Fountains of Wayne
sept 2003 - e-mail interview with Adam Schlesinger by Barbara H

hi! how are you ? 

Fine, thanks. 

you and Chris both write half of the songs in the band, is it easy to pick songs objectively ? 

Usually we both agree right away if something is any good or not. 

Is there a songwriting competition between you two ? 

Sort of, but in a friendly way. 

who's winning ? 

If the album is good, everybody wins. 

do you ever collaborate ? 

Not really, anymore, except maybe to suggest a change of a line or two here and there. 

How did the recording of Welcome Interstate Managers go ? 

We recorded in bits and pieces over about a year, so we always stayed fresh...we only went into the studio when we had a song that we were excited about. 

Do you know which songs will be released as singles ? 

I try to stay out of that debate, that way if a single tanks, it's not my fault. 

Do you have lots of bsides in stock ? 

Pretty much everything we have recorded has been released. We just did a cover of Burt Bacharach's "Trains and Boats and Planes" for a UK b side. 

The b sides to your previous albums were very good, do you have a hard time choosing which songs will be on an album and which ones won't ? 

Usually it's pretty obvious to us which ones go on the record. I'm not sure why. 

Very basically, your debut is about high school, UP about New York and WIM about salary men and women in their thirties, do you write songs with a specific theme in mind or is it something that comes later on ? 

It's hard to explain why certain themes are in your head at a certain time. We try not to plan it out too much in advance. 

what are the next plans for the band ? 

We will be touring to support this record for a long time. 

what's the line you are the most proud of ?  

I don't know, I like "I used to fly for United Airlines/Then I got fired for reading High Times" from Mexican Wine. That still makes me laugh. 

i heard that the "Hey Joel" TV show premiered some time ago, did you enjoy writing the songs for it ? 

It was kind of a weird assignment, because the songs had to be really specifically about the characters on the show. They don't make sense out of context at all. 

here come the stupid questions...

"was you ever bit by a dead bee ?" 

Nope, but I was bitten by my cat a lot. 

what becomes of the broken hearted ? 

They go to a heart doctor. 

what's your favourite pick up line ? 

"You're not unattractive." 

what's your favourite soap opera ? 

"Curb Your Enthusiasm." 

what freaks the hell out of you ? 

pointless interview questions. 

where have the good times gone ? 

They're stuck in traffic. 

which hollywood star (dead or alive) would you like to date ? 

The girl from Logan's Run. 

How do you look like when you wear a tuxedo ? 

Like a penguin, like everyone else.  

if you could be any animal which one would you be ? 

A serval, it's an African wildcat that looks like a housecat but about ten times bigger.

/oct 1st 2003/