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Name: AC Newman
Occupation: musician, lead singer of The New Pornographers
Nationality: Canadian
Current Release: Continue as a Guest on Merge
Recommendations: Aldous Harding’s ‘Warm Chris’ album / ‘A Brief History Of Seven Killings’ by Marlon James.

If you enjoyed this interview with AC Newman, visit his website for more information, or visit thenewpornographers.com for news and music about the band.

When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?
 
I didn’t pick up an instrument until I was 18, and just messed around for a couple years, learned songs from the Beatles easy guitar songbook. A couple years later I started jamming with some friends, and found myself the person singing. Being in a rock band was fun, I felt like a part of something, we got a decent amount of support from friends, it was enough to hook me in. I thought “I will be the person that writes songs for the band”. From there I got into classic songwriters like Bacharach and David, Brian Wilson, Jimmy Webb, Zombies, etc… I was reaching for something that was beyond my abilities, but I guess that is how you learn anything. I’d always loved music and crossing the line into musician and songwriter, that was exciting.
 
Some people experience intense emotion when listening to music, others see colours or shapes. What is your own listening experience like and how does it influence your approach to music?
 
I am definitely a person that focuses in on the melody, the feel, the interaction between the instruments. The lyricists I love the most are the ones that make the words an integral part of the song, where the words get stuck in your head like a melody would. So that is what I’m going for when I write. If a line felt right, sounded right, I would often keep it in even if it made no sense in the context of the song. I’ve always loved non-representational art. I’m far more interested in Paul Klee than super-realist landscapes, though writing songs can be a fun way to combine the two things together.
 
How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?
 
When I started writing I was fascinated by Bacharach, Wilson, Webb, which made me overwrite. I wanted my songs to have that same level of sophistication. It took me awhile to realize that I should simplify, play within the parameters of my ability. As years have gone by, I find myself simplifying the structures and chord changes even more. There are so many places to go within a song that only has 2 chords, harmonically, melodically, in terms of feel, tempo and dynamics. My favorite songwriters of yesteryear made complex songs sound simple, but it is also fun to make simple songs sound complex.
 
The approach to vocals has also changed. I used to be very concerned with the composition, the exact melodies I’d composed. Now I find myself willing to move notes around, change melodies to suit my voice or another voice. I realized that a song can be malleable, there is room to move inside of it. Sometimes the harmony vocal will become the lead vocal and I’ll mute the track that I once thought was the lead. The old ‘kill your darlings’ trick. Though you have to be careful not to kill too many darlings, then you’re just a melody serial killer, but that’s part of the songwriter’s game. It’s a kind of controlled madness.
 
Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.
 
Like a lot of creative people, I have always been a solitary person, but I’ve never embraced that as a part of my personality. I’ve always been in conflict with that part of me. Creativity has always been a method of reaching out to the world, a way of escaping ‘the self’. There is a paradox there, that an introverted person would find themselves singing in front of a big crowd, but it makes sense to me. The person on stage is a cross between who I am and who I want to be. Lyrically, this idea shows up over and over in my work.
 
What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?
 
I always think of the Camus quote I learned from the Scott 4 liner notes: “A man’s work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.” When I was a kid I loved big joyous pop songs, like ‘Happy Together’ or ‘Daydream Believer’, so there has always been a part of me that wants to recreate THAT. That thrill I felt as a child. As I got older, the influence was filtered through other new music that I loved: Pixies, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Stranglers, Blondie, etc… So in the end, I find myself wanting to write mutated pop songs that absorb all the music I’ve loved through my life. Maybe that is what everyone does?
 
How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?
 
I am very aware that I’m part of a tradition, I know I’m not blazing any new trails.  I’ve always been trying to find my voice within that ‘rock and roll tradition’. Trying to avoid cliches, but also embracing classic sounds that I love. Realizing that perfection and imperfection often coexist. I feel like it’s someone else’s job to tell me if our music is timeless or innovative. It’s my job to just be creative and make something that I think is good.
 
Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?
 
Digital recording has been immensely helpful to me for getting ideas down. Digital Performer in particular. When I can sit by myself in the studio and work out an arrangement, I have something that I can play for the band. A guideline that makes rehearsal much easier. Whether the song is going to be a live band performance or a studio creation, it is a good place to start.
 
Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.
 
I’m usually up around 7, as we have an 11-year-old son. Getting him ready for school, coffee, breakfast, taking care of whatever errands need to be run, sometimes that takes up the day. I try to find a few hours every day to go to my home studio and work. It doesn’t matter what I’m working on, the act of creativity is therapeutic. Sometimes I’m there all day, sometimes just an hour. Then our son gets home from school and we play the rest of the day by ear. My wife’s job keeps her very busy, at home and away from home, so it’s always a game to find the balance.