Casper & the Cookies is an American rock and pop band from

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the st ...

, United States.

History

Multi-instrumentalist and singer Jason NeSmith (pronounced "KNEE-smith," no relation to

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees (TV seri ...

the Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

), began using the pseudonym Casper Fandango in 1996 as a moniker for his solo four-track recordings. NeSmith was given the name by fellow Atlanta musician David Dault while playing together in the band Feyerabend. AllMusic entry on Casper & the Cookies

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

Casper & the Cookies released two

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

cassettes in the late 1990s, originally as Casper Fandango & the Knees and subsequently Casper Fandango & His Tiny Sick Tears. The Cookies came into existence in 1998 as NeSmith's live band. They have three CDs released on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records, ''Oh!'' (2004), ''The Optimist's Club'' (2006), and ''Modern Silence'' (2009). After many lineup changes the band consists of NeSmith, Kay Stanton, Davy Gibbs, and AJ Griffin."C is for Casper: Casper & the Cookies bake an album with love"
''Creative Loafing'', August 9, 2006 NeSmith was a member of Of Montreal for the ''Satanic Panic in the Attic'' tour of 2004 and some of the ''Sunlandic Twins'' tour of 2005, eventually leaving to focus on his own band. (Kay and Jason are also in

Supercluster A supercluster is a large group of smaller galaxy clusters or galaxy groups; they are among the largest known structures in the universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group galaxy group (which contains more than 54 galaxies), which in turn ...

, the side project of

Vanessa Briscoe Hay Vanessa Briscoe Hay (born October 18, 1955) is an American singer for the Athens, Georgia bands Pylon, Supercluster and Pylon Reenactment Society. Biography Born to a textile worker and a housewife in Atlanta, Georgia, Hay attended elementar ...

of Pylon.) NeSmith has also been a member of

Kenny Howes Kenny Howes (born February 10, 1970) is an American musician primarily in the power pop genre.Borack, John. Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide. Not Lame Recording Company. p. 118. . Musical style/influences While swaying into othe ...

& the Yeah!, Orange Hat, The Visitations, The Late BP Helium and The Sunshine Fix. He also owns and operates a commercial recording facility, Bel*Air Studio. Casper & the Cookies served as the backing band for

Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded ...

at the 2007 Athens Pop Fest. Also in 2007, The Cookies went on a nationwide tour supporting

The Apples in Stereo The Apples in Stereo, styled as The Apples in stereo, are an American pop/rock band associated with Elephant 6 Collective, a group of bands also including Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, Of Montreal, and Circulatory S ...

Members

Current

*Jason NeSmith (aka Casper Fandango) * Kay Stanton * Davy Gibbs * AJ Griffin

Past

* Christo Harris *

Ben Spraker Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin (name), Benjamin, Benedict (given name), Benedict, Bennett (name), Bennett or Benson (given name), Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (Hebrew), Ben (in ...

* Phil Stockman *

Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...

* Tim Schreiber * Suzanne Allison *

Bryan Poole The Late B.P. Helium is the solo recording project and, at times, stage name of Elephant Six musician Bryan Poole, who also goes by Bryan Helium. Poole has spent much of his musical career playing bass and guitar on and off with of Montreal and ...

(aka The Late BP Helium) * Peter Alvanos * Jason Gonzales *

Gregory Sanders Gregory may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gregory (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gregory (surname), a surname Places Australia *Gregory, Queensland, a town in the Shire o ...

* Joe Rowe * Lucas Jensen * Jim Hicks

Discography

Albums

*''Consumer'' (cassette; as Casper Fandango & the Knees) – Lookit Meee! – 1996 *''How's Your Hand?'' (cassette; as Casper Fandango & His Tiny Sick Tears) – Lookit Meee! – 1997 *''How's Your Hand?'' (CD; as Casper Fandango & His Tiny Sick Tears) Lookit Meee! / AAJ – 2000 *''Oh!'' (CD) – Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records

HBTM Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad (H&BTM) is a former short line railroad company operating passenger and freight service on standard gauge track in south central Pennsylvania. Operational headquarters were in Huntingdon and Saxton, wit ...

/ Waikiki Record – 2004/ 2005 (Japan) *''The Optimist's Club'' – (CD/LP) – HHBTM / People in a Position to Know {PIAPTK] – 2006 and Waikiki Record – 2008 *''Modern Silence'' – (CD/LP) – HHBTM / People in a Position to Know {PIAPTK] – 2009 *''Volatile and Erogenous: The Best of Casper & The Cookies'' – (CD) HHBTM / People In A Position to Know – 2011 (The album was given away for free on the Facebook page of the band and custom made by drummer Gregory Sanders) *''Ice Mattress'' – (digital only release) – Self-Released – 2011 *''Dingbats'' – (LP/CD/cassette) – Wild Kindness Records – 2014

Singles and EPs

*''The Band That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World (CD-r)'' – Lookit Meee! – 2004 *''Overly Optimistic'' (CD-r) – HHBTM – 2006 *''3 ½ Stars'' (CD-r) – HHBTM – 2007 *''"Power Stupid"'' (split with Keith John Adams) 8” – PIAPTK – 2007 *''"Jennifer’s House"'' / “Huff” (split with Marbles) 7” – HHBTM – 2007 *''"Kiss Me Beneath the Christmas Tree"'' (digital only) – HHBTM – 2007

References

External links

* All Music Guide entry on Casper & the Cookies
Casper & the Cookies website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casper and the Cookies American pop rock music groups Musical groups established in 1998 The Elephant 6 Recording Company artists Musical collectives Indie pop groups from Georgia (U.S. state)