Over a year ago Stephanie Casey pulled up stakes and made the move
from Los Angeles to Portland. In doing so she bid farewell to a career
in cinema as a film editor (Freaky Friday and The Wedding
Planner, among others) for a chance to relocate here and create
music fulltime. True to her plan, Casey donned the moniker of Fall of
Snow and just self-released Right, a debut full-length in which
her fragile voice rattles about a bare-bones instrumental structure,
and her songs shimmer within their intimate and barren setup. Casey
took a moment to discuss her massive upcoming tour and the thrill of
working on The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
Six weeks is a long time to be on the road. Is this the biggest
tour you’ve been on?
It is the longest tour for me, so far. I’ve only done about
two-and-a-half weeks in one stretch before. The length of the tour
doesn’t seem that daunting to me at all. There are more opportunities
for a lot of great shows, new people to meet, and new bands to hear
(the best part!). I really enjoy the thrill, adventure, and inspiration
of experiencing a new place every day.
Is it just you, or are there backing musicians along for the
ride?
It is just me. My friend Aimee is coming along for company, to help
drive, sell merch, etc. When I set out to record this album, I
wanted it to be very close to my live sound. So when you see my live
show, it isn’t missing a bunch of parts from what you hear on the
recording. With the exception of harmonies and a couple sounds here and
there, everything you hear on the record you will hear live.
As someone who is relatively new to performing music, do you find
that it’s something you’re constantly learning along the way?
Oh yes! This has been a constant journey of learning and trying new
things. I think any active musician would say that, even if they are
trained and have been touring for 20 years. You can give 10 different
musicians the exact same equipment to play and you will get back 10
different sounds. I spent hours and hours and hours researching the
bands I’m playing with on this tour, and I can’t wait to meet them and
hear them all play. There is so much fantastic music out there. It’s
exciting!
While creating music must be a great feeling, how does it compare
to editing the cinematic classic, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal
Engagement?
Well Princess Diaries 2 was a unique experience, from an
editing perspective. In general, with all the other movies I worked on,
there can be a 200-plus person crew, which is a lot of different input,
and we’re talking about an industry whose primary goal is to make box
office numbers on opening weekend. Oftentimes, even if a writer or
director set out to make a movie that has an emotional impact or has
something to say, it generally is lost or incredibly watered down by
the time it makes it to the public. I think it is totally possible to
make good movies that also make good money. But that isn’t how
Hollywood operates. So I bailed.
Fall of Snow perform Friday, October 19 at Satyricon.