Forgive me for skipping the introduction, but you all know Andy Friedman by now—hell, old boy’s played our city a half-dozen times in the last two years, with his early poetry slideshows and his first album, Taken Man. On January 22, Friedman and his band, the Other Failures, are back to release Friedman’s second batch of songs, Weary Things, a real road warrior. (Full review in next week’s C-VILLE.)
I spoke with Friedman—a former New Yorker cartoonist, founder of City Salvage Records and former roommate of local musician Paul Curreri, who produced and mixed Weary Things—yesterday about his new album. Interview highlights after the photo.
Andy Friedman and the Other Failures release Weary Things at Gravity Lounge on January 22.
On his writing process: "I keep a notebook everywhere and, every time I think of a line, I write it down. And then every couple of weeks I’ll realize I’m really testy or depressed, I didn’t shave, and I’ll think, ‘Uh oh.’ That’s sort of my way of being pregnant with a song. For me, if I’m really pregnant with a song, I start getting down."
On his touring essentials: "Before the iPod, I’d travel around with like six of those 300-capacity black Case Logic books. I was travelling a lot with Paul Curreri…[and] he would make fun of me, like ‘You could have 600 CDs in that book of 300. Why do you need to bring the liner notes?’"
On working with Paul Curreri: "Our friendship comes into play; we are quite telepathic. We’ve definitely been through a lot together…we shared every facet of our dreams together back in college, all the way through. So, that telepathy sometimes manifests itself like two brothers playing Pictionary. You know, you make a circle and someone says ‘A bus stop!’ ‘How’d you know that?’"
On surviving a life of constant touring: "I used to wonder about spending 12 or 18 hours a day, back when I was a kid, painting—if the real reason [I did it] was because it was a great way to spend hours listening to music all day and all night. That’s why I learned to paint like the old masters—because it ensured 18 hours of silence and stillness so I could listen to music. And the same with driving: Without music, fuck that. I don’t want to be driving around all the time. I live in New York City; I could just play in New York City."
Friedman’s art chops still inform his songwriting, and he’s certainly attached to his liner notes and album covers. So I ask you, Feedback folks: What album art could you not live without?
