The band

Drew English – lead vocals, guitar
Greg Smith – backing vocals, guitar
John Tucker – backing vocals, bass
Matt Lydon – drums

Location:

Where did the band name come from?

Greg: When I was in college, the people I lived with and I had a dog, and it’s name was Cassie. When we all moved, none of us could take her, so we had to give her up to the Lowell Humane Society. But anyway, we had a last party to celebrate the time there, and something spilled on the floor. This may not be Internet appropriate. Could be a substance. And Cassie went for it, and buried her nose in it. So our last memory of our dog is getting all messed up on stuff that someone threw on the floor. Someone said “No Cassie, No!” It sounds like No Casino.

How did the new band form?

Drew: It just kind of came about. Greg and I started writing some tunes together and just decided to start jamming with people. He had been living in California for a while, so I just got some guys together. I didn’t know Tucker, but we were fortunate enough to find him for bass, and that was kinda how it started. We all just wanted to play and have a new thing.

Any major influences that you think might reflect in your music?

Matt: We all come from different backgrounds. We share a lot like we like, but Jimmy Eat World is a big one I think, Muse, Mute Math, a bunch of current stuff like bands that we’ve seen and we like. There’s some other stuff, but we haven’t gotten into the whole full discography. Any good rock stuff. Ryan Adams is another one that comes up a lot. Not Brian Adams from Canada, this isn’t the summer of 69 is it? A bunch of that stuff.
Drew: I don’t actually listen to music, I get all my inspiration for songs from stand up comedy CDs. * laughter * I’m the only person in America that reads all their spam, every day.

You have some demo songs on your MySpace, but how soon can we expect a debut EP?

Drew: Good question. We aren’t really sure yet. We have a quick demo that we burned out to hand out here for here, because we want people to listen to the music and stuff, but as far as a formal record, I think we’re still trying to formulate our game plan and figure out exactly what we want to do. The potentials there, everybody’s really into it, but now that I say that everyone’s going to quit, but we’re having a good time, so we’ll see what that takes us, but right now we don’t have any plans to really go back into the studio.

Who is the primary songwriter for the band and how do the songs come together?

Greg: We just downloaded them all from this site. * laughter* but yeah, Drew is the main song writer, I figured I’d give him some credit. I mean, I wrote all the good songs, he has all the other stuff. Typically they’re about relationships and coming of age and learning who you are.

I really love the song “Social Suicide” that’s up on your Myspace page, can you walk me through it musically and lyrically?

Greg : * breaks into guitar riff from the beginning *
Drew: “Social Suicide” is actually a special song for me. It was the first one I wrote after the old band broke up. Me, personally, I had a very defeated personality at that point. I just really wasn’t ready to get back into it and start the whole music thing again. Actually, it’s all about being shut out from your circle of friends that you’re used to being with all the time and then all that gets ripped out from underneath you. You’re aware of it, but you just keep plowing ahead for what you want to do. The whole phrase “social suicide” is that you’re fully aware that you’re actions might be harming you with the people that you’re tied into a relationship with, whether it’s friendship, boyfriend/girlfriend, whatever, but you’re going for your goal and not giving up on it.

What sets No Casino apart from other bands out there?

Greg: I think what sets us apart, is musically like The Strokes or Interpol, but we have a good male pop vocalist, which is rare for that kind of genre. So we try to mix good pop male vocals with good kinda like garage rock.

How does it feel to be making your debut at a big radio station concert like Kiss Concert today?

Tucker: I think it’s good because as a new band we don’t really have our name out there too much. It was nice to have a big audience that has probably never heard us before. It’s great being able to expose your music to people that wouldn’t have heard it otherwise, especially when you’re a new band.
Drew: And it was fun!

Who would be your dream band to play with?

Tucker: Saves The Day.
Greg: Radiohead, that’d be great.
Drew: I’d really like to play with U2.
Matt: Jonas Brothers, that’d be cool. * laughter * but I might side with Drew on this one, U2.

What is your ultimate goal as a band?

Drew: We are still kind of figuring that out. We want to stay busy.
Tucker: Get rich and have sex with lots of anonymous women. * laughter *
Drew: In addition to what Tucker said, I guess, I think as a band, I think everyone really digs playing music, and rocking out, and having sex with anonymous women. I think the ultimate goal, at least from my standpoint and conversations I’ve had with the guys, would be to continue writing and playing and taking it to the next level. If we could keep going up the ladder, and make a living doing this, that’d be awesome. I think any band would say the same thing, you know?

What are your thoughts on the current music industry?

Tucker: I actually like what’s going on with the music industry in general right now, because even with the success of the vast internet that’s out there, is you can be insanely popular without ever getting signed to a label. You can put your music out, people can hear it, and you don’t have to grind it out in shitty clubs and have some label discover you. If you put out good music, people are gonna hear it, and that’s what matters right?

Describe your music in two words.

Greg: Byte proof.

Any last words?

Drew: I’m really psyched to have a really cool debut at a big venue in the area. I kind of feel like the sky is the limit. It has nothing to do with the music, nothing to do with the connections or anything like that. it has to do with the fact that twice a week, every week, everyone shows up to rehearsal. Everybody’s into it, and it’s very refreshing, and byte proof.
Greg: if anyone’s reading this that is the owner of Cassie, take care of her. She likes to get scratched under her left hind leg, alright? God be with you. And thank you!

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Check them out on MySpace
Check out the pictures from Kiss Concert in the gallery