AC Newman

Tue 24th Mar, 2009 in Features

You may have never listened to an AC Newman record but there’s still a good chance you’ve heard one of his compositions via his main band, 21st Century indie-darlings The New Pornographers. As the faces of a generation of Pitchfork-acclaimed, hyper-literate power-pop exponents, Newman and co. have appeared on The OC, Weeds, The Office and the Rock Band video game amongst many others. They’ve displaying an impressive degree of cultural penetration, resulting from quality material and word-of-mouth rather than immigrating to a major label or diluting his askew arrangements.

“I’m often guilty of writing songs with five or six turns in them,” laughs Newman. “All these years later, I still have no idea how I work. I think pop songs come fairly easy to me, but I’ll start writing a song and it’ll be very straight-forward and I’ll want to mess with it – want to make it go off in some odd direction.” This clash between sweet and simple pop music and more challenging pursuits is present not only in the composition of the pieces, but also in the arrangements and the production. “There’s a part of me that wants to make these ornate pretty records and there’s a part of me that wants to be abrasive. There’s that constant push and pull. Sometimes I’m very quiet and sometimes I’m very loud – I’m always trying to find the balance.”

Though there are differences between his solo offerings and full-band output, the switch in nomenclature from – œCarl’ to – œAC’ probably marks the biggest shift as far as the listener can tell. This is not a criticism of the breadth of Newman’s musical spectrum but, rather, an indicator of the quality old fans can expect from his latest album, Gelt Guilty. “It’s not often that I write something and think, – œthis would be an amazing New Pornographers song.’ The difference is mainly in the process, because when I make a solo record there are songs where I’ll have a very precise idea of what to do with it. I know how the arrangements will be, whereas with The New Pornographers I don’t want to order everyone around, I want it to be more organic.”

Furthermore, recording as a solo artist allows the process to unfold in his own time and own place. “More and more these days I like having an normal life. The studio where I record is just fifteen blocks down the street, so I can walk there in 15 minutes and come back at night and have dinner with my wife and watch TV and get up in the morning, have breakfast and go to work.”

Over the last decade, there’s barely been an 18-month period that hasn’t seen the release of something with Newman’s name on it, which makes the praise he’s consistently bestowed all the more impressive. That in mind, to what extent are his solo albums a necessity to his craft as opposed to the result of artistic restlessness during breaks from duties as a New Pornographer? “The first solo record was made for pretty much no other reason than I knew I had some down time. Music’s sort of my job now, so I thought I shouldn’t rest on my ass. I always felt like I’m lucky that this is my job and you don’t know how long you have to make music so I’m trying to do as much as I can.”

This approach suggests a fairly professional outlook on an artistic pursuit often glorified for its lack of professionalism. Newman, however, is less impressed with his level of professionalism than I. “I wish I treated it more of a 9-5 job, I wish I had that discipline. I try to do that, I try to force myself to go to a practice space and make demos but it’s tough.”

In perhaps any other pop band, Newman’s solid vocals would be the fulcrum on which the music turned. With The New Pornographers, however, Newman is blessed with having Neko Case – celebrated solo artist in her own right – to intone many of his melodies. “I wish I could comfort myself and remind myself that it’ll be okay because Neko’s in the band,” he laughs, at my suggestion that her presence makes him complacent. “It’s exciting to know you have one of world’s best singers in your band. When I’m writing a song or recording a demo I often think, – œNeko will nail this one.’”

With no Neko Case to bounce off in Get Guilty, the recording process saw Newman put more effort into his vocals than ever before. The results are both stark and impressive, particularly on album highlight The Heartbreak Rides. “Initially when I write songs I’m not concerned about the vocals, I’m more concerned with the general sonic qualities and the arrangement. I’m now more concerned about singing than I was in the past – it comes from trying to be more disciplined about what I do.”

It’s easy to read Get Guilty’s quieter, more contemplative aesthetic as an effort to move away from the – œpower-pop’ label so often applied to his music. However, it’s not something that Newman sees as bothersome or reductive. “I don’t think I want to move away from power pop but I always want to evolve and try something different. I always said, – œI’d rather people hate us for changing than hate us for staying the same.’ I don’t want to be in a band where people know exactly what they’re going to get.”

Despite the respect with which is obviously treats his solo projects, it was interesting to hear him nonetheless describe it is a way of “cleaning the palette” before the next New Pornographers record. “It was just about getting songs out so I could start again,” he elaborates. Given that Get Guilty is more down-tempo than previous outings and he is presumably cleansed of the more subdued output, can we then expect his next effort to be loud and grandiose?

“It’s going to be full on lofty and grandiose,” he laughs. “I’m really excited about doing it and now that I’m working on the songs I’ve gotten very excited about doing it. We’ll probably finish it some time in October so looking at a release in February or March next year – give us a year!” If previous efforts are any indication, it will definitely be worth the wait.

Get Guilty is out now through Remote Control Records.