Today's guest is John Casteel, art teacher, artist, and musician. I met John in Eugene when we were playing the open mic scene. We both relocated to KC around the same time (I think). Serendipitous.
John Casteel: I compose and record post-industrial music under the name GOD TOLD ME TO, and I have recorded and performed with White Tie Black Noise. I am a painter and printmaker, and I teach visual art to a culturally and linguistically diverse population of middle school students in Kansas City, Kansas.1. If you could throw a party, who would cook or cater, what would the menu be, what three bands would play, and where would it be?
JC: Michael Forbes Grill would cater, because their fish tacos are incredible. Since I would like the bands to be a diverse cross-section of acts I've seen before, I'd go with: Savages, DJ Shadow, and Sonny Rollins. The party would take place at the Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City, MO to celebrate Mike Parsons' removal from office.
2. What's your current creative project or projects? What do you want folks to know about it?
JC: The newest EP from GOD TOLD ME TO is called "Isolation Jams," and it is currently streaming on Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/john-casteel-406284595). I recorded it in bits and pieces between 2019/2020. The primary instruments are digital sampler, delay pedal, Korg Minilogue, and live drums. I will have a new EP coming out this summer, as soon as I mix it down.
3. What's a brick and mortar business you've always wanted to work at, something you'd even do for free?
I would like to open an art space/record store/all-ages music venue here in Liberty, MO, where I live. No such thing seems to currently exist, although due to the pandemic and the fact that I have a two-and-a-half year old son, I don't get out much.
4. What does your ideal creative day look like?
Doing some drawing or painting with my son Henry and wife Lori in the morning, taking the family to the Nelson or Kemper museum in the afternoon, and then after everyone else is in bed, retire downstairs with the four-track to create some more weird sounds.
5. What’s your favorite record right now?
I keep coming back to New Order's first album, Movement, which is exactly the right length for my commute to work. It must have been tremendously difficult for those guys to pick up and start again after the sudden and violent demise of Joy Division. The whole record seems to be about summoning the strength of will to face adversity, which is a subject all the best music tends to address.
6. What's the last book you wanted to buy 100 copies of and pass out to friends?
Not only would I pass out The Tools by Phil Stutz to everyone I know, I'd go back in a time machine to give it to my 17-year-old self.
7. It’s a hot summer night and there are refreshments in the cooler. What movie would you most like to show in your back yard or on a wall in a public space?
It's been four decades now, and I will never tire of The Empire Strikes Back. Much has been made of its so-called "downer" ending, but what resonates with me is the main characters' resolve to keep fighting, even though they're outnumbered, outgunned, and one of them just got his hand cut off (by his dad, no less).
8. How do you take care of your creative practice and stay inspired and energized?
I think about how impatient I was in my teens and twenties, waiting for some type of creative "success" to magically occur. Then I realize that I've been a creative person for as long as I can remember, in a variety of high times and hard times, and that nothing has ever stopped me from doing exactly what I want to do. This vast reserve of inner authority keeps me going, and I'm lucky to be able to be in a position where I can impart that to my students as well.
9. What made you laugh the hardest this week?
A seventh grader wrote an artist's statement discussing how he could use his newfound knowledge of color theory to "impress a girl." That's twenty-four karat gold.
10. How would you have handled winning the recent ONE BILLION DOLLAR powerball jackpot?
After building a house in the country and setting aside a decent chunk of money for retirement and Henry's college, I'd use the majority of it to set up a foundation to support families in some of the Title I school districts I've taught in. It's immoral for anyone to be a billionaire when so many people are struggling to afford food, rent, and utilities. Also, I would buy Karen Carpenter's drum kit.
