Interview with Ben Folds in Mannheim (English Version)

(Ben Folds)

03.07.2008 von Sascha Knapek

Before his concert in Mannheim on July 3^rd, Musicheadquarter had the chance to interview Ben Folds. The interview took place in the lobby of the hotel ”Steigenberger Mannheimer Hof” and was conducted by Sascha Knapek (all photographs by Stefan Mock).

Ben, the last time we talked you just finished a European tour during which you caught a bad cold. Any precautions this time?

Ben Folds: Well, I don’t have a cold this time, but I pulled my back. It always has to be something.

If I’m not mistaken you already premiered some new song here in Germany. What can you tell us about your new tunes and the new record that is supposed to be released in September?

Ben Folds: Compared to the last one, it is a lot more upbeat and aggressive probably. I don’t know, I think it’s a good record (laughs).

Does the record have a title, yet?

Ben Folds: Yes, it’s called ”Way To Normal”.

What is the meaning behind that title?

Ben Folds: There is none. I had about six or seven titles and I would call the record company up and say, “here’s my title”. And then I would call them the next day and ask if the deadline had passed. If they said “no”, I changed it. The last time I called them, they said that the deadline had passed. So I asked them what the name of the album was and they answered that the last thing I said was ”Way To Normal”. And I said ok.

How would you describe the new songs to someone who hasn’t heard them yet?

Ben Folds: It’s a rock record. It’s piano-based with some drums and it’s fairly full on. There’s a lot of energy in this record. I was in a much more energetic mood than I sound in the moment (laughs). I mean, the record just goes BLLLAAAH from the first note and that’s what it does during the entire album. There are some slower songs, but the rest is just frenetic music.

Is it true that you wrote a song called ”Cologne”? Please tell us something about the background of that tune.

Ben Folds: Yeah. Well, I thought of the concept of the tune when I was in Cologne walking from the train station. It just felt right.

You have a pretty energetic stage presence and during your shows the crowd oftentimes becomes an integral part. How do you handle the studio situation, does it bother you that there’s no immediate reaction of a larger audience to your new tunes when you record them or do you imagine how an audience might react during a certain song?

Ben Folds: On this record we actually put a fake audience in the beginning of the album. At a show I told the audience how the song went and I had them sing along and we pasted that over the first song of the album. But no, I don’t care about the lack of an audience when I record. You’re always working with somebody and when you’re doing something that’s exciting everyone can feel it. It’s the same when you’re playing a good show, so it’s the same thing to me.

Usually you’re known to do a lot of the producing yourself. Did you work with a regular producer this time around?

Ben Folds: Yeah, I did. His name is Dennis Herring. I liked what he did on the Modest Mouse record (”We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank”, t. Ed.).He’s an excellent musician and he has produced a lot of records (for example: Elvis Costello, The Hives, Counting Crows, t. Ed.). He was good to work with and he whipped us into shape, too. He wasn’t letting us be slacks. Sometimes I record for about an hour and then I’ll ask everyone if they want to take a break and go out for a coffee. And then we stay at the Coffee Shop for about two hours and come back and watch YouTube for a while and then we start recording again. Dennis made us work all day. The album shows it. It made for a more intense album.

Together with Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls you produced – and also played on – her upcoming solo album (Who Killed Amanda Palmer). What was it like to produce another artists?

Ben Folds: It’s the second time I’ve done it, I also did it for William Shatner. This was similar. I’m finding similarities as I work with different artists. One thing I think you have to do, is find out why that person thinks their music is valid. And then you know that’s the wrong answer, because the artists always thinks that they’re something they’re not. It’s kind of like somebody thinks of themselves as the class-clown, or this person or that person. Usually what the person says about themselves is not exactly accurate and that gives you a clue for what you have to look out for. When they start doing that, you know that they’re not themselves and that they’re retreating to a place of comfort. That was true for both artists that I worked with so far and I would like to do more production, because I really enjoy just finding them and letting them be that in the studio is really fun. It’s what I wish someone would do for me, but I can do that for other people.

Were you ever in a situation where you made a suggestion or said something to her and afterwards thought, “hmm, if a producer had said something like that to me, I’d be not too amused”.

Ben Folds: Yeah, I mean you have to do that as a producer sometimes, to be honest. Some time up front you have got to establish that it’s not just business, maybe you can call it role-playing. Like: I’m the producer, I’m going to say some producer things and you’re the artist, you will say some artists things. As long as we can leave the room and still be ok with each other it’s not personal – and then you can say certain things. But you know, Amanda can take a beating, she’s pretty tough. I said some pretty brutal things to her. Not about her, but about a certain direction of a particular song. If she didn’t agree with it, then she just wouldn’t agree with it, that’s about it. She is pretty confidant. Maybe she was right or maybe she was wrong, but I think we made a pretty good record because of that.

How was your experience regarding similar situations with your recent producer Dennis Herring?

Ben Folds: My experience was pretty good. Dennis Herring is famous for upsetting people. If you google his name, you come across all these stories from different artists who worked with him and who wanted to punch him or stuff like that. One guy said, that he nearly called the cops before he went into the session, because he knew he would beat Dennis up. He just wanted to call the cops in advance, so the cop would know that Dennis was going to be beaten up when he got there. He didn’t bother me. There are enough serious things in life, someone telling you that you suck and that you have to do something again is not a big deal. Who gives a shit, really?!

Over the last years you wrote music for the animated movie ”Over the Hedge” and worked with Captain Kirk, William Shatner. What is the connection of music and film for you and do you plan on further explorations in that area?

Ben Folds: Well, I could do a lot of different things. I’m not sure that’s the way I’ll go. I think my songs do too much of the work. For example, when you watch a movie and you have music in the background it is assisting the film, it is not trying to be the film. I had a hard time with that concept. I fill the emotional space too thoroughly. I’m not saying I couldn’t do it, but I see an opportunity to do something effective musically and when I close my eyes I think that it’s a great song. Now if I open my eyes and watch the movie it’s not as good. So, if I then change the song and watch the movie, suddenly the song fits better. But when I close my eyes, the song is not any good any more. I don’t like that dynamic. It bugs me that the two would be married like that. What if someone plays the soundtrack and wonders, ”why did you write this shit?”. (Ben changes his voice and mockingly says) ”No, no, no, really you’ve got to see it with the movie. Wait till you see the fucking rat and the racoon dancing, it’s awesome.” (laughs) That’s bugging me.

Some of your fans travel quite a bit to see your shows and attend various gigs. Have you ever done that and what’s the farthest you ever travelled for a show you wanted to see?

Ben Folds: When I was in high-school I travelled to New York City, which is a ten hour drive from where I lived. I wanted to see Elvis Costello. I didn’t get to get into the show, but I sat at the back of the club. When he came out I just watched him go by and thought, “wow, that’s Elvis Costello”. I would have approached him, but I was too shy.

And now you’re in Costello’s situation, so to speak.

Ben Folds: Yeah, and so I can understand that. I went to see Elvis Costello, because I liked his music and I thought what he did made sense to me. If I was working a shitty job, or if life didn’t seem normal around me, I thought that at least Costello makes some sense. But when faced with actually meeting him, I didn’t really see the point. He might not have been the same person; I was just interested in seeing him. Wow, there he goes. It proved to me, that there was actually a guy that went into the studio and did these things. When I was in high-school they sounded to me like they were from God or something.

Lately you played some festivals like Bonnaroo and in two days you’ll play the German festival Rheinkultur. What do you expect of the crowd and what’s your take on the crowds in general at music festivals?

Ben Folds: They’re all different. Sometimes there’s drug-lag. You’ll play or say something and a couple of minutes later it’ll sink in (laughs). Sometimes they’re swimming in mud and they’re not happy about it and sometimes they’re swimming in mud and they’re thrilled about it. They’re all different. My favorite festivals don’t have simultaneous music on adjacent stages. That sucks, because you can’t be dynamic. You’re just competing with the low-end from some other stage and that sucks. I mean, I like Bonnaroo a lot and Glastonbury was fine. The one I really liked was a European festival, I think it was in Holland or Denmark, I can’t remember what it was called, because we have been in and out of these places so quickly. But the audience was really small and really kind. Most of them had their backs to us, because there was another stage across where a local artist called Anouk was playing and everyone was there to see Anouk. But the people who watched our show were really nice and I liked that one.

Did you watch some other bands at Bonnaroo? They have quite a line-up every year.

Ben Folds: No, I didn’t. I had to do this (his hand gesture clarifies that he means the interview, t. Ed.) and then we had to get out of there and I had to do all kinds of edit approvals and video-things for my new record. So I didn’t get to see someone else.

Over the years you wrote many songs. Do any particular ones come to mind, that you’ll probably never play live again and why is that so?

Ben Folds: Well, some of the earlier songs. As catchy as some of them were, I just don’t remember why I wrote them anymore. I can’t relate to them anymore and maybe I couldn’t even relate to them at the time, I was just happy to write a song. A song like ”Sports & Wine”, I have no idea what the hell that’s about. I know that it’s a good song, but I couldn’t sit there with a straight face and play that at a gig, because I don’t know what I’m talking about (laughs).

The Presidential Election in America is a big topic these days. How do you feel about the whole process and do you think America changes during election season?

Ben Folds: It’s like one big basketball game, that everyone’s talking about. Everyone’s really concerned with all the things that don’t matter and the things that do matter are never discussed, understood and there’s no room for nuance. They have this wrestling-show on TV, where the people aren’t really wrestling and they’ll scream at the camera (Ben puts on his wrestling-voice): ”I’m gonna kill you next week Ronnie Piper, you’re going down!” That’s basically it. I don’t even come close to understanding it, I wish I did. I wish I had something to do, besides bitching about it. But I think the late George Carlin said it best: ”In America you have choice. There’s no choice in America. You know what your choices are in America? Aisle or window, paper or plastic!” I mean, I like where I’m from. I like my home and everything, but I don’t think that politics have anything to do with anything. The whole process is huge, it’s show business, that’s what it is. Everybody wants to think that Obama, for instance, is going to be who he looked he might be. Actually, I think we find that out by the next couple of weeks. Some upcoming decisions will give him the opportunity to put his money where his mouth is. I have a feeling he won’t do it. I like him, I think he’s a total rock-star and I would rather have him in the White House than McCain. But I’m not sure I believe any of it.

He seems to inspire a lot of people.

Ben Folds: But inspire them to do what? That’s the problem, he hasn’t said much in that field. I do think he’s inspiring, but so is Lil’ Wayne.

It looks like Obama gets a lot of younger people involved and out to the voting booths.

Ben Folds: Yeah, but is it counted? Arguably the last two elections in America were rigged.

Alright, because we’re running out of time I have to come to my next question. Where do you discover new music, how do you hear about or find new bands that are worth a second look?

Ben Folds: If it’s below the radar stuff, it’s friends. Like some friend will recommend a band or give you a CD. If it’s out there commercially, it’s usually through iTunes, because they have that “listeners also bought” function. So if you buy Beirut, it says “listeners also bought LCD Soundsystem” and if you click on that, it says “listeners also bought the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs”. You go from one to another and you can sample some songs and see if you like it. Once every few weeks I’ll do that and go through a lot of music. I’m not as interested in reading about it, to have someone tell me what to like. I just like going through the music myself. Well, arguably that’s telling you what to like, too, because of the “listeners also bought” function. But you can listen to it and see what you think. I think that works really well and that’s a good function.

Also during the last time we spoke I asked you about Reinhold Messner and if you ever met him. You told me that you never met him and lately when I had a lot of Messner related studying to do, I thought about what a meeting between Reinhold Messner and Ben Folds would look like, maybe a panel discussion or something. Someone who travels on the frontier of physical and psychological possibilities and a musicians who is somewhat on the frontier of a nowadays rather unusual way to play Rock’n’Roll. What do you think about such a discussion?

Ben Folds: From what I understand his personality is very eccentric and very forceful. So, I would probably just shut up (laughs and continues to laugh during the next sentence). I would probably just shut up and listen, because he has done all these amazing things and can tell all these stories. It would be better to listen in such a situation. In my old days, I’m trying to shut up and listen. I mean, right now I’m doing an interview and my job is to talk about myself, but when you got someone like that in front of you, it’s better to listen. My manager talked to him and he said he was quite a character. There is something in common with anyone who is doing what people say won’t work. It doesn’t have to be big, it can be a cook in a kitchen or something like that. Like when somebody says: “It’s not going to work when you try to fry all that shit and mix it with that.” But then it works. There is a certain kind of personality that doesn’t listen and wants to see. I’m always interest in those people, because I think I’ve done that before sometimes. Sometimes people say it won’t work and you get scared and you don’t do it. I remember the story of Reinhold and his brother on the Nanga Parbat, crazy stuff.

Thanks a lot for your time, Ben!

Thanks a lot to Veronika Hagn and Lisa Finelli (both SONY/BMG) for making this interview possible!

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