Away from Normal

Big Hassle Media

FEATURES / eye to eye

Away from Normal

the eye interviews ben folds

By Zach Dyer

PrintPrint

Singer-songwriter Ben Folds is known for defying music industry conventions. From improvising at his concerts to leaking a fake version of his album Way to Normal months before its release, Folds does what he wants—unapologetically. His two latest albums, an all-a cappella album and a two-disc re-release, have pushed the envelope even further. Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! features 14 recordings of university a cappella groups around the country, and 2 original a capella tracks. Zach Dyer chats with Ben Folds about the industry, the challenges of a capella, and keeping it real.

What exactly was your motivation behind the Stems and Seeds release?
The Stems and Seeds project is a little unusual and kind of unexpected. What happened there, is that we’ve all seen the argument—or at least if you are an audiophile or a nerd, someone who cares about good sonic reproduction—that you’ve seen albums get louder and louder over the last five to 10 years. It’s been going up and up. And it’s kind of like the frog boiling in the water and not knowing when it happened, that he was boiling. So when my record Way to Normal came out, it was decidedly loud—that was the idea. We were producing the record and that was the idea; we wanted it surprisingly loud and crunchy for a piano-pop record. But a lot of my fans were playing it back on nice stereo equipment and were bumming because they weren’t really hearing the music as much as they were hearing the distortion and the crunch.
They didn’t really think that it suited the album, and I couldn’t really disagree with them about the overall trend that music is getting visibly too loud. It’s just gratuitous loudness. It’s there to compete with other records. ...
The gist of it is that I thought I had the opportunity to give them another look at the record. So we went back into the studio to gather stems, which, for the uninitiated or those who don’t know much about multitrack recording, it’s basically multitrack files of the record so that anybody with a laptop computer can put this in and remix the record. That gives someone the idea of what goes on in inside the recording of a record, which is cool.
The other thing is while we were working with the tracks, my engineer and I remixed them at a quieter, more dynamic level so that people could have a master that was classically more dynamic and quieter. Then, while we were at it, we threw on the fake tracks we had recorded.

And what about the a cappella album—why did that one happen?
Well, I realized that these college a cappella groups were covering my music and doing a really good job of it and it just made sense to me to reach out and say, “let’s reach out and get the best ones, and put them out on a record.” And then I got more involved than I expected to, because I realized that if I really wanted to record this well, I needed to get out there and produce it. So my engineer and I, once again, got to work and basically, through my vacation time, drove, flew, took planes, trains—whatever it took to get to these universities and record these groups myself.

You performed with one of Columbia’s own a cappella groups, Uptown Vocal, a couple weeks ago as part of a whole tour where you perform at universities. What’s it like to perform with these college a cappella groups?
It’s great having them open up for me. We’ve done it at a lot of shows now, and it’s really cool, because most of the time, it’s a university audience, so the audience in general is curious and proud of the group, and they kick ass! A cappella groups are essentially doing modern folk music. They are picking the songs that kind of speak; it might be an R&B song or all kinds of stuff. It’s cool, I love those groups!

What was it like recording a cappella songs of your own for your most recent album?
Well, it’s really difficult. Especially difficult for me, or someone who isn’t already in an a cappella group. I learned a lot from the groups: I recorded them for a month or so and got familiar with their methods. I really got a basic training tutorial on the whole thing. But then, when I did it for myself, I had to multitrack and overdub all my own vocals, and that’s really time consuming and difficult.

For Stems and Seeds, you responded directly to fan criticism. Why was that so important to you, and do you think it’s something others should do?
Well, you can’t respond to everything that comes up, and I don’t think there’s much art in being a by-request artist. You can’t respond to every, “Hey, why don’t you change this word, why don’t you do this and that?” In this case, I couldn’t disagree—I’m really sympathetic to the cause of getting music to a really dynamic level. I think that’s a great cause. I’m sick of putting on records or CDs that basically have no dynamics left and sound totally programmed on the grids. I think it has gone too far.
Whether mine should have been a poster child for that or not is debatable, but I just feel like, well, hell, they’re right, let’s give them a quieter version—that’s cool. I think that the reason ours was like that was an effect. It’s not like I’m giving a correction, like, “Oh, sorry! Never mind that record, here’s the real one!” It’s just like, oh, I totally sympathize, and I can give you an alternate version of that record, and I had time to do it, so I don’t mind doing it. It’s kind of a rarity though, it’s not something I expect to be doing again.

Throughout your career, but since your last album, Way to Normal, especially, you have departed from industry standards. Do you ever feel pressure to stick to a certain program that is dictated by the music industry?
Well, I think there are times to stick to the program, and I don’t think the program’s so bad all the time. I mean the program is the structure, and when I have an opportunity to do something that occurs to me—to do something risky—I do it. I mean all these things are risky because they add up, if you release records the way I release them.
I’ll give you an example. There was a show in another territory that I was interested in doing, in an orchestral setting, and we know that I sell enough tickets to do but it, but it all got messed-up and turned-down because they opened up sales figures and saw that the last record I put out didn’t sell well, and you know, it wasn’t even a real record. But people really go on numbers, and they go on these things. You go off the program for a little bit and it makes business tough, first of all, and confuses the people you work with, so it is risky—but it’s probably riskier not to do the ideas you have. What kind of example do I set if I don’t follow my heart and do the things that I think are interesting, that I’d like to hear? So what if they don’t sell that much? At the end of the day, I’ve still got a job, so I’ll be fine.

Your children appear in one of your music videos for Way to Normal and are also featured on the a capella album with you. Are they generally around your work a lot? Is it ever difficult for them. For you?
Well I mean they're around all the time. When I was a kid and my father built houses you know I had to go sit on the construction site and pick up trash and stuff for him. This is the same thing. They're around because I'm working. I'm working now and I'm trying to keep them occupied while I'm on the phone with you. And I suppose in a couple years if I have to go do something I'll just put one of them on to do the rest of the interview! Its all just a part of their life and they feel like its all normal, which it is. We stay normal.

Comments

We're looking for comments that are interesting and substantial. If your comments are excessively self-promotional, or obnoxious you will be banned from commenting. Consult the comment FAQ and legal terms.

23 April 2009
vol. 6, issue 11

More FEATURES