I do think that when you make repeated mistakes, it’s usually because you’re just not coming to grips with something.
BEN FOLDSI do think that when you make repeated mistakes, it’s usually because you’re just not coming to grips with something.
BEN FOLDSI always feel very lucky that I am forced to make records at certain times. If I was forced to make 2 records a year, I would write twice as many songs. I can’t make myself finish something unless I am forced
BEN FOLDSWhen someone really goes to tell you something about what they’re thinking, they’re going to wear that experience with them. That’s what you have to share.
BEN FOLDSBut I really do have a soft spot for the solo shows. Any musician who writes and sings will tell you that’s the center of it, that is it. It’s almost like there’s something church-like about it and you gotta go back there, if you’re a songwriter that sings your material.
BEN FOLDSI have manic energy. What can be done about it? I don’t know what to say sometimes. I’m professional in public, but I like to stay inside and be a hermit.
BEN FOLDSBecause I write very simply, but inside the simplicity, there’s a lot of subtlety. That’s what I’m proud of.
BEN FOLDSPeople aren’t going to sit there very often, not your average public, and your average music-business monster is not going to take the time to notice the overtones and the undertones inside the flavor. They’d rather just have the martini.
BEN FOLDSThe way I see it, there’s only one melody for any song.
BEN FOLDSNow that I have found someone, I’m feeling more alone… than I ever have before.
BEN FOLDSI think a lot of good directors listen to music while they’re working. The songs just don’t become a part of the film. They’re replaced.
BEN FOLDSMy job is to be some sort of music/lyric psychic, to figure out that that’s the right song to not fight the lyric.
BEN FOLDSEverything I write is personal, really. Even when I’m sarcastic, it’s quite personal. And on this record, from the production to the singing to the performances, I got it really honest.
BEN FOLDSThere is still some art in pop music. But it can’t happen if you’re not inspired.
BEN FOLDSThe music business is a weird business. Sometimes licensing doesn’t happen because some business component that you never knew about stops it.
BEN FOLDSI drink a lot, probably too much. My scene while writing lyrics is always a bottle of scotch and stacks of note cards, pencil and pencil sharpener. I throw around note cards and drink.
BEN FOLDSIn many ways, I’ve chosen to be plain, almost too plain, too self-effacing. Like, if I record a vocal and I don’t like the way it sounds, I would have them turn it up and take the reverb off it to make it as plain as possible.
BEN FOLDS