Music was always going to be a part of Casey Harris’ life; but making a career out of it was a combination of both luck and hard work. Founding member of the alt-rock group X-Ambassadors, Harris works with his brother, Sam as lead vocalist, as well as drummer Adam Levin. Together, they’ve released three albums since 2015, as well as a number of individual releases.
For five or six years before the band began, Harris worked as a piano tuner in Ithaca, New York. When his brother needed a pianist for his band, Harris joined, and X Ambassadors was formed.
Their latest album, “The Beautiful Liar,” was released in September 2021, and was inspired largely by the audio dramas the brothers listened to when they were younger. Harris took a memory of a genre he loved and used it as an analogy for an album structure, intercutting songs with short, dramatized audio segments. The album also has a companion podcast, which tells the coming-of-age story of a blind girl becoming a superhero.
Harris himself is blind, and his experiences growing up had an impact on his songwriting. The band’s most well-known hit, “Renegades,” (which currently has more than 500 million streams on Spotify) was written as a love letter to those who feel like outsiders, as Harris did for much of his life.
“The Beautiful Liar” also wrestles with one’s shadow self, a concept pioneered by Carl Jung. Sam Harris also admits that the motif is likely a reflection of how he feels in regard to his blind older brother – a presence that constantly hovers nearby and is potentially overbearing.
Incubation and taking time away from creation is an integral part of Harris, and the rest of the band’s, songwriting process. “Especially when it comes to music, I think spending some time with your nose not to the grindstone somehow results in more creative, more inspired material.”
When discussing his feelings on getting back to music after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris hints towards an intrinsic motivation for his art, saying that, “it's really, really been nice to rehearse and play music together again. I've forgotten how much I love doing that.” He also views music as a form of escapism, saying, “When you're feeling trapped, claustrophobic, like the world is a dangerous, threatening place, at least you can go write music, go play music, and it makes you feel at least somewhat better.”
https://www.grammy.com/news/x-ambassadors-keyboardist-casey-harris-new-album-the-beautiful-liar-accessibility-interview
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/casey-harris-blind-x-ambassadors-keyboard-player-on-wanting-to-be-an-ambassador-for-disabled-musicians-a6887901.html
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-09-24/x-ambassadors-push-boundaries-with-new-multimedia-project
I find it interesting how this creative turned something that could be seen as a disadvantage (blindness) to an advantage with his creativity. Great article!
ReplyDeleteSo much relatable content here! 😀
ReplyDeleteNice way to personalize the article, and solid connections to class material.
Also the part about "The Beautiful Liar" being personal to Casey's brother 🤧🤧