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Is it hard to write a successful love song? It takes effort to write a song for somebody. I've written songs for people who didn't like the lyrics, or were kind of uncomfortable about them. I wrote a song to my beautiful, insecure friend about how frustrating and sad it was that she didn't realize how beautiful she was. I think that really annoyed her. I never played that song again. Once I wrote a song for a girl, and I played it for her. She responded really positively. Later, I found out she thought it was really awkward and horrible that I'd done that, and she was just trying to get out of the room as fast as possible. Have you ever made a girl fall in love with you through a song? No. A song can help if the person's already in love with you, but writing a song for someone who doesn't love you and hoping they'll be converted is a bad idea. Have you written any songs for your Leah, your current girlfriend? I've tried. It's hard, because being in love doesn't inspire as much cleverness as being downtrodden and lonely, and I have a hard time not trying to be clever in songs. There's no need for that stuff when you're in love. There are songs that just say "I love you, I'm crazy about you" with a beautiful melody. The ultimate example of that is this song by
What about sexual songs — do you write those? I have lyrics that people think are sexual jokes, but to me they aren't. Like, "What do you keep there in the deep there," which people think is a vagina reference. And, "Must you always play the glacier, must I play Titanic?" People think it's a Bon Jovi line about how big my dick is, but I just meant, "In my attempt to get close to you do I have to destroy myself?" Do you ever write purposefully sexy music? A lot of my favorite music is stuff that sounds very dirty and intense but doesn't have very much sexual content, lyrically. It's more like the feel of it and the fundamental energy and darkness of it through the sound of dirty guitar playing. What is dirty guitar playing? I like surf guitar, even though it's played by dorky older guys who aren't sexual at all. It sounds like the youngest, most rocking guys in leather jackets who are out to party and have sex with girls in cars. You've played around NYC for a while, but touring with They Might Be Giants was your first time playing in front of larger crowds. What was that like? I've played in rock bands and I found that a ton more people approach you when you're a ukulele player. I think they're less intimidated. It's amazing how many girls actually have given me their numbers or written to me asking me out on dates. It's always really moving. Do you think it's weird for Leah when you sing about how lonely you are? That's just a part of being a musician and singing love songs. Leah's music is the same. She writes really lonely songs, and guys fall in love with her. You don't mind that guys fall in love with her? I don't really understand jealousy a lot of the time. Leah and I've chosen each other over all these other people that have crushes on us. What was it like touring with Leah? It was amazing. It felt like a really incredible road trip. Everyone told us we would fight and break up if we went on tour together, but they were completely wrong. I don't know why everyone thinks spending time together means fighting. I tend to think most people are completely off in their ideas about romance and relationships. Before I met Leah, I was always hung up on not being normal, or not being good with girls and not having "real relationships". It took a long time to see that all these really hot people who are with people all the time are often just having dysfunctional relationships every time. When you're not touring, you both work at home. Is that hard? Sometimes it's hard to work 'cause it's so tempting to hang out. But it's really amazing, because we have a relationship where we have fun together almost all the time. We have a one-minute fight and then it's forgotten within an hour and we're hanging out. Do you ever not get along creatively? Sometimes, especially when we play music together. Leah's a really intense musician on her own. She has her way of doing things, and that's not the same as my way. But using both of our styles is great. She's an illustrator, and everything she makes is so beautiful. I have no way of designing a T-shirt or designing my album. How was opening for They Might Be Giants? They Might Be Giants fans are great because they're used to humor and quirkiness. And it's great to go on tour with any band that has an obsessive fan base, because they think, "Oh, this act has been selected by this band we love to open, so we're going to listen to them." I would walk on stage with the ukulele and everybody would go nuts. I used to go and see They Might Be Giants all the time when I was in high school, and I totally loved them. I got this visceral feeling that these were just people really being themselves, you know? That there was no trying to look cool. I think that's why they've gotten such a visceral response, while being so weird the entire time. n° Visit Michael's website here.
© 2006 Sarah Harrison & hooksexup.com |
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