Elsa's Doghouse: Casey Soyk
One of the coolest things about Terrier Cvlt is how often the worlds of heavy music and animal lovers collide. It was really nice when I started realizing that there were a lot of dog fanatics scattered throughout the hardcore and metal community.
That’s how I ended up crossing paths with Casey Soyk.
A lot of people know Casey as the bassist from Harm’s Way, one of the heaviest bands ever to come out of Chicago. But outside of his magic tricks and bass riffs, Casey also happens to be an insanely talented artist who draws some of the most beautiful dog portraits I’ve ever seen.
I hit him up because his artwork is insane and I’m also a huge fan of Harm’s Way. I was fortunate enough to interview James Pligge, their singer, a few years ago, so I figured I would try reaching out to another member of a band that has meant so much to me over the years.
After my dog Ivy passed away almost a month ago, I contacted Casey to see if I could commission him to draw a portrait of her for my wife for her birthday. Casey created a drawing of my sweet little Ivy that was so beautiful it instantly brought me to tears.
I reached out to Casey recently to talk a little about music, art, dogs, and everything in between. Here’s what happened:
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First things first. A lot of people know you as the bassist from Harm’s Way, but outside of music you’re also an incredibly talented portrait artist. Tell our cult a little about yourself and how art became such a big part of your life.
> I feel like art and drawing has always been somewhat of a bigger part of my life even as a young kid, especially human portrait drawings. It's something that kind of came natural to me. I remember drawing people's faces from old magazine and movie covers when I was really young. Something about seeing a face come alive from your pencil always felt like magic to me. Something I realized more as I got older and is still true to this day is that I used/use it as a form of therapy or a sort of self-pacifying mechanism. It was something I could do alone to quiet my brain and help regulate my emotions. When things got hard or I felt overwhelmed I would lock myself in a room and draw something.
Your portraits are seriously next level. There’s so much personality in them that they almost feel alive. When someone commissions you to draw their dog, how do you approach capturing what makes that animal unique?
> 99% of it is in the eyes, they say "the eyes are the window to the soul". I usually will start with one or both of the eyes and if I can get those to feel alive I know the rest will come together and feel like that animal. Then I just pay close attention to detail and try to capture those unique characteristics, If there is a little white patch of hair on the cheek or a spot on their nose i find it important to capture that as accurately as i can
Obviously we connected over art, but I’m curious about how that love started for you. Were you always a dog person growing up, or did that come later in life?
> Similar answer to that first question, that love really started for me in early childhood. I was partially raised by my aunt, I would stay with her a lot while my parents were at work or not around. Her son Jeremy was also a very talented artist and had moved out by that time but he left behind a lot of high end art supplies and old sketch pads full of drawings. I think seeing those drawings and having those supplies really kicked started things for me. I've always been an animal lover but never really thought about drawing them until somewhat recently. It was only a few years ago that I actually started to draw them. It all started when Chris Mills, who plays drums in Harm's Way, asked if I would draw his dog that had recently passed. That was the first dog portrait that I ever did and I realized that I could capture an animal's energy the same as a person's. That felt really meaningful to be able to do something I've kind of always done for myself and use it as a meaningful gift for someone else. A lot of the portraits I have done since then have been of pets that have passed and I really enjoy giving those people some sort of solace.
Harm’s Way has one of the most intense live presences in heavy music. For people who have never experienced it, what’s something about being in a band like that that might surprise them?
> hmm I’m not totally sure, maybe for us being this intense presence on stage we are actually some of the chillest guys off the stage. That's what I love about it, on stage you can share and express these intense parts of you that you can't show anywhere else.
A lot of creative people bounce between different outlets. Music, visual art, design, whatever it might be. Do playing music and drawing feed into each other creatively for you, or do they feel like two totally separate worlds?
> I'm going to say yes and no haha. I would say for me they come from the same place but it depends on the music I'm making and whether I'm making that music alone or not . When I first started playing guitar I stopped drawing as much because I felt like I was supplementing one for the other. I was using that energy but in a different way, still being this solo therapeutic outlet. Usually that music in that environment is a lot softer and introspective. If it's a collaborative project, especially a heavy project like Harm's Way, that's a lot different for me. It becomes more of this social collaboration. In a band there are a lot of different opinions, ideas and feelings involved and you have to find what part of that puzzle you fit into.
You’ve drawn a lot of dog portraits at this point. Are there certain breeds or personalities that you especially love drawing, or does every dog kind of bring something new to the table?
> I definitely like drawing Boston Terriers, the mouth is one of my favorite things to draw and every Boston Terrier I've drawn so far has had a big open smile haha. Every dog brings something new to the table, some breeds and fur types are easier to draw than others but I like the challenge, I never really know how it's going to go until I get into it. For example I drew a dog with a brindle fur type and that was quite the challenge getting all of those different colors and patches to blend and look right but you eventually figured it out.
When you’re drawing, do you usually have music on in the background? If so, what kind of stuff are you listening to while you work?
> Oh yeah, I love to listen to music when I draw and interestingly enough is the only time I really become a listener. Being a musician and someone who mixes music it's hard for me to listen to music without this critical/analytical ear. When I'm drawing I get into a flow where I can just be present and listen to it for what it is. I tend to listen to softer music when I draw. usually something raw, melancholic, atmospheric. I switch from that to some podcasts or audiobooks as well.
Last one and I’ll leave you be. Between Harm’s Way, drawing dog portraits, and whatever else you’re up to, what should people keep an eye out for from you in the near future?
> We are chipping away at new Harm's Way material right now that we're all excited about, people can be on the lookout for that. I have a softer project with a friend that I'm working on that's in the early stages right now but feels promising, something more in the style of my drawing playlist. Besides those two musical projects I'm focusing more and more on the portraits, I've been getting more commissions lately and I'd love for that to continue. Thanks for everything man, this has been great.
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Casey, thanks so much for taking the time to hang out and answer some questions. It’s always awesome connecting with people who share the same love for music, dogs, and creativity.
If you haven’t listened to Harm’s Way yet, you’re missing out. Go check out Common Suffering and see if that doesn’t make your fucking head explode haha.
If you’re looking for an amazing commissioned piece of art from a great dude, reach out to Casey directly on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/csysyk
Elsa’s Doghouse is an ongoing Terrier Cvlt interview series featuring artists, musicians, weirdos, and dog people from all corners of the world. You can read all of our interviews at terriercvlt.com