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."
Horrible Occurrences is the title of the forthcoming Advance Base album (out December 6, 2024 on Run For Cover / Orindal Records), and there is truth in advertising. In these songs—all centered around a fictional town called Richmond and featuring an interlinked cast of characters—you will hear stories of death and disappearance, climactic confrontations and unsolved mysteries. “Richmond is just this place where all the bad memories live,” Ashworth says with a laugh, and nearly 30 years into his songwriting career, none of his records have packed quite the emotional intensity of this one. And yet something alchemical happens in the telling of these tales. Like a masterful short story collection, Horrible Occurrences is inspiring and alive, idiosyncratic and electric, pulling you closer with each word.
“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
- 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
- Alex Robert Ross on Owen Ashworth's Christmas songs
- Various Small Flames interview
- GoldFlakePaint premieres "Rabbits" music video
- Various Small Flames reviews Wall of Tears & Other Songs I Didn't Write
- Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions interview
- JPR Live (Ashland, OR public radio) interview & live session
- Last Donut of the Night interview
- Three Six Five reviews "The Year I Lived in Richmond"
- The Fader recommends "The Year I Lived in Richmond"
- The Needle Drop shares "The Year I Lived in Richmond"
- Various Small Flames selects "The Year I Lived in Richmond"
- For the Rabbits reviews "The Year I Lived in Richmond"
- Stereogum shares "Brian's Golden Hour"