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An Interview With Andrew Bird
by Judy Campbell  Photo by Adam Berry To call Andrew Bird a violinist would be to simplify his abilities as a musician. Actually, he bills himself as a professional whistler, and for good reason. You'd do well by yourself to check out his upcoming live show, where you can see Mr. Bird looping violin samples, picking his guitar, tapping a glockenspeil, and crooning in a silky smooth voice that's been compared to Jeff Buckley (not that I would ever stoop to the level of making comparisons when discussing such a talented individual). Oh, yeah, and did I mention he whistles? Haley Bonar opens for Mr. Bird on February 9th at the 40 Watt, and experimental musician Martin Dosh, will accompany him on percussion. Tickets are available online and at Schoolkids Records and Low Yo Yo Stuff. We recently had the opportunity to interview Mr. Bird via e-mail, and here's what he had to say: AE: You've done a good bit of touring this last year. How do you maintain your energy for such a demanding live show? AB: 220 days on the road this last year. It's tough because I'm no good at taking naps. The days when I'm in really bad shape are sometimes the best shows, maybe because you know you're in trouble and those fumes you're running on can be potent. It's an altered and uninhibited stated. Once I'm on stage I'm totally comfortable and it seems that nothing barring acts of god could derail a show since stumbling disaster is already scripted in. AE: You manage to create a lush sound onstage using a violin, guitar, glockenspiel, and sample machine, not to mention whistling and your own voice. How do you get and maintain focus for a show where you have so many responsibilities? (What's your energy groove like onstage, man?) AB: Though it appears to be like cooking bacon on a tight-rope above the falls, everything is designed so that I can lose myself in the song. Once I get the parameters of the loop and the timing its a very malleable intuitive thing. So long as motor skills are passable and my lips are moist, what can go wrong? I often close my eyes and wake up on the other side of the stage 5 songs later. AE: Your past recordings have been genre-bending. The Mysterious Production of Eggs  presents a sound that critics have universally hailed as unique. Squirrel Nut Zippers was swing; Thrills and Oh! The Grandeur was pre-war jazz; The Swimming Hour began to incorporate a number of different genres. How did you find your way through all these different kinds of music? Do you work from a library of music you have enjoyed, or is there a map with a beginning and an end?AB: I've run out of genres to bend. I'm no longer a record collector. It just doesn't work for me anymore. That was when I was still learning. It's a scarier place to be creatively, but I think I'm making more interesting music now. The things I've absorbed come out of me, but not deliberately. AE: You've said in interviews that you worked on The Mysterious Production of Eggs for over four years, and that the album went through three versions before your felt satisfied with it. What was going on? Was that a frustrating process?AB: Yes, it was frustrating, but that's how it had to be. The live show feels so right and the studio just feels so wrong sometimes. I can't stop rewriting the songs. I'm always trying to recreate that rush of discovering a new melody. It's hard for the recording process to keep up. AE: What about the penning of the lyrics? You seem to take special care with wordcraft that's not seen much these days. Is this how you get out your literary aspirations? AB: Literary aspirations? I'm just trying to amuse myself. AE: We read that you had the chance to be on NPR. That's kind of like the Letterman of the intellectual set. What was that experience like? AB: Like sitting between a Brigadier General and an ice-pick lobotomy. AE: Jay Ryan's artwork seems a good match for he Mysterious Production of Eggs . You also managed to secure Chris Ware's help in doing the artwork for Oh! The Grandeur. What leads you to different artists when putting the album together as a package?AB: They are my friends. Print-artists especially. They're usually drawn to text and narrative and have a good sense of humor. Not too precious about their work given the mass production inherent. The visual art is how I keep from going mad. AE: On a side note, is the name of Jay Ryan's art collective in Chicago, The Bird Machine, purely a coincidence? AB: Yes, though there's been talk of combining forces. AE: Speaking of visual artists, you collaborated with your mother, Beth Bird, on The Ballad of the Red Shoes. How did that project come to be? What was the experience like? AB: An exercise in patience, grace. AE: So really, whistling? How did that come about? We must know the origin of the whistling. AB: It's where it all started. AE: Now is the time of year for top ten lists. What records got stuck in your head this year? My Morning Jacket, Z M. Ward, Transistor Radio The Go! Team Konono No1 Cambodian pop cassettes from the 70's Ghana music circa '73 Nigeria '70 Angola '60 Andrew Bird's website is Bowl of Fire Comments [post a comment]Comments are closed |
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
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