The current wave of bedroom pop would probably look a lot different without the influence of Owen Ashworth, who’s been consistently putting out music since the late ’90s (first as Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, now as Advance Base) and also releasing so many other great artists’ records on his label Orindal Records. For just a small sample of his impact, see Dear Life Records’ 2022 tribute album You Were Alone: An Owen Ashworth Almanac, which features covers of Owen’s music by MJ Lenderman & Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman, Pedro the Lion, Dear Nora, Friendship, Bedbug, and more. Owen’s first (non-covers) album in six years, Horrible Occurrences, is out today on Run For Cover, and it’s a home-recorded concept album that takes place in a fictional town called Richmond, which Owen describes as “just this place where all the bad memories live.” It’s a bare-bones album, with just Owen’s hushed voice and vivid, descriptive lyricism atop electronic pianos and synths–sort of a keyboard-driven homage to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, which Owen says partially inspired his decision to record this album on his own, without any guests. Though the town it takes place in is fictional, the emotions within Horrible Occurrences are real. “My songs are always pretty therapeutic for me,” Owen says, “but I had more of my own mental health stuff that I was wrestling with this time. Working through these songs was helpful.”
Along with the release, Owen has made us a list of music that influenced the album, including the aforementioned Nebraska, as well as Arthur Russell’s World of Echo, John Carpenter’s Halloween, blues legends Mississippi John Hurt and Washington Phillips, electronic music pioneer Ruth White, Owen’s recent collaborators Dan Wriggins (of Friendship) and Karima Walker, and a couple non-music items. Owen had a lot to say about how all of this tied into the making of the album–read on to see what he said about each one.
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10 Influences on Advance Base’s Horrible Occurrences
by Owen Ashworth
Washington Phillips – “I Had A Good Father and Mother” (1929)
Washington Phillips has been a big influence on the way I make music since the beginning of Advance Base. His instrumental arrangements are so pretty, they just kill me. Phillips only recorded a handful of 78s in the 1920s & 1930s & not much is known about the zither-like instrument(s) he played. The mystery is part of the wonder of his music. I arranged some of his compositions for electric piano & autoharp for an EP of covers I released in 2013 called The World Is In A Bad Fix Everywhere. I had Washington Phillips in mind when I came up with the Wurltizer piano phrase that repeats through Horrible Occurrences‘ first song, “The Year I Lived in Richmond,” and the wordless vocalizations he does on “I Had a Good Father and Mother” were the direct inspiration for my “hoo-woo-ooo”s. Friends have commented that my howling imitation sounds more Bruce Springsteen. I don’t think they’re wrong but Washington Phillips was what I was going for there.
John Carpenter – Halloween (1978)
Halloween was the other big influence on “The Year I Lived in Richmond.” I’ve watched Halloween pretty much annually since I was a teenager. I love the lore, I love the dreamy atmosphere, I love the music. “The Year I Lived in Richmond”‘s hero, Deborah Lee Hill, was named after both Halloween’s co-writer & producer, Debra Hill, & the movie’s star, Jamie Lee Curtis. Carpenter’s original score informed the creepy synth that comes in after “The Year I Lived in Richmond”‘s first verse. Carpenter & Hill’s made-up location of Haddonfield, Illinois was an inspiration for Richmond, the nowhere town where most of Horrible Occurrences takes place.
Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska (1982)
My decision to record Horrible Occurrences on my own without any guest musicians was inspired in part by the solitude of Nebraska. I play keyboards, not guitar, so recording a bunch of those Horrible Occurrences songs with just solo electric piano and vocals felt like my version of “acoustic.” The way the lyrics of my song “Big Chris Electric” unfold feels especially Springsteen-y to me. With the spare, hypnotic nature of Nebraska‘s instrumental arrangements & Bruce’s voice right up front, the stories on that album just suck you right in. Nebraska is a classic road trip album for me, & I wanted Horrible Occurrences to feel like a reliable traveling companion in the same kind of way.
Arthur Russell – World of Echo (1986)
World of Echo is another all-time favorite album of mine. There is an intimacy to that album that is both playful & devastatingly lonely. I thought about both Nebraska and World of Echo a lot as I was figuring out the production & arrangements for the sparer songs on Horrible Occurrences. I didn’t go nearly as heavy on the echo effects as Arthur Russell did, but I hope Horrible Occurrences similarly feels like a world of its own.
Mississippi John Hurt – “Goodnight Irene” (1966)
“Rene Goodnight” is a direct reference to the Leadbelly song “Goodnight Irene” (also known as “Irene Goodnight”) but it was Mississippi John Hurt’s version that I took my inspiration from. I’m a big fan of Hurt’s laid back, melodic fingerpicking & extra gentle vocal style.
Peter Weir – Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
My song “Little Sable Point Lighthouse” was inspired by Peter Weir’s Australian historical fiction mystery film, Picnic at Hanging Rock, although I didn’t realize it right away. I love that movie for its willingness to embrace ambiguity & the way it depicts a community’s reckoning with grief & unanswered questions in the wake of a tragedy. There’s an eeriness to the story that has stuck with me over the years, but it wasn’t until I’d recorded a demo version of my lighthouse song that I recognized its similarity to the movie. The realization inspired me to read the 1967 Joan Lindsay novel that Peter Weir’s film was based on, & reading that beautiful book inspired me to write “Andrew & Meagan,” which is a sort of sequel to “Little Sable Point Lighthouse.”
Ruth White – Flowers of Evil (1969)
Another favorite album of mine, Flowers of Evil‘s influence can be heard on the synthesizer arrangements on Horrible Occurrences‘ second half. White’s Moog experiments on Flowers of Evil are an especially nightmarish kind of psychedelia. I love those devilish sounds, they’re a thrill to listen to. I also love White’s deliberate pronunciation and weird vocal production on Flowers of Evil. So menacing. What a voice. What an incredible sounding album.
Karima Walker – live sets (2024)
I toured with Karima through the Southwestern US and up the Pacific coast last May, a month or so before my final recording sessions for Horrible Occurrences. Karima is a good friend and we’d toured together many times before. Often, she’d played in the dark underneath projections of her video art, making accompanying ambient soundscapes with tapes & vocal loops in addition to her more traditional “song” songs. I feel a special connection to Karima’s approach to music, especially the way she combines folk-based songwriting with electronic textures in her solo performances. Before we met in New Mexico at the start of our tour, Karima had told me that she wanted to try something different for these shows. She was debuting a bunch of brand new, unrecorded songs with just classical guitar accompaniment. I was so moved by the vulnerability and simplicity of this new approach. Her melodies and lyrics were right out front, stripping away the atmospheric elements, and the songs were gorgeous and heartbreaking in their acoustic simplicity. Over the course of the tour, I found myself scaling down my own arrangements to match the energy of Karima’s sets. Karima encouraged me to lean into simplicity and trust my electric piano and vocals to carry the songs. Her good advice and the sterling example of her new performance mode gave me confidence, and Horrible Occurrences is a better album for it.
Dan Wriggins – live sets (2024)
Dan joined and Karima and me for two shows in British Columbia before we said goodbye to Karima and continued East for another week of shows across Canada. Dan leads Friendship, one of my favorite rock bands going, but his solo shows have a similarly stripped down approach to what Karima was doing on our west coast tour. Dan has a powerful voice and his lyrics are full of sharp imagery and relatable scenarios. I loved hearing his new songs and I can feel their influence on the last few songs I wrote and recorded for Horrible Occurrences. Those Canadian shows we played together were invigorating, both reinforcing Karima’s lessons and encouraging me to push my voice and words in different directions.
Model Train & Miniature Museums
I did a lot of touring & traveling around in 2024 & I ended up visiting a lot of model train & miniature museums across the US & Canada. I even got Karima & Dan to visit Miniature World in Victoria, BC with me. I don’t have any special feelings about trains but I’m entranced by small-scale representations of towns and communities. Getting that kind of bird’s eye view of a place absolutely delights me & gets my imagination going. As I was thinking my way through the imaginary town of Richmond where most of Horrible Occurrences takes place, I found I was picturing it in miniature. Tiny streets lined with apartment buildings, bars, supermarkets, liquor stores… those were the places where my stories were happening. I made my mental maps of Richmond in miniature. Maybe someday, if I ever win the lottery, I’ll commission a model train-sized version of Richmond & open my own really cool museum.
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Advance Base — 2024/2025 Tour Dates
12/06 Louisville, KY @ Surface Noise (w/ Clay Cole)
12/07 Lexington, KY @ Green Lantern (w/ Clay Cole & Ryan Davis)
12/08 Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr (w/ Kyle Hamlett Uno & The Company Car)
12/09 Chattanooga, TN @ Woodshop
12/10 Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light (w/ Super Bachelor)
12/11 Asheville, NC @ Static Age (w/ Colin Miller & Corey Parlamento)
12/12 Greensboro, NC @ Etc. (w/ Kill the Buddha & Sluice (solo))
12/13 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 (w/ Attic Friend & Megabitch)
12/20 Chicago, IL @ Color Club Ballroom (w/ Karima Walker)
01/14 Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone (w/ Pas Moi & Ben Ricketts + JVLIX)
01/15 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia (w/ Little Mazarn)
01/16 Houston, TX @ The End (w/ Little Mazarn & Trevor Reichman)
01/17 Lockhart, TX @ Lockhart Arts & Crafts (w/ Little Mazarn & Batty Jr)
01/18 Austin, TX @ Ballroom (w/ Little Mazarn & palefire)
01/21 Denton, TX @ Andy’s Bar (w/ Little Mazarn)
01/22 Tulsa, OK @ The Whittier (w/ Little Mazarn & Kalyn Fay)
01/23 Fayetteville, AR @ Pearl’s Books (w/ Little Mazarn)
01/24 Kansas City, MO @ Farewell Cafe (w/ Little Mazarn)
01/25 St Louis, MO @ Chill Dawg Cove (w/ Little Mazarn)