Connecticut College Culture Music Tufts

Interview with ‘Cac band Take Care

Take Care consists of brothers Kyle Joseph (Conn ’11) and Dan Joseph (Tufts ’14) and friend Dan Phelan. January 12th marked the release of their album Somewhere Safe.  In 2010 the demo to this album was listed in indierockcafe.com’s “Best New Releases” of Fall 2010 alongside Sufjan Stevens and Belle and Sebastian.

The ‘Cac: How long have you been together as Take Care?
KJ: We’ve been together for two and a half years now, though it feels like much longer than that. We played a benefit show together in the spring of ’08 but it was just covers; we weren’t a band yet. We became a band in a somewhat backwards fashion. We were offered free studio time from a friend and we spent a semester putting together material for an EP to record during this studio time. We’ve been making noise together ever since.

The ‘Cac: Is there a story behind the name?
KJ: We wanted something that sounded good and was easy to remember. A band’s name doesn’t hold any real meaning on its own. When you think of The Rolling Stones, you don’t picture stones rolling down a hill, you feel their music when you hear their name. So the choice is sort of arbitrary aside from the sonic value of the words and making sure it’s easy to remember. The name will get its meaning from the music.

The ‘Cac: How would you characterize the music scenes at your respective schools?
KJ: Conn has a strong non-academic music scene. The Barn on campus allows bands to have a place to rehearse whenever they want, which in turn allows a ton of campus bands to form all the time. I would call the scene informal but awesome. There isn’t as much involvement in the music department’s events as I would like, but there is definitely a following for the non-academic scene.

The ‘Cac: Have you had any memorable ‘Cac performances?
KJ: We played Conn last December and had an absolute blast. The Show was in Cro’s nest (upstairs concert space in the student center) and we decked it out with these lighting structures that we build out of PVC pipe, chicken wire, bed sheets, and colored Christmas lights. I have a vivid memory from the show of everyone in the crowd singing and jumping around in true animal-like fashion at the climax of our song Halfway House. Definitely one of my favorite mental snapshots.

The ‘Cac: Which artists inspire you most?
KJ: Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, The Strokes, Bon Iver, and LCD Soundsystem.
DJ: Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, John Coltrane, Bon Iver, Wilco, and Fleet Foxes.

The ‘Cac: What are your goals as a group, will you continue to make music after college?
KJ: We certainly plan on it. We would like nothing more than to be able to make music for the rest of our lives. It’s hard to do the independent musician thing while also paying bills, but it is definitely doable. Our friends and fellow Conn band Shake the Baron are doing it right now, and they seem to be making it work just fine. I don’t think I could be happy if we didn’t do everything in our power to make this work.

The ‘Cac: Is there a central theme or inspiration behind your new album Somewhere Safe?
KJ: Somewhere Safe is an album about the past two years of our lives. There were many events in our lives that inspired songs on the album, ranging from the death of a loved one, to a conversation with a stranger on the subway. The album is our attempt to create something that houses all the trials, emotions, and experiences we’ve had in the past two years, while also becoming more than just the sum of these things. We hope it has a life of its own.

The ‘Cac: In your opinion, which is the best song(either one of yours, or in general) to:

Shower to
KJ: Someday –The Strokes
DJ:  I want Someone Badly – Jeff Buckley

Group shower to
KJ: Don’t Stop me now – Queen
DJ: Ain’t no mountain high enough – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Fall asleep to
KJ: I can’t sleep to music
DJ: Me neither

Cook dinner to
KJ: Dance Yrself Clean –LCD Soundsystem
DJ:  Pot Kettle Black — Wilco

Fall in love to
KJ: Blindsided –Bon Iver
DJ: Sunday Kind of Love –Etta James

Follow the band on Twitter @takecaremusic and hit up their website takecaremusic.com for downloads, or listen to the following singles by clicking on these links:
Lockjaw
Orphan 

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