biographical info
Andrea Caswell has never been a neat and tidy singer-songwriter. She sings about messy relationships, messier break-ups and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty when dissecting the mangled human heart. Caswell's creative process is as messy as the break-ups she earnestly documents with her arrestingly beautiful voice. It was like that, even in the earliest of days. "I very clearly remember writing my first song," says Caswell. "I was probably four or five years old. I had a box of crayons and I was alone in our den, where the piano was. I started playing a melody on the piano that I thought was pretty. I wanted to remember the song, so I started writing a big letter N for note over each of the keys in different colours so I could remember the order. My mom was pissed. The Ns are still on that piano. Every time I visit, I try to figure out what the order of the keys might have been, but I can't." Caswell admits that most of the songs on her debut EP, Love and the Afters, were born of messy situations in her life. "Heartbreak definitely begets creativity for most people…I definitely find myself being most creative when I'm going through an emotionally turbulent time." Caswell began writing and performing music in and around Ottawa and Kingston while still a teenager. In 2005, she moved to Toronto and studied Independent Music Production under John Switzer. She has performed at a variety of Toronto venues including The Central, Not My Dog, Clinton's, Moonshine Café, Rustic Cosmo and Free Times Café. For the past year, she has been co-hosting a bi-monthly musical showcase that celebrates local female talent. As for the creation of Love and the Afters, it was less a messy process than an impulse. "One day the songs just started coming, and they wouldn't stop. After a while, it really felt like I didn't have a choice anymore."