Ed Castelow: Freak released

Ed Castelow's new album is an enthusiastic effort comprising jangly, raucous 60s-ish vocal harmonies and grand synthesiser riffs.

Ed Castelow says putting out a new album is like opening yourself up for the judgment of others; in other words, a bit like turning up on mufti day at intermediate school.

Ah, mufti days, weren't they such a rare treat as a 12-year-old? An opportunity to express your inner self in a physical way, and feel like you were making a statement about your tastes, whether that was a love of lime green, corduroy jackets, or cargo pants. For Auckland-based musician Ed Castelow, who goes under the moniker Dictaphone Blues, releasing an album feels like a similar experience.

"Back when I was growing up in small-town Ashburton, for me mufti day was always really exciting. You had to wear your boring uniform every other day, and there was always a little bit of trepidation with mufti day. You'd lay out what you were going to wear the night before, maybe you even had a couple of options, and you'd have your new Bata Bullets shoes or whatever. So there would be all this excitement and trepidation: 'are my friends going to like me as much now that I'm letting my freak flag fly a bit?'

"And that's kind of like putting out an album as well. You're letting a little bit of your inside show, whether that's as an 11-year-old getting dressed for mufti day in what they think is an awesome outfit, or a fully grown man releasing an album of songs that he thinks are really cool."

Hence Mufti Day became the title of Dictaphone Blues' third album, a colourful, eclectic, often humorous statement, of which the sartorial equivalent might be a brightly patterned blazer, contrasting shirt, comedic tie or brooch, aviator sunnies, and some shorts - with Bata Bullets of course.

"I just thought it sounded really vibrant, and like an album that I would want to listen to. The song titles adhere to that as well. I wanted to write better lyrics, and better song titles, because you should hear a song title and go 'I want to hear that song!'"

Recorded to tape, Castelow did everything himself over the course of a year at The Lab studios in Auckland, and came up with an irrepressible album. Melodic, jangly, raucous, rocking, full of glorious 60s-ish vocal harmonies, and grand synthesiser riffs, it feels like Dictaphone Blues has created a Kiwi classic.

Edward Castelow aka Dictaphone Blues. Photo / Reuben Bonner

"I didn't want to do a downer," he laughs. "No, there are a couple of serious tracks on there, some serious sentiment, but I love humour. I'm a big comedy fan - Fry and Laurie, and Monty Python, all of that kind of palaver. I think this time around, I really wanted to make sure the lyrics were really good, and I really wanted to have lyrics that sounded like the things I say. When I talk to people I might use certain terms of phrase, or I might inhabit a certain personality or something, and I wanted that to come through on the record, instead of it all being about something that just sounded cool."

He also cast further afield for lyrical inspiration this time, using not just personal experience as a basis, but stories from friends, and imaginative exaggerations.

"I felt like I freed myself a bit with my writing this time, letting myself make things up, and it didn't all have to be personal experience. And it was also about not having an album that was all about doom and gloom, or heartbreak, because that wasn't something I wanted to hear."

Instead, songs are about all manner of odd social phenomena.

"Lance's Tape is about a pornographic video tape that used to do the rounds at Logan Park High School in Dunedin back in the day. I got told this story by someone who went to school there, that came out of a really silly conversation about the days before the internet, and then it got morphed into the song.

"And The Great Girlfriend Ignorer came out of something that a platonic female friend of mine actually told me. We were talking about someone, and she went, 'Oh he's a girlfriend ignorer'. So this guy would talk to my friend's boyfriend, but whenever she came along, he would ignore her, and direct all the conversation at the guy. It just sounded like a funny idea to me, so I exaggerated it, I made him the Great Girlfriend Ignorer, you know, like he has a reputation, and then I got to thinking about why he would ignore her, and went, maybe it's because he really likes her, and that's why he can't bring himself to talk to her."

There's an entertaining video for early single Her Heart Breaks Like A Wave, which features an epic international bodysurfing competition between an Australian and a Kiwi, and another one due out soon for Cryptic Lipstick, which features Castelow dressed as a woman, hosting a cooking show. He seems to have taken a no-holds-barred approach to releasing Mufti Day, and it's paying off.

Dictaphone Blues' video for Her Heart Breaks Like A Wave:

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"I'm not here to stand on the sidelines. You don't want to be sitting around watching other people doing something creative, and thinking, 'I could've done that'. I want to be having the fun. So when opportunities arise, and we're going, 'Okay, we need to make a creative video', we're going, 'Right, what do we really like, what do we think will be funny, what would entertain us? Ah ha, of course, dressing up as a woman and putting on a cooking show, or a bodysurfing competition.'

"They're all a step up from anything I've tried to do in the past, because why not? I want to do these things, and who's to say we can't?"

Who: Ed Castelow aka Dictaphone Blues
What: New album, Mufti Day
Where and when: Friday, December 5, at Chicks Hotel, Port Chalmers, Dunedin; Saturday, December 6 at The Darkroom, Christchurch; Thursday, December 11 at Kings Arms Tavern, Auckland; Friday, December 12 at Cabana Bar, Napier; Saturday, December 13 at Meow, Wellington.

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