Adam Green and I: The Naked Truth

No soy un buen entrevistador. En el a priori, saleroso yo, comienzo poniéndome la zancadilla al intuir que el personaje en cuestión ha dicho ya lo que tenía que decir en su disco, libro o película. Y en el durante me veo incapaz de derribar barreras, de conducir a mi interlocutor más allá de la respuesta de turno que, invariablemente, tenga o no que ver con la pregunta por mi formulada, repetirá durante las treinta entrevistas que le quedan antes de acabar el día. Juraría que sorprendí a Jeff Tweedy durante nuestro tête-à-tête barcelonés, aunque también es posible que aquel acceso de sinceridad fuera más debido a su carácter voluble que a la perspicacia de mis inquisiciones. Y recuerdo con cariño la charla telefónica que mantuve con Greg Dulli, si bien antes por el rato que dedicamos a comentar el Mystic River de Clint Eastwood que por la jugosidad dialéctica que brotó de exprimir mi cuestionario. La ironía de Jonatham Lethem, por otro lado, es siempre un acicate. Pero no, no puedo estar orgulloso de mi trayectoria entrevistadora. Como demostración palpable de lo ajustado de tal autocrítica, me gustaría publicar aquí la transcripción completa de la charla que mantuve con Adam Green el pasado mes de noviembre, en un hotel de la Ciudad Condal. Fue a cuento de la aparición de Gemstones, y el artículo al respecto puede ser leído en el número de enero de la revista GO bajo el ya legendario lema de “Adam Green. Me ha parecido ver un lindo cantautor”. En fin, pasen y lean:
How would you define anti-folk?
Oh no… (se remueve en su silla) It’s a community of songwriters that know each other from the same bar in New York City, Side Rock Café.
Do you still feel close to that label?
No, I haven’t been around there for a long time. I don’t know what’s going on.
And what about the style?
I don’t think it’s a style. It’s more just like a community.
Would you consider applying for the role of 21st century crooner?
Sure… (mira hacia el cielo, ofreciéndome su despeinado perfil, una mueca de fastidio abriéndose paso) Next.
GEMSTONES sounds more dynamic and energic than your prior albums…
It’s like faster, songs are faster in general. They may have more twist and turns inside, more surprises. Tempo changes, I really don’t know…
Ok, then why the change?
Well, I wrote a lot of the songs for GEMSTONES on the tour, and I suppose that I was inspired to write songs that would be good for a live performance.
What about the eclecticism in GEMSTONES, the song?
Say it again…
GEMSTONES, the song, is more eclectic… It’s the one with more changes, with more…
There’s a few like that. And… What was your question?
The question was… all the eclecticism in the song…
Wait, I have to look up the word eclectic. What does that mean?
It means a lot of different influences and styles in one single unit.
Ah, ok. (Long silence) I just made it up, you know, whatever feels right. (Long silence) To me it’s more what the song is about than anything else.
It’s hard to know what your songs are about…
GEMSTONES is about coming of age and increasing in power while looking back at a world of corruption that you’ve just left behind.
Is it autobiographical?
I suppose. To some extent.
What would be the corruption?
You know, old age and disease.
I get the feeling sometimes you are composing not against, but maybe besides other songs and styles. Making them your own. Is that the way it works?
You usually just walk around and find a particular groove that I can really feel comfortable in, one that I want to live in for a while. And I usually spend a long time there. I walk around for weeks writing the song, making it up. And then it’s all done. I go for a different kind of feeling.
Do you laugh a lot while writing your lyrics?
Do I live a lot?
No, laugh a lot.
Oh, laugh. Hmmmm… Yes. Next. Adiós. Fotográfica.
And you are not afraid of kitsch. Are you?
I’m merely just trying to find things that I feel comfortable with. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as I am ok singing it. There’s a lot of different things that could fall under the category of kitsch, some which I wouldn’t ever wanna sing about and some that are just fine with me.
First it was Jessica Simpson and now you mention the singer of Beachwood Sparks and Johnny Depp… By referring to such pop items are you consciously trying to establish a difference between you and them?
These are people that stood up for whatever reason. And, you know, they are moving one way or the other. You know, it’s not really a big thing to put someone’s name in a song. A song is not sacred truth. It’s just a song.
George Bush is mentioned also. He wouldn’t like that, right?
Doubtful. I mean, I didn’t vote for him, I voted for the other guy. And he won anyway. And that’s that.
Are you into politics or it was just for this one time?
Well, I am into politics in the sense that I vote, but like most people I am making songs about me and my friends, and I try to recapture them the best way I can.
I’ve read you are preparing a short film with footage from your last tours. Are you interested in cinema? Maybe training your skills in that field?
I am. I am interested in editing, we did a lot of editing. It’s pretty short. Ten minutes. I was happy with it. There’s a longer cut that I hope gets out, but I think it’s going to be a shorter, sort of promotional… movie about the tour.
Who do you like when it comes to movies?
My favorite movie is GROUNDHOG DAY. (Long long silence) The… (long silence) To me movies is… ah… ah… it’s entertainment. I don’t know anything about that. I liked the movie SHADOWS.
By John Cassavettes.
Yes.
And what about writers?
Yeah… Yeah… Hmmmm… John Steinbeck. Hmmm… I am not someone that reads all the time.
One final question: are you very very very tired or you just don’t feel comfortable with interviews?
Ah… Is it there? (señalando el cuestionario de la entrevista)
No.
Yes, I am very tired.