Advance Base

About
Advance Base is the story-song synth-pop project of Chicago, IL singer/songwriter Owen Ashworth (formerly of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone). Using a two-handed arsenal of electric piano, Omnichord, samplers, effect pedals & drum machines, Ashworth builds minimalist, heavy-hearted, & nostalgia-obsessed ballads around his conversational baritone. The warm, electronic sound of Advance Base has been described as "lo-fi," "depressed" & "weirdly uplifting."
Animal Companionship, the third & most recent "studio" album by Advance Base, was released September 21, 2018 by Run For Cover Records / Orindal Records. GoldFlakePaint & Various Small Flames both listed Animal Companionship among their favorite albums of 2018. Since then, Advance Base has released Wall of Tears & Other-Songs I Didn't Write, a home-recorded collection of (mostly) country/Americana covers arranged for electronic instruments & Live at Home, a collection of mid-quarantine livestream concert performances & the closest representation of an Advance Base live set commercially available. A new single titled ”Little Sable Point Lighthouse” was released on March 31, 2022.
“It’s with no exaggeration we describe Owen Ashworth as one of the most consistent and important songwriters in contemporary indie music. From the earliest Casiotone For the Painfully Alone demos to most recent Advance Base single ‘Little Sable Point Lighthouse‘, Owen has crafted a catalogue of characters and circumstances with few rivals in the modern era. His is an ever evolving body of work which stands out in its deftness and humility and empathy and care, bringing to life individuals from across the spectrum of human experience while remaining unerringly attuned to the tender, fallible heart at the centre of each.” - Various Small Flames
"A Raymond Carver short story collection set to music by a Joan of Arc-era OMD" - MOJO Magazine
Products (View All)
Links
- Official website
- Bandcamp
- Soundcloud
- Advance Base on the Run For Cover Records site
- Jessica Hopper interviews Owen Ashworth for the Chicago Tribune
- Library Journal Interview
- AV Club interview
- AV Club Interview (2)
- Impose Magazine review of "Pamela"
- Leor Galil Interviews Owen Ashworth for the Chicago Reader
- Spin review of Nephew in the Wild
- Rick Moody interviews Owen Ashworth for The Rumpus
- PopMatters names Nephew in the Wild their #1 Indie Pop album of 2015
- Portland Mercury Feature
- Advance Base performs "Same Dream" for LIVE In The Great Northwesty
- Stereogum interview & "True Love Death Dream" premiere
- Consequence of Sound premieres "Your Dog" with an essay by Owen Ashworth
- Talkhouse premieres "Christmas in Nightmare City" video with an essay by Owen Ashworth
- Various Small Flames reviews Animal Companionship
- Ryan Ruple's Musico Curio podcast reviews Animal Companionship
- Owen Ashworth & Rick Moody write pet haikus for The Rumpus
- Ashley Naftule interviews Owen Ashworth for Medium
- GoldFlakePaint names Animal Companionship one of their favorite albums of 2018
- Various Small Flames names Animal Companionship one of their favorite albums of 2018
- Balloon Machine interview
- Owen Ashworth writes a personal essay about the The Magnetic Fields' influence for The Line of Best Fit
- Various Small Flames interview
- GoldFlakePaint premieres "Rabbits" music video
- Brooklyn Vegan premieres "Sweet Old World" (Lucinda Williams cover)
- Various Small Flames reviews Wall of Tears & Other Songs I Didn't Write