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JEFF CASHEN
THE MEDICINE OF SONG

by Emily Williams
Scene Magazine (Brisbane)
1 June 2005

A lot of recording artists have jobs to support themselves while they await success with their main passion, music. What makes Jeff Cashen interesting is that his day-job is not the regular coffee shop, bussing tables make-ends-meet type of work. His 'side-job' is saving peoples lives.

Cashen works in the emergency room of a Brisbane hospital as a doctor, and while music is his number one priority it is an interesting side to a man that paid his way through med school playing covers on the Brisbane pub circuit. All the time writing his own material, all the while biding his time til he could let his passion for songcraft take prime focus. With the release of his debut EP 'Lifeboat', for Cashen, that time is now.

Living in Brisbane all his life and playing pubs for about five years, Cashen understandably 'got a bit sick of all that'.

"When I was doing covers I started writing and producing stuff at home, and was sort of happy with that, "says Cashen, but what he was really looking for was some like minded souls who could flesh out his songs. "About 18 months ago UI met up with a few guys that were in bands but were also looking to do something on the side." And for Cashen, that was the opportunity he had been so desperately seeking.

Balancing a medical career and a musical one is probably a recipe for disaster. "The first year or so it was hard," explains Cashen. "Working full-time, 50-60 hour weeks at the hospital, trying to work in with bands, have rehearsals and try to record stuff was really hard. But I've got to the point now where I can actually work my medicine around music.

"Music is my number one priority. I figure I can always go back to medicine. I can't always do music."

Having a career to fall back on is definitely a smart safety net - and in not way detracts from the personal stories and immediacy imbued in his song-writing. A style that is evocative of his current influences, and incredibly ambitious in its production. Reflecting the particular flavour found in David Gray, REM and Damien Rice, and combining his earlier loves of classic acoustic songwriters- The Church especially- Cashen as carved an impressive debut for the more mature of thought. With time booked in to record a debut album in Melbourne with Steve Scanlon, he is also incredibly prolific. We wait to see the results come November.

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