And of course, why what he really wants to do is direct.
Youre famous for how stripped down your production is.
But your new record feels very maximalist theme-wise, sound-wise, even lyric-wise.
Credit: David James Swanson
Do you think its fair to say that?
Oh yeah, for sure.
And when you have that idea, that will lead itself to a maximalist tendency.
So you sort of threw out your own rules.
But the fact is they have to be there to begin with, you know?
If you walk in and say in any field, painting or sculpture or whatever, Theres no rules!
youre opening yourself up to a lot of problems.
Like, one problem a lot of artists have is knowing when to stop.
So for me, creating with rules and parameters really helps me identify that and thats really important.
But everyone has to have their own thing, and it might not work for the next person.
But Im never saying that never.
Im only talking about howIdo things and how it works for me.
Someone else can make an entire career on Pro Tools and make something amazing out of it.
Why did you move in that direction?
And you have to be very talented to be able to pull something like that off.
Can we get that keyboardist, this bass player?
And I didnt know if that was ironic or not, because you kind ofdohave a corporation.
Its me personally, it comes out of my wallet.
So Im the sole owner and the sole investor.
Youhopethe bank gives you a loan.
So with you, its more of an LLC situation.
Where did you find those?
[Laughs]That first one started with this singer C.W.
Stoneking, who happened to be in New York when we were recording there.
You know like in1984, theyre trying to eliminate words we dont say fantastic we say doubleplusgood.
you’re free to tell in the world of texting that thats a dangerous possibility.
Yeah, it doesnt actually exist.Misophoniadoes, but it sort of morphed.
Im not really sure we succeed in that.
[Laughs]But it was the idea of trying to do that.
Did you have to teach yourself that?
Yeah, that was from watching that documentaryThis Is It, which brought me to tears.
So I thought Well let me make a run at do that.
Did it start to feel natural to you?
No, its very unnatural.
So I had to teach myself that.
And Kanye, famously, was still working onYeezusmid-release.
Do you ever feel perfectly satisfied with a record once its done?
Im the exact opposite of that.
I feel done and finished and ready to go probably before it reallyisdone[laughs].
I think going with your gut you definitely feel good about it forever.
You collect a lot of things: taxidermy, rock memorabilia, comic books.
The first Elvis recording you bought specifically so you could share it and press it on Third Man.
Do you ever think about maybe starting a Third Man Museum?
Yeah its definitely a possibility.
If we had the room for that, it would be nice.
Because I think things are supposed to be shared.
Its almost like you have to have this custodial idea behind these things that you think are beautiful.
Its tricky, I dont know.
I think nobody should ownanything, first of all.
I dont know, I havent really come to terms with some of those things.
Well, I gotta say I really dont feel like I possess anything.
I would love for my grandchildren to have a lamp of mine and know that it was mine.
I love the things I have that were my grandparents.
When I say What do you think of this?
theyll say I love it!
or Nah I dont like it.
Have they developed their own taste at this point?
Id guess theyre into some things that youre really not.
Its kind of funny, when I was a kid I didnt likeanythinganybody else liked.
[Laughs]I should have been sat down and talked to.
You know, Take it easy buddy, its not that big of a deal.
And these are good things.
You cant just go along with the crowd.
Are we really being unique, or are we afraid to like something that other people dont like?
Its a giant test isnt it, on social media.
Your kids could rebel and get really into Chainsmokers just to piss you off.
If they loved it I would definitely support it.
Does touring feel like an interruption to you now?
I do enjoy it, but it does take a long time.
Thats a little bit of what tourings like.
Its hard to go everywhere you want to go, too.
Theres places Ive never played because we cant get a gig there.
You know, Ive never been to the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia.
You just mentioned films.
Is it true that youd like to direct?
Oh, very much so.
Ive had many opportunities, but Ive never had the window.
What kind of project interests you?
Well Ive written scripts, but I really want to direct someone elses script first as a feature length.
Theres this idea that rock stars and movie stars lead fabulous lives.
Oh yeah, I agree.
You have to absolutely be in love with it.
And thats something it’s possible for you to never even consider as work.
And then you realize, Oh Ive been doing something for 12 hours.
Did friends start texting you when you were a visualJeopardy!question recently?
The guy who guessed first thought you were Eminem.
Where they put some weird photo of me up there?
Yeah, a bunch of people did.
Being onJeopardy!is definitely some form of making it, I suppose.
How do you decide when to say no to things?
A problem I have is definitely guilt.
And I have to learn a little bit of that.
But I worry too much that people will find it as a mean gesture.
Are there certain things lately that you find yourself leaning into or away from creatively?
Thats a good question.
Ive never planned my life very far ahead at all.
But Ive been doing that since they were born, and youre not supposed to do that.
So Ive never really planned that far ahead.
I dont know what Ill be doing next year.
