fun.’s Jack Antonoff – HuffPost 4.16.12

Mike Ragogna: It seems that once you get out into the trenches, you’re seeing bands seasoned in a way that they’re so at home in the sweat and the crowds.

Jack Antonoff: The greatest bands have that, and it’s the only thing you can’t fake. There’s so much you can fake, there’s millions of great songwriters out there, there are amazing producers. You put anyone in the studio with Jon Brion and they’re going to sound incredible. You put anyone with Max Martin, they’re going the have a hit. But live, whether it’s technology or anything else, it is unfakeable. It is more than even just the talent–the way you sing, the way you play instruments, the way you play together. There is this other element that the greatest bands create with themselves and with the crowd. They create this third party, which doesn’t exist, the ghost of a great show. Springsteen does it every night when he gets his crowd, himself, and his band to create this thing that happens together. That’s live music. It’s impossible to duplicate.

MR: This is a good point to ask this question. What advice might you have for new artists?

JA: To know that that’s it. Everyone’s coming up with a quicker way to get successful. Two or three years ago, it was all about Pitchfork and all about hype. You just do that and you blow up and you’re Arcade Fire, which doesn’t work. Arcade Fire was one of the most amazing bands. That’s why they’re huge. To tour, it’s almost like the meat and potatoes of the situation, to go out there, get an event and understand what it means to be in a band. If you do have the one in a million opportunity to play for lots of people, you’re going to want to have that experience. When we get up there in big crowds, that’s all we’re doing. We’re doing it like we did when we were fifteen.