A fine interview with A Fine Frenzy
Alex Nagorski
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Life!
AN: When you were in the learning process, did you ever think that one day you would be a singer/songwriter whose practically entire album would consist of piano arrangements you yourself had composed?
AS: No, no, not at all. I mean it took a few lessons with a songwriter named Joleen Bell when I was about 19, and she showed me how to arrange songs, keep rhythm, and how chords work. I remember her saying "you can't take lessons with me anymore, you have to finish this yourself." I told her I'm not looking to play piano live, I'm not looking to play any pieces or anything like that, I'm not really looking to do anything except to be able to write songs. I was terrified of playing live but then it just happened that way because the way that I sing really depends on the way I write my piano parts and no one else can play them the way that I do, so I just had to do it, I had to get better.
AN: On your MySpace page, you wrote a blog talking about the current state of the Hollywood industry and how destructive it is for those who succumb to it. Are you afraid that in the crazed, tabloid- obsessed world we live in that your personal life will overshadow your music
AS: No, actually not at all. It actually hasn't even been involved in anything. In all the interviews and all the people that I've talked to, nobody really asks any questions about my personal life. It's been pretty music focused and I like it that way and I think people like it that way too. There's a lovely respect and kindness with the way that I've been treated and I hope to maintain that. I think you can choose to a degree how much that stuff affects you and how much you let your personal life come out. I'm not really that worried about it because it's not who I am, I'm not like that.
AN: And finally for my last question: Every liberal arts college is full of aspiring artists and musicians. What is the best advice you can give us Muhlenberg students about pursuing our dreams?
AS: My best advice, actually the only advice I can really give because it's such a personal thing, is be the best that you can be but don't get so lost into technicalities that you forget emotion. Have a purpose; really have something to say because I find that a lot of music gets made just to make music. I think to make a deep difference, which you have an oppurtunity to do in music (pretty unlike anything else really) , give something, give yourself because that's the thing that differentiates you from anybody else because no one else can have your same exact opinion or viewpoint. It's the scariest thing to do, though it might not sound like it, but in reality it is the most threatening thing to do but it's the best.
AS: No, no, not at all. I mean it took a few lessons with a songwriter named Joleen Bell when I was about 19, and she showed me how to arrange songs, keep rhythm, and how chords work. I remember her saying "you can't take lessons with me anymore, you have to finish this yourself." I told her I'm not looking to play piano live, I'm not looking to play any pieces or anything like that, I'm not really looking to do anything except to be able to write songs. I was terrified of playing live but then it just happened that way because the way that I sing really depends on the way I write my piano parts and no one else can play them the way that I do, so I just had to do it, I had to get better.
AN: On your MySpace page, you wrote a blog talking about the current state of the Hollywood industry and how destructive it is for those who succumb to it. Are you afraid that in the crazed, tabloid- obsessed world we live in that your personal life will overshadow your music
AS: No, actually not at all. It actually hasn't even been involved in anything. In all the interviews and all the people that I've talked to, nobody really asks any questions about my personal life. It's been pretty music focused and I like it that way and I think people like it that way too. There's a lovely respect and kindness with the way that I've been treated and I hope to maintain that. I think you can choose to a degree how much that stuff affects you and how much you let your personal life come out. I'm not really that worried about it because it's not who I am, I'm not like that.
AN: And finally for my last question: Every liberal arts college is full of aspiring artists and musicians. What is the best advice you can give us Muhlenberg students about pursuing our dreams?
AS: My best advice, actually the only advice I can really give because it's such a personal thing, is be the best that you can be but don't get so lost into technicalities that you forget emotion. Have a purpose; really have something to say because I find that a lot of music gets made just to make music. I think to make a deep difference, which you have an oppurtunity to do in music (pretty unlike anything else really) , give something, give yourself because that's the thing that differentiates you from anybody else because no one else can have your same exact opinion or viewpoint. It's the scariest thing to do, though it might not sound like it, but in reality it is the most threatening thing to do but it's the best.