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Interview
by SashaS
11-6-2004
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| AC Newman's 'Slow Wonder' is a marvel |
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Emotional rescue
A.C. Newman and ‘Slow Wonder’ freedom
AC Newman is better known as Carl of the New Pornographers whose album ‘Electric Version’ was one of the most beautiful CDs released last year [May, Matador also]. His debut LP is ‘Slow Wonder’, made by bankrolling by the Government of Canada.
The man, who currently spends most of his time commuting between Vancouver and San Francisco for love reason, is a quiet, eloquent and copious answerer. HiStory goes like this:
“This is a very ugly time, music has become such a commodity. When you look at shows like ‘American Idol’, it simply has nothing to do with quality but finding out which person is going to be liked the most and putting a record out by him or her. Media and people are manipulated. There are no really grassroots success stories.”
“I keep forgetting I am a musician… I don’t know [what I’m in my mind]… Sometime I’m making a record and forget it is for other people and when people talk about it I am surprised… That’s how I work, make a record for myself without any concern how other people are going to view it.”
“Sometime I wonder how does it feel to be such ‘Idol’, a pop-star on top of the world, for six months, no-one bigger than you and then being replaced by the next winner. It is like being a Beauty Queen but they don’t get really hurt as much as the pop-stars who are deluded to think of being able to forge a pop career.”
“Of course I’ve got nothing to do with it, I’m part of the undeground and there is a very healthy scene. People who love music making the way they want. An underground band that can sell 100,000 copies in the US, and tour few months in a year, you can do well for yourself. With royalties, you can be actually set for life. I’m not that concerned with that side but it is important to know that you don’t have to depend on the mainstream. The whole musical culture that exists, I know it, I know what it needs to be successful.”
Cultural moneybags
“My album was financed by FACTOR, which stands for the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent On Record; I didn’t have a contract at the time and I applied for a grant by submitting two songs. I got a grant of 18,000 dollars and then got another 13 thousand dollars to market my record. I’m gonna use this to release record in Canada on my own label, The Bue Curtain.”
“It was very handy and it allowed me total artistic freedom. I didn’t have anyone telling me what to do, how and when. They try to recoup it and you don’t have to pay the Marketing Grant back but the initial one. And only 50 cents per album sold is being paid back and if they don’t recoup from that, it is a write-off. The sales are counted on international basis but you have to be honest about royalties you receive… If you don’t some other budding artists may suffer along the line.”
“But, I don’t know how long it is going to last because the Canadian government is getting more right-wing and they gonna look at it one day and ask themselves, ‘What do we get out of this?’ They support Canadian artists and it doesn’t cost more than few million a year. It really supports Canadian independent scene; there is a tour grant and a lot of Canadian bands tour America and Europe on that grant.”
“There is also a Video grant and the New Pornographers made three clips using this facility. You get 15 or 20 thousand dollars to make a video… If you don’t use the money up you can pocket but my album cost 22,000 thousand and I had to pay the difference out of my pocket.”
“There has been a democratisation of the music world… People say that downloads are bad, the illegal ones… I don’t know, I don’t see it that way. Let’s say one million people downloaded my music and some would argue that’s million lost sales. But, when I tour, if only one tenth came to see me and bought my merchandise, I’m not out of pocket. The industry may be in the changing times but artists have always been badly paid. The whole industry is based on the premise of artists not making much on a single copy of the album.”
Creative solitude vs. collective
“This is a very personal album but I only find that out later on when I re-listen to it. When I write, it is hard because it may not make a lot of sense but, at least, I’m honest. Love, trying to stick to your guns, trying to have some integrity whilst existing in society… Ideally, listeners will interpret the songs completely differently and I like that.”
“People keep on asking me why did I split the band, but I haven’t. This is just something I wanted to do on my own, have had some free time and decided to cut an album. Working solo didn’t really differ much from making a New Pornographers’ record. I have a reputation of being dictatorial but I have a musical vision and I feel I have to make big decisions. I listen to other people’s ideas but I decide whether we work on them or not. I decided long time ago to take control of any creative process I‘m involved in.”
“The only difference in my life is that I have a girlfriend now who lives in San Francisco and am dividing my time with Vancouver. There is also a tour in July and August, US and Canada, then there is the New Pornographers record… We’ve already started it and we hope to have it released in later this year or early next.”
“Don’t know if I’ll be able to tour Europe because I also have to issue my album in Canada. I‘d love to tour here but I’m not sure it would be possible. It’s looking like I’m gotta have to move to San Francisco and I‘m quite looking forward to it.”
SashaS
11-6-2004
A.C Newman’s album ‘The Slow Wonder’ is released 07 June 2004 by Matador
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