Music today sometimes forgets where it came from. The art form was created to tell stories. Jim Croce got it. Randy Newman and Billy Joel get it. Ben Folds, you can be sure, also gets it. And while "getting it" doesn't always come with recognition and accolades, meaningful lyrics and infectious hooks make Folds a musical standout.
We had a chance to talk to Folds as he makes his way to the area for a pair of shows.
A lot of people say you're career really started to take off in Nashville. Would you agree with that?
Well, I guess maybe in some ways it did. I think it really took off before that in North Carolina with the band probably around 1995. Yeah, Ben Folds Five formed in 1994.
I read on Wikipedia, the font of questionable knowledge, that you quit music for some time to be an actor.
No, not really. Wiki-(expletive deleted)-pedia. I guess I kind of quit. I don't know if you ever really quit. I wasn't really pursuing my songwriting, music stuff for a few years. I hit this dead end. I took some work playing and doing little bits playing in musical theater. I don't think I ever thought I was going to do it forever and I certainly wasn't an actor.
Your music has a deep meaning for a lot of people. How do you connect so emotionally with your lyrics?
I think what we do is we write what moves us. I suppose anyone who is genetically or spiritually inclined or connected will pick it up, you know? I think there's probably a lot of people who listen to it and say "What a bunch of (expletive deleted)." I know. I read a couple of those reviews. You don't know what's going to connect. People see things different ways. For me, if it's someone who takes things to the heart via the head, they'll get it. Thinkers seem to connect.
You write a ton of songs about people like Eddie Walker, Alice Childress, Uncle Walter, etc. How many of those people are real?
Sometimes they exist literally. Sometimes they are just a little fraction of a personality that you see and then blow it up into a big character. But sometimes, yeah, it's just "Hey, that's that dude."
What do you make of being compared from a songwriting and storytelling standpoint to Randy Newman?
I think it's great. He's one of the best. I love his point of views and his characters are just so well written and sometimes so bizarre. It's a huge compliment.
You got to perform with the Boston Pops in May of 2007. It didn't quite go as planned.
Oh yeah, the fistfight. I was backstage getting ready to come on. They were playing Star Wars or some (expletive deleted) like that. Some idiots started throwing punches up in the balcony.
You've played a few times with orchestras. Your music seems to really lend itself to that style.
And it's a good soundtrack for fighting. (Laughs) I think really I've been writing music my whole career that's really intended for more classical instruments that sort of moved over to rock instruments. To me, the novelty is hearing it on rock style instruments sometimes. Playing with the orchestra is pretty natural.
How much tweaking do you have to do to the songs to fit the mediums?
Well, a lot technically to perform them. It's a timing thing. The orchestra plays in a different world. I have to kind of get with the program.
You're credited with producing, arranging and playing on William Shatner's album, "Has Been." You've since done commercials and videos with him as well. What was it like working with him?
He's great. First, he's a complete pro. I mean the guy has 50 or 60 years of experience in his art form. But even after al that, he's just so spontaneous. His takes are always different. He makes it a new experience every time and part of that is very professional. His feeling is "Well, I did it that way. I did it. You got it." He's like Sinatra.
So you've hung out with Shatner. Your fan club is named after a Monty Python reference, "The People's Front of Judea." Would you consider yourself a nerd?
Well, in some ways. I remember reading a quote from my old bassist in Ben Folds Five, Robert Sledge. He said that I was absolutely the squarest person he'd ever met.
Who inspires you musically?
No one specifically. I'm right now in this phase where we go out and buy all these old 78s and we have a portable record player in the hotel room. There is so much inspiring stuff there. And what's kind of cool is that most of it, I've never heard of.
It doesn't have that cult of celebrity. But I've never really taken one person's art and been like "Wow, this is the dude I'm following." It sounds self-centered but I think more about myself.
What do you hope people take away from your performances?
I'm happy that they're happy.
I think what we do is we write what moves us. I suppose anyone who is genetically or spiritually inclined or connected will pick it up, you know? I think there's probably a lot of people who listen to it and say "What a bunch of (expletive deleted)." I know. I read a couple of those reviews. You don't know what's going to connect. People see things different ways. For me, if it's someone who takes things to the heart via the head, they'll get it. Thinkers seem to connect.
You write a ton of songs about people like Eddie Walker, Alice Childress, Uncle Walter, etc. How many of those people are real?
Sometimes they exist literally. Sometimes they are just a little fraction of a personality that you see and then blow it up into a big character. But sometimes, yeah, it's just "Hey, that's that dude."
What do you make of being compared from a songwriting and storytelling standpoint to Randy Newman?
I think it's great. He's one of the best. I love his point of views and his characters are just so well written and sometimes so bizarre. It's a huge compliment.
You got to perform with the Boston Pops in May of 2007. It didn't quite go as planned.
Oh yeah, the fistfight. I was backstage getting ready to come on. They were playing Star Wars or some (expletive deleted) like that. Some idiots started throwing punches up in the balcony.
You've played a few times with orchestras. Your music seems to really lend itself to that style.
And it's a good soundtrack for fighting. (Laughs) I think really I've been writing music my whole career that's really intended for more classical instruments that sort of moved over to rock instruments. To me, the novelty is hearing it on rock style instruments sometimes. Playing with the orchestra is pretty natural.
How much tweaking do you have to do to the songs to fit the mediums?
Well, a lot technically to perform them. It's a timing thing. The orchestra plays in a different world. I have to kind of get with the program.
You're credited with producing, arranging and playing on William Shatner's album, "Has Been." You've since done commercials and videos with him as well. What was it like working with him?
He's great. First, he's a complete pro. I mean the guy has 50 or 60 years of experience in his art form. But even after al that, he's just so spontaneous. His takes are always different. He makes it a new experience every time and part of that is very professional. His feeling is "Well, I did it that way. I did it. You got it." He's like Sinatra.
So you've hung out with Shatner. Your fan club is named after a Monty Python reference, "The People's Front of Judea." Would you consider yourself a nerd?
Well, in some ways. I remember reading a quote from my old bassist in Ben Folds Five, Robert Sledge. He said that I was absolutely the squarest person he'd ever met.
Who inspires you musically?
No one specifically. I'm right now in this phase where we go out and buy all these old 78s and we have a portable record player in the hotel room. There is so much inspiring stuff there. And what's kind of cool is that most of it, I've never heard of.
It doesn't have that cult of celebrity. But I've never really taken one person's art and been like "Wow, this is the dude I'm following." It sounds self-centered but I think more about myself.
What do you hope people take away from your performances?
I'm happy that they're happy.
Leave a comment