Ben Kweller - In His Own Write
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With a reputation as one of indie rock’s most forthright and honest artists, Ben Kweller's artistic output, albums ‘Sha Sha’, ‘On My Way’ and most recently ‘Ben Kweller’ has been both commercially and critically successful. Having been no stranger to our shores, Kweller’s following here was only strengthened by his tour with the ‘other Bens’ Lee and Folds during 2004. The Dwarf recently had the chance to chat to Ben in the wake of the release of ‘Ben Kweller’ and The Dwarf must say that in the Rock and Roll world of overly inflated egos matched with little to no talent, it is not only refreshing but a pleasant surprise to have the chance to speak to an artist whose warmth and spirit can bounce effortlessly over the pacific ocean via a mere phone line. This particular Dwarfer hopes you enjoy the conversation as much as she did.
The Dwarf: Now before I start I am under strict instructions from my brother to tell you that your Prince of Wales show in 2004 was the best he has ever seen.
BK: No way! That’s great!
The Dwarf: Moving along... I wanted to ask you about the process of recording the new album, it’s a bit different to ‘On My Way’. How did it come about that you decided to do everything yourself?
BK: Well, I was hanging out with the producer Gil, and at about our second meeting about the album and he basically said that night ‘I really think you should play all the instruments because the songs are so autobiographical that if you play every instrument its so personal’ so I went for it.
The Dwarf: There is a lot of honesty in your songs , do you sometimes want to censor yourself because you are letting a bit too much of yourself out.
BK: For me, it’s the only way I know how to write songs. I was never good at keeping a diary or a journal so writing songs is basically my only way of releasing all that energy. I feel like its important to me to make music that’s real and about my life, because the songs will be here long after I am gone, so I want to leave something honest behind for people to remember me by at least.
The Dwarf: The new album is self-titled; why wait until your third album to have a self-titled one?
BK: Well that’s because my first album had to be called ‘Sha Sha’ because that’s what it said to me and the same for the last album, I named it ‘On My Way’ because my favourite song was ‘On My Way’. The albums name themselves is basically what I am trying to say and I never made an album that needed to be called ‘Ben Kweller’ until this one; because this one, like we were talking about earlier, the words are so personal and I played every instrument and everything about it is Ben Kweller, and when you press play you are inviting me into your living room for the evening so I just thought that it was fitting to self-title it.
The Dwarf: A lot of people have categorized your music using a lot of different terms and the term ‘anti-folk’ comes up a lot, and I’ll be honest, I have no idea what that means, can you explain it to me?
BK: Well, ‘anti-folk’ was a movement that came out in the late 80’s in New York City, in the Lower East Side . There was an artist called Paleface who is the founder of the movement and early Beck and One Foot in the Grave are considered ‘anti-folk’ . When I moved to New York in 1999 I met Adam Green from the Moldy Peaches and they were like one of the forerunners of that ‘anti-folk’ scene and my early music; my first CD was called ‘Freak Out Its Ben Kweller’ before I got signed and a lot of people considered that an ‘anti-folk’ album because its me with an acoustic guitar like acoustic punk basically. That’s ‘anti-folk’. Once I got signed songs like ‘Family Tree’, ‘Lizzie’ and I guess ‘On My Way’ is sort of ‘anti-folk’ but to me its just a way of saying ‘modern folk’. I’ve never been good at classifying music . I just tell people that I play ‘classic rock’ .
The Dwarf: Do those kind of classification help or hinder you as an artist?
BK: Well they don’t really do anything to me as an artist, I think they help the other people; the listeners, I think it helps them get a point of reference. I don’t really mind what people call my music, its just that my music changes a lot so I’m not really an easily classified artist. I’m just Ben Kweller and I play Ben Kweller music.
The Dwarf: That’s a great way to categorize it
BK: Yeah (laughs)
The Dwarf: So, who is influencing you musically at the moment?
BK: Lately, I have been listening to a lot of children’s albums because I’m a father now and so I have been getting a lot of kids songs and like Burl Ives and these old folk singers. I just recently bought ‘Born In The USA’ again by Bruce Springsteen and I love that album. I hadn’t heard it since I was six years old.
The Dwarf: Congratulations on becoming a dad!
BK: Thank you!
The Dwarf: That must be awesome… and tiring
BK: I gotta say, actually I don’t notice a huge lack of sleep because he sleeps so good through the night, its amazing.
The Dwarf: I hope he keeps sleeping through the night, that’s fantastic. Do you think fatherhood is going to influence your songwriting?
BK: I’m sure it will, I cant really say how. I have always been really nostalgic in my music and very sentimental so I’m not going to all of a sudden start writing these nostalgic songs because I always have. I think it will give me more to write about and more depth and seeing his life unravel and unfold will be fun for me to watch .
The Dwarf: You have been listening to a lot of children’s albums lately, can we see a collaboration with The Wiggles in the future?
BK: You know I don’t know if I would collaborate with them but I kinda want to make my own kids album.
The Dwarf: Now, about the Bens…
BK: Yeeeees?
The Dwarf: Is there any chance that you will get together with the other Bens and do another tour?
BK: Yes, there is, I think its highly likely, I just don’t know when, but I know we all wanna do it again so I don’t see why it wouldn’t happen. I would love to write more songs with them and make a whole album and tour the world… one day we will do it.
Ben Kweller’s new album Ben Kweller is out now on Sony BMG.
