“Following my subconscious just leads me to believing that there is some part of this music that I need to exist, that is beyond my intellectual comprehension. It’s the most exciting and motivating force for me in making music.”
Owen Ashworth, the mind behind Advance Base’s brilliant soundscapes, imagined worlds, and DIY warmth, is one of those musicians whose work you keep close to your heart; in large part because it’s coming from his. Possessing a vast discography between Advance Base and the former Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Owen’s sincerity and devotion to DIY have led to an enshrined status among fans. Fortunately for everyone in Mid-Missouri and all attending True/False, he is playing Sunday afternoon at the Eastside Showcase.
A personal hero of mine, I stumbled into adoration at 13 when I first heard his then-newly released Animal Companions while doing my algebra homework. I immediately stopped what I was doing to have my dad come in and listen with me. What struck both of us that night, and has been consistently mentioned among fans in KCOU, is the power within his music to take you somewhere. The fruit of careful consideration, he uses real places as tools in articulating the narratives he weaves.
“It’s something I’ve always enjoyed in writing music growing up. Country music, in particular, is so tied to location. Listening to Willie Nelson growing up in my dad’s car, he would mention Texas all the time. I would imagine Texas in these songs, and the first time I went to Texas and listened to some of these songs, my imagination’s version made it really thrilling! Creedence Clearwater Revival is another band that I grew up listening to a lot; my parents had a Chronicle CD in the car. This town, Lodi, that they have a song about, was such a real place in my imagination. I think that was always the template for making a really effective song. It is so easy to tie a song into your own personal experience when there is a real place that you can go to that invokes the feeling of this work of fiction. It’s a way to make the song feel all the more real when there are physical, tangible details that you can go look at with your eyes.”
It would be a tremendous disservice to mention Owen without Orindal Records, the widely influential label he founded and operates. Supporting and working with many of KCOU’s favorite artists (please check out their incredible roster here), the Chicago-based label has been a major ally to a wide variety of remarkably talented musicians. Yet, this was not a vision Owen himself could have imagined when he was starting.
“It was all about finding people I can have community with. Most of the people involved are people I met on tour who feel like part of the network of truly supportive musicians I have encountered. I started putting out my own music, and I didn’t have any ambition to run a roster of other musicians. Once I built the infrastructure, I realized there was a channel through which I could help some friends of mine bring the records I really wanted to see to fruition. I just saw there was a need for a label like Orindal, and I drew on that. People I feel like I could personally vouch for.”
Testifying to this attitude, he maintains these friendships and connections even after their time with Orindal. On Wednesday’s successes (whose album It Bleeds ranked seventh among our top 25 albums of 2025) and their relocation to a different label, he was proud of a tremendous victory for his friends and the community. Towards the end of our call, he mentioned he was on the road in North Carolina, about to have lunch with Wednesday’s MJ Lenderman.
Upon asking for more details about an Instagram post about the production of Animal Companions, he told me about San Francisco-based producer Jason Cleaver, a friend from college, with whom he had “developed a close language around music.” That album was the first time he had received a “decent” budget for production, and he used it to fly out to San Francisco and work with his friend. Laughing, he said the only frustrating part of the process was that they both shared a genuine desire to engage with the others’ sound. “To be able to pay him his rate to go and work in his studio was a really gratifying feeling.”
Throughout his answers, music and the community it forms were a consistent theme, something he holds a near-spiritual relationship with following his departure from Christianity: “Outside of the church, there aren’t many places where people can come together and share an experience as vulnerable as a music show. There were aspects of that community that I admired, and I always wanted something similar outside of Christian doctrine. Music was a community that really appealed to me when I first started going to DIY shows; it was so locally driven and mutually beneficial to all involved. The performers, promoters, people who rent venues, and the people who come to be part of the audience are all working towards the common goal of creating this shared experience. It is just such a beautiful thing, lifting everyone. Music is one of those spaces where people can come together, respect one another, have empathy, and learn from one another. DIY music doesn’t feel so different to me from a platonic ideal of what a religious experience should be: people coming together for a cause greater than themselves to have a shared experience and learn from one another and truly look out for one another. It’s just so valuable. Especially right now.”
20 years ago today, Owen released his most popular album, Etiquette, under Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, which he says “opened up” his musical process. Reflecting on it, he shared the story of how, while working on a high-concept album, he was collecting these songs that didn’t quite fit the bill. Using different singers, and once he decided to move forward with these more experimental songs, he had a dream that made it all come together:
“The cover, the album, a bunch of the song titles all came from the dream, it became the blueprint for the album! It very much felt like an album from my subconscious, but opening it up and allowing collaboration was new territory; it was very exciting. That album felt like opening a door.”
Fortunately for us, he gave us a few words in anticipation of his show on March 8th at True/False film festival: “I just perform by myself, it’s electronic music, but it’s basically folk songs, they don’t sound terribly different from the records – and I sing (laughter). My set changes from night to night. I’ve been focusing on the last couple of records, as well as Etiquette, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. People have been asking about the songs a lot around the anniversary, and it’s been fun to revisit them.”
“The set I play each night is in conversation with the other musicians’ sounds. We have been playing a lot with local bands most nights, and it’s really fun to hear and meet new musicians night after night. I really love playing a set as part of a bigger show – seeing how my music can interact with the venue and audience. I just enjoy playing with all the variables. Spontaneous live performance is just so compelling, fun, and challenging.” As a reminder, you can witness this unfold this Sunday at the Eastside showcase from 1-4 pm. More information here! It is essential you attend…
P.S!!! Advance Base’s words of encouragement for College Radio: “College radio is such a beautiful platform; it’s really important! Terrestrial radio is the way I learned about so much of the music I love. In high school, there were some local community colleges with really great radio programming, and it was so valuable as a community bulletin board and as a way to know there were people in your community who care about really cool art and are excited to share it. Get involved, participate, support!”
