The Happy Casualties were formed in Venice California in early 2006 after drummer, Ryan Blandford met singer/guitarist Stephen Sigl at a new year’s eve party. Ryan came from a hard-core metal background, whereas Stephen was more influenced by late nineties indie rock. In their nearly twenty-year career, the band has seen significant line-up changes, as well as varied approaches to their song craft and style. 2023’s Of Floods, Droughts and Other Ravages Visited Upon the Earth marks their ninth album release and encapsulates the many styles and genres they have experimented with up to this point.

The Happy Casualties formed shortly after you and Ryan Blandford met at New Year’s Eve party. Do you remember anything about that party? What made you think Ryan would be a good bandmate?

So, the New Year’s party was at my apartment building and we had a drum set on a riser in our living room and Ryan commented on that. My bass player was my roommate at the time and we were always on the lookout for a drummer, so just the fact that Ryan was asking about the kit and interested was a good sign. I don’t know if I thought he would be a good band mate when I met him but he seemed interested which was cool. I distinctly remember that night because I had quit drinking a few months before and was very focused. Everyone in the building was getting along at that time too, so there was a kind of optimism about that moment in time.

Ryan came from a hardcore metal background while your interests were more in line with late nineties indie rock. Did you share any musical touchstones?

Ryan’s interesting because I think he approaches music from the ensemble approach or from how the production sounds. I tend to look at the mechanics of the songwriting and then hope the playing/production will be decent. He and I both like heavy music but I think you would find him listening to the Grateful Dead just as much as I listen to black metal. I don’t think I write metal type songs because I’m better at indie rock. But we don’t limit ourselves; we will try to work in any genre that we are drawn towards.

How did you negotiate a sound that you could both agree on? What was the common ground?

I don’t know if we ever negotiated a sound… I just wrote the songs and we played them together. All the times he was frustrated and quit the band had to do with the playing or singing not living up to his expectations. Sometimes there were personal issues at play too.

That was nearly twenty years ago, right? How have the two of you changed since then?

Yeah, because like I said, I probably listen to more heavy music than he does, nowadays. But I think the difference has to do with us being more tolerant of each other’s idiosyncrasies and looking at our differences as being complementary in the greater scheme of things. Having churned out a few albums together lends stability to the process that we didn’t have 15 years ago 

Along similar lines, how has the band changed? What have different iterations looked and sounded like?

The band has changed drastically over the last twenty years. I couldn’t even list all the past members if I wanted to. One thing I’ll say though, is that there was a time, like in 2013 (I think) where we had a keyboardist who was constantly playing like Bruce Hornsby and I thought that was kind of cool, so we worked up all these Bruce Hornsby type songs. Then that guy quit and those songs never got tracked. What I’m trying to say is that people who come into the band can radically change the direction. But I like that. I want things to be new and unexpected. 

How have you kept going? What has motivated you to stick with The Happy Casualties through the years?

I think you get to a point where you realize that you mortgaged whatever future you were going to have as an “adult” and that you have no other choice but to see things through to the end. I always think in terms of song titles and albums, so as long as I have a concept of the album that I need to create I can drive myself towards that. My only worry, I guess, would be running out of ideas.

Your first album, Too Much Joy Turns Back the Fingernails, came out in 2007. How has music changed since then? I’m thinking both about the industry in broad terms but also recording. 

I don’t think there have been really significant changes in the recording technology since Too Much Joy… its all protools, right? I think what’s happened is that you can create more and get it into the marketplace via Distrokid, or whatever, but the public is more indifferent because people are more geared towards “content” and novelty now than they were twenty years ago. I’m not above this critique myself, I’m just pointing it out.

And your most recent album came out last year—Of Floods, Droughts, and Other Ravages Visited Upon the Earth. How would you describe that one?

I would describe Of Floods, Droughts… as Americana. There were a few things I was trying to do there, which I think kinda worked out: incorporating classical music, which we did on Total Ocean Sermon and Where my Heart Belongs, was one of those goals. Incorporating other songwriters like my cousin Brian and friend John was another. I wanted to get kind of a White Album feel of variation. The only place it fell short was that I wanted to get out of California thematically, and it didn’t really… Brian got it into other places because he’s better at writing straight fiction. My stuff was too tied to my own experiences, and hence stayed mostly in California. 

Looking at those two albums, how has your approach to making music in terms of both writing and recording evolved?

The two albums we’re working on now are heavily conceptual. One of them was recorded by Jack Livoni and its honing in on this Happy Days simulacrum of 1950s America. The other one we recorded with our usual producer, Matt Lynch, and it’s kind of just a straight-up rock record. Tim Kelly from Kicking Harold mixed one of the tracks and it sounds killer. We’re going to try to get him to mix about four more of the tunes on that album, so we’re excited about that.

What’s next for you?

Basically, I want to get these two albums finished and out, hopefully in 2025. I hope we can do more press and play more shows and get some tee shirts made. Anything to get the band out there and create an engaged fanbase.