The Listening Room
Mixed MESSAGES
Welcome to the listening room. I’m genuinely so happy that you’re here. By signing up, you’re showing an interest not only in hearing the music, but in getting a little closer to the process behind it—the writing, the recording, the ideas, and all of the small decisions that slowly turn a collection of songs into an album. I wanted to create a space where I could share some of that process more directly and let you hear the music as it begins to make its way into the world.
As an independent artist, that kind of connection means so much. Writing songs and making an album can be exciting, joyful, and deeply rewarding, but it can also be a long and uncertain process. There are so many moving parts between the first idea for a song and the moment it finally reaches a listener. Knowing that there are people who are curious, who want to listen more closely, or who simply want to get to know my music a little better makes a real difference. That interest and support bring energy back into the work and help remind me why I keep doing it.
At the center of everything, I’m a songwriter and a singer trying to communicate something honest through music. These songs have been shaped by a lot of time, care, collaboration, and lived experience, and I’m grateful to be able to share them with you in a more personal way. Thank you for listening, for being interested, and for choosing to be part of this process. I hope this space gives you a deeper connection to the songs and makes you feel a little more involved in the journey toward the album.
I will be releasing three singles before the official album release on the 23rd of October. Since you are signed up you will be notified automatically before each single is released and you will have early access to listen, read and interact.
GET YOURS
SINGLE 01
Release Date: Aug 7
Written in the spring of 2025, Get Yours turns anger at a culture of greed into something fierce, questioning, and ultimately defiant. Prompted by seeing essential work, public resources, and people’s livelihoods treated as expendable, the song asks what drives those who already have more than enough to keep taking—regardless of the cost to others or the world around them. It is both a confrontation and a reminder: what we choose to put into put into the world has consequences.
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Vocals: Cassie Kollman
Piano & Rhodes: Matt Savage
Guitar: Matthew Ryu
Bass: Sebass Guerrero
Drums: Manuel PuertaAll songs written and arranged by Cassie Kollman
“Is that a Fact” and “Freak and Geek” arranged by Cassie Kollman and Sebass GuerreroProduced by Brian Charles
Recorded and Engineered by Brian Charles and Annie Hoffman at Rare Signals Studios, Cambridge, MA, 2025
Mixed and Mastered by Brian CharlesPhotography: Lisa Czech
Artwork: Sally Clegg
Direction & Design: Marcus Sasseville -
I don’t usually write explicitly political songs, but Get Yours came from a kind of anger I couldn’t simply hold inside. During the spring of 2025, I watched people in my life lose jobs in social work and scientific research as government funding was cut. Behind those decisions were real people losing access to work, food security, education, medical care, and the basic support systems that help communities survive.
Around the same time, I heard an extremely wealthy person speak in favor of taxing the rich. Their point was simple: even if they paid considerably more, their lifestyle and security would remain virtually untouched. That stayed with me. Why do people who already possess extraordinary wealth and power continue reaching for more—especially when their accumulation comes at such a profound cost to other people and the planet?
As a Buddhist practitioner, I kept returning to the idea of the hungry ghost: a being consumed by endless craving but never able to feel satisfied or nourished. In Buddhist teaching, greed is one of the three poisons, alongside aversion and delusion. From that perspective, people who endlessly pursue money, control, or status may appear powerful, but they remain trapped in a cycle that cannot bring them peace. Real fulfillment comes through connection, kindness, and care—things power alone cannot provide.
The title carries two meanings. At first, Get Yours describes an attitude of taking whatever you can without concern for anyone else. But as the song develops, the phrase turns back on those causing harm: eventually, you will get yours. I understand karma here as cause and effect—the recognition that our words and actions create consequences. The song holds on to the hope that people suffering under destructive systems will find strength and solidarity, while those responsible will ultimately be forced to face what their choices have created.
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Money, money, money, money get that gold
gonna need it when the sun goes cold
Money… stack that cash
doesn’t matter if we’re burning fast
cuz you got yours
ya you got yoursI been wondering what you need it for
another villa or another war
alot of people waiting for a crumb to trickle down
but god forbid you should go without
a second pour
so you get yoursbut, when you’re all alone at night
and no one’s there to see you
I bet that things don’t feel so bright
and I wouldn’t wanna be you
you can have it all
nothing’s gonna stop your fall
honey you’re coming downQuotes from Got Bless the Child:
The strong gets more
while the week ones fade
empty pockets don’t
ever make the grade
mama may have
papa may have
but god bless the child that’s got his
own -
A personal note pointing listeners toward a lyric, performance detail, instrumental moment or shift in the arrangement.
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Write me a note
I’d love to know what you heard, felt, or connected with while listening. Send me a note below—your message comes directly to me, and I’m genuinely grateful to have you be part of this early listening experience.
Get Yours | Single 01
Photography: © Lisa Czech