A Conversation with Ben Kweller – HuffPost 5.2.12

Mike Ragogna: Hello there, Ben Kweller.

Ben Kweller: Hello, my friend.

MR: Did you have a blast at SXSW where, dare I say, I saw you perform a frikkin’ awesome set?

BK: Yeah, I love SXSW. It’s changed a million percent since I started going in the mid-’90s. But, it’s a lot of fun. Since my album came out, it made sense that we were a big part of South By this year, so I did like five shows a day and ran myself ragged, but it was really, really, really a lot of fun.

MR: Did you get to check out any music while you were there?

BK: You know, it was the first year in a long time that I didn’t get to go check out any bands. I saw a little of the bands we played with. We did a show with Built To Spill, so I got to see a little of them. I saw a little of Trampled By Turtles, and they actually sat in on some of our songs, which was fun. I did go see Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. That was really fun. He’s obviously not looking for a record deal. That would come as a surprise.

MR: These days, I don’t know if even he’d get one.

BK: Yeah, right?

MR: Okay, let’s get into your latest album, Go Fly A Kite. You’re coming off a regional hit with “Mean To Me.”

BK: Yeah, yeah. It’s starting to take off. In Australia, we just found out that “Mean To Me” is number one on Triple J Radio over there, which is their nationally syndicated student radio. So, yeah, things are feeling really good. You know radio. I’ve always wanted to send my songs to radio, but the labels I was signed to over the years never really had much belief in radio and never wanted to focus on that. They always insisted that I continue to tour and build my fan base and that’s all well and good. But this whole time, I really thought I’ve had a few songs that deserved to have a shot to be played on the air. This past year, we started our own record label called the Noise Company. The one big promo thing with the album that I really wanted to do was take some of these songs to radio and to go for that. So far, it’s been really thrilling to kind of watch everything unfold.

MR: Well, you didn’t have to take it to this radio station, we came to you, babe.

BK: Well, there you go, that’s the best case scenario, right?

MR: (laughs) Right after I caught your performance at SXSW, I got on the phone and hunted you down lie a dog for this interview for HuffPost and the station. Bam.

BK: Nice, that’s awesome, and KGSR, they always throw a fun party, and that’s obviously my hometown station. Austin is really interesting because when it comes to terrestrial radio, we have three amazing stations — we have KGSR, we have 101X, which is the alternative station, then we have KUT, which is the NPR affiliate that goes through UT…University of Texas. So, we have three awesome terrestrial radio stations, which, God, I lived in New York for eight years and I think the best stuff I could find was Mike the Mad Dog on Sports Radio FAN. So to have three cool stations in Austin is pretty lucky, and like I said, they throw a good party.

MR: Austin has such a great musical community. In some ways, it reminds me of Nashville, only more inclusive.

BK: Well, country is an interesting thing. Obviously, you have the Nashville world and it’s such an insider’s world. I’ve had friends who try to go to Nashville to write songs, but they’re outsiders and they’re great writers of country and western music, but they’re not allowed in that club. But in Texas, they usually embrace the outsiders. Outlaw country was pretty much invented down there, so there is a little more of an open-mindedness to some southern music. It’s interesting. So are you from New York?

MR: Uh-huh. And I’ve lived in lots of places including Iowa where I am now, but I’m still a New Yorker. It’s impossible to break that habit.

BK: Yep, totally.

MR: Ben, what is your creative process like?

BK: I sit with my guitar or I sit at the piano and I start making music and work on chord progressions. Once I get something I like, then I start singing words and just (do) kind of stream of consciousness. When I get a phrase I like, I write it down and I go from there and just build on it. But, the music comes first. The music creates the melody with the vocal melody, then the vocal melody dictates what the words will be.

MR: Cool, getting back to “Mean To Me”…

BK: “Mean To Me” was written when I was on tour in Australia and I just got off of this US run, working with somebody that just turned out to be a total backstabber and just kind of like a really evil person who was pitting people against each other and talking s**t. It was just this weird vibe. It’s amazing how when you’re living with a group of people, one person can just change the mood of an entire group for better or for worse. I was thinking about that, so the second verse came from LA, this person was from LA. And then, you know, it’s kind of a double meaning in the chorus, “You don’t know what you mean to me.” Obviously, it could be a good thing. Maybe I’m thinking pretty happy thoughts about you or maybe I’m thinking negative thoughts about you. Most of the time, when I sing it, I’m feeling pretty grateful and I’m thinking about my wife most of the time. But, you have to have that negative stuff to appreciate the positive stuff. It’s all about balance.

MR: I feel a little awkward asking, but is “Jealous Girl” about somebody in particular?

BK: Well, it’s definitely inspired by two different situations I found myself in, and I think we’ve all kind of been there, where a friend falls in love with someone and that new someone doesn’t want him to have anything to do with all of the pre-existing friends that were in his life. I just started thinking about that. It’s just such a sad thing when a new person on the scene tries to exclude everyone, you know? I don’t know if it’s insecurity or what it is, but anyway, that’s what that song’s about. But, it’s kind of funny, because I’ve had jealous emotions a lot and I think it’s pretty natural and normal to be jealous about things. So, I feel kind of funny when I think about the song, because I’m not trying to preach, I’m not trying to play like I’m Mr. F**king Cool. It’s just a pop song at the end of the day.

MR: Okay, “Out The Door,” what’s the story behind it?

BK: Actually, “Out The Door” happened rather quickly. I wrote it around the time I wrote “Mean To Me.” I was really in a kind of mode, I guess, which kind of happens. My songs usually come out in threes sometimes, or I’ll write two and I have an unfinished third one that lingers around and usually dies. “Mean To Me” and “Out The Door” were written in Australia on tour in hotel rooms. The chorus happened first. It came to me, then I just kind of filled in the blanks on the verses and not really about anything particular other than the sentiment of loving the one you’re with and not giving a s**t about anything else because nothing else matters. When you find that special someone, which, hopefully, we all can, hold on to that person, hold on to that hand and explore and adventure and try not to take things too seriously. So that song is about being blind to everything except your lover and just kind of hitting the road. I find myself writing about that a lot.

MR: What about the concept behind “Full Circle.”

BK: Well, I think it’s a song I couldn’t have written ten years ago. I think it might be my favorite song on the new album, lyrically. Really proud of that one. Again, wrote in Australia. We were there for about a month. I was writing a ton over there. Now that we’re doing this interview, it’s all coming back to me. I remember it was a summer festival on the beach in Australia and I was up in my room writing lyrics to “Full Circle.” I can picture the room right now. I start the song off with a quote I read once: “The time to make up your mind about someone is never.” I love that quote. It’s so easy to meet someone in five minutes and typecast that person in a certain way. You think you’ve got them figured out, but there is so much more in all of us. Everybody is so complex and to fully understand the essence of someone, it really takes time. I start the song about that and how you’ve got to be open. We’ve all done that, we’ve all sort of pinpointed people, whatever the word is.

MR: Stereotyping?

BK: Yes, stereotyping, exactly, pigeon-holed. Then I just go through all different verses. There are a lot of instances I talk about. I talk about my eight years living in New York starting my career, and how awesome it is from the Brooklyn Heights to the Marfa Lights. Marfa is a deep West Texas town that is famous for these unexplained UFO sightings.

MR: Alright, you mentioned it, what are your thought on UFOs?

BK: There have been a lot of hoaxes and a lot of fakes. But, do I believe in extraterrestrial life? Hell yes! We’re such a small spec in our galaxy alone. Then, there are billions of stars. It’s very simple astronomy. A lot of people don’t realize that our sun is a start. When we look out at those stars, those are like our sun. Some are bigger than our sun and smaller. Most of the ones we see are probably bigger. Those suns are so huge and have so much gravity, gravitational pull, so there have to be big objects, planets, circling those stars. So to think that we’re the only thing out there is pretty small thinking.

MR: This is a goofy question of course, but how do you think we’re doing in the whole scheme of things if one of them were to visit?

BK: I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that very much. I don’t know if we’d be able to relate to each other, because, who knows how they’ve evolved.

MR: That’s the question, how do you think we’ve evolved?

BK: It’s pretty amazing how mankind has evolved. You can view it as nothing has happened or as amazing s**t has happened. Sometimes, you can view the world as we’re all like little ants running around, eating and s**tting and procreating. That’s kind of a sad way to look at it. Or, you can look at it at a more micro level and see the beauty in human nature and mankind and emotion and friendship. That’s the side that I tend to gravitate towards. But you know, it’s all about our time here on earth. I don’t think much about the afterlife. I think more about what can I do here now and with the limited stuff we do know about life. We know what feels good and what hurts, so try to make the good feelings happen more frequently.

MR: Why, might that apply to the music on Go Fly A Kite, sir?

BK: Yes, I would say so.

MR: And do I I detect a little magic, alittle Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in all of your characters’ lives? Maybe that’s the whole Go Fly A Kite vibe?

BK: Totally. For me, it was all about the phrase go fly a kite, kind of like, “Go F yourself,” you know? But I love the innocence of it as well…just go fly a kite, it’s okay, don’t worry about it. I’m a big fan of juxtaposition, double meanings–salty, sweet, skulls, and strawberries all put together. I like that.

MR: Ben, what advice would you have for new artists?

BK: Well, the most important thing is just make art all the time–constantly. And just be yourself, do your thing, don’t worry about fads or what’s popular or cool. Worry about what you like and what you think is cool. Make the music that you love, that speaks to you. Hopefully, an audience will find your music, that would be a great thing. But if not, at least you’re making music that you love and that will get you through the day, you know? So that’s the thing. Every song you write, every recording you make, that’s going to be a part of you for the rest of your life, so it had better be something real.

MR: By the way, how cool is it that you have your own label?

BK: Oh, it’s super cool. It’s a lot of work, but it’s great for me. I love it.

MR: Where can we follow your tour dates?

BK: The https://www.benkweller.com website has all the tour dates.

MR: Nice. Ben, I appreciate your time, it was really nice talking to you catching up, thanks.

BK: It was great talking to you.

Transcribed by Brian O’Neal