The link opens for me
, but here is the part that counts
Adam Schlesinger, songwriter in demand
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE BASSIST IS BUSY WITH SIDE PROJECTS
By Shay Quillen
Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/26/2007 01:49:26 AM PDT
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Apr 26:
When you want a pop song made to order, you call Adam Schlesinger. That's what Hollywood did when it needed a '60s garage band pastiche for "That Thing You Do" and a Wham-esque ballad for "Music and Lyrics."
But if there's no screenplay, Schlesinger is happy to come up with his own plots. Nearly every song he writes for Fountains of Wayne, the band he started with college buddy and longtime musical partner Chris Collingwood in 1995, tells a story. They're three-minute slices of life about bored commuters, lovelorn secretaries and - as in their breakthrough hit "Stacy's Mom" - horny, clueless teens.
This month, the quartet released its fourth album, "Traffic and Weather," once again dominated by the work of the prolific Schlesinger. The 39-year-old, who also plays bass in the group, recently called from New York, where the Fountains were rehearsing for their upcoming tour, which includes stops at Southern California's Coachella festival and San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.
Q You've been playing in bands with Collingwood for a long time. Has he always sung the ones you wrote?
A We used to trade off. I just had to acknowledge that he's a much better singer than I am. He actually made my songs better, too. ... I think the fact that Chris always sounds very earnest saves the songs from sounding too obnoxious or jokey. It's that contrast between the way he sings it and what's being said.
Q Some critics have suggested that you look down on your characters.
A To me, you're just trying to tell a little story. You're not really passing any kind of judgment at all. ... We definitely would never set out to create a character just to put him down.
Q But many of your characters, like the guy in "Stacy's Mom," clearly are a little dense.
A There's a lot of times where the songs are supposed to be funny, or there's supposed to be something kind of pathetic about the situation. But I think some people somehow extrapolate, "Oh, these guys are trying to make fun of a whole type of person" or something, and it's not supposed to be that. It's just supposed to be a funny little story.
Q Have you tried writing prose?
A I've never really tried it. I'm not sure I would be any good at it. Really, music is what I'm interested in, and the lyric part of it came from just having to have something to sing.
Q Was there a time when you wrote sincere, confessional songs from the heart?
A I think when we were starting out, it was more about imitating our songwriting heroes. We would try to write songs like Neil Finn or we would try to write songs like
Ray Davies or we would try to write songs like Glenn Tilbrook.
Q I see that you'll be playing with Tilbrook's band, Squeeze, at the Mountain Winery.
A We are doing a bunch of dates with them this summer. ... Actually, one of the most flattering things that's happened to us is that Glenn Tilbrook started playing "Red Dragon Tattoo" in his own set.
Q As a Neil Finn fan, are you excited to catch the Crowded House reunion at Coachella?
A Oh yeah, of course. In fact, we're working on trying to get on some shows with them later this summer. We're huge fans.
Q Speaking of Coachella, do you feel an affinity with the indie-rock world?
A I think we've always been off in our own little world. I don't know if we really are related to that much of what's going on in indie rock or whatever. That's not to say I don't like a lot of that music. I think there's a lot of great music out now. We're not really very similar to a lot of what's out there right now, but we never have been.