stories? How was it as a > fellow band member dealing with Liz's stagefright? Casey Rice: Yeah the Oasis guys were real jerks, along with all their hooligan mates. Can't really recall any wildness or anything, we were all quite tame...no "rock 'n' roll debauchery" or anything. We just played shows and rode around in vans a lot. We didn't get anyone to help with driving or guitar tuning or anythign like that til after we had done a few tours. We were just like any other band touring in a van. > > Robert Joyner: Your producing/engineerig work with > Brad Wood has received much acclaim. What was the > working relationship like between the two of you? Did > one have particular strengths that muched up well with > the other that helped produce such highly regarded > output? Casey Rice: Actually those two records I think are the only projects I ever worked on with Brad. Those and maybe the first Sea And Cake record. > > Jeremy Engle: Having observed her in both the studio > and on stage, what did you think of Liz's > often-ignored guitar playing? Casey Rice: I think she has a very unique style and does some interesting things. She has a tendency to write things that are misleadingly simple sounding but actually quite hard to get your head around when it comes time to actually play them yourself. > > > KenMLee: would you ever consider working with Liz > again? Casey Rice: It seems highly unlikely. Never say never though, I suppose.