FOR BROOKLYN’S EMANUEL CASABLANCA, IT WAS THAT AGE-OLD STRUGGLE BETWEEN BASKETBALL, SKATEBOARDING AND GUITAR. LUCKILY, GUITAR WON OUT — AND MODERN BLUES IS ALL THE BETTER FOR IT
By Andrew Daly
NEWS + NOTES
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, has long been associated with indie, punk and jazz, but for the most part, blues has been overlooked. Thankfully, Brooklyn native Emanuel Casablanca didn’t get the memo. In fact, he’s doing everything he can to move the blues needle into the red.
Interestingly, before he made music his life’s work, Casablanca wasn’t focused on the blues at all. “I was a competitive basketball player since I was around 10,” he says. “I played in school and summer leagues, so it occupied my life all through high school, prep school and the beginning of college. I never even had a Christmas break until I quit playing basketball.”
Emanuel’s love for music and guitar won out, leading him down his current path. But unlike some, Emanuel doesn’t feel that the blues needs saving, nor is he beholden to its past, a mindset that probably comes from his oddball origin story. “I chose guitar over basketball and started going to the music halls on my days off,” he says. “That’s when I learned there were two things I always wanted to do: play the guitar and skateboard. When I turned 22, I had a little over $100 in my bank account and flipped a coin to decide what I should buy with the money. Heads was a guitar, tails was a skateboard. It landed on heads, and I went on Craigslist and found a used acoustic for $50. I taught myself as much as possible.”
These days, Emanuel can frequently be found gigging around Brooklyn. He’s taken some flak for his original take on the blues, but in his mind, that’s better than being boring. “When it comes to creating art, nothing is off limits,” he says. “I hate to sound like a purist, but I believe music is the opportunity for you to express yourself however you feel fit. If people don’t like overblown solos, don’t listen to tracks with overblown solos. At the end of the day, I think for musicians, and definitely for me, it’s about creating music in the way that moves me and listeners.”
Did you grow up in a musical household?
My mother was a music teacher. She started me on violin when I was four. I remember being five or six and asking her if I could get a “rock guit
