Interview: Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne

Photo by Kazumichi Kokei

We read that the band was named after a store. What prompted the band to name pick a name from a lawn ornament store?

Yeah it's a store in Wayne, New Jersey and they sell fountains among other things. It's kind of a well known store in that neck of the woods.

How old were you when you started writing songs?

I probably wrote my first songs, I don't know if your can call them songs, when I was nine or ten. I didn't start doing it in any real way until high school. When I was a kid growing up, there was a family that was friends with our family. My best friend's dad was a film composer. He also occasionally wrote songs for movies. I just thought he had the coolest job in the world. It seemed like he basically sat around playing piano all day. That was my first inspiration to be a professional composer or songwriter.

Tell us about your process. Words first? Melody first?

I usually start with some sort of lyrical idea. For me the music comes much easier than the words. I usually find that I need some kind of lyrical idea to get going. There are lots of times I write music that I like, but then trying to craft lyrics on top of it is always a lot harder for me.

You are known for songs that tell a story. Can you always feel an idea for a song? Can you feel that spark or a light bulb of "oh there it is"?

I don't know if I always feel it coming on. I usually have a good sense of when I am on to something that will work as an idea for a song. Sometimes it takes me a while. A lot of times I free associate things and I won't even really know what I am writing about, but I will come up with a couple lines that suggest a way to take it.

How many songs have you written over the years?

Oh god. I've written hundreds of songs. It's hard for me to try to guess how many. Not that there are hundreds of good songs, but I have written a lot of songs. Even our band, thinking about all of the stuff we have released...we have released a lot of music. We take a long time between records. When I look back on all of the stuff we have recorded, there is a lot of material. I have written a lot of stuff for other things besides Fountains of Wayne as well.

Who did you listen to growing up?

The Beach Boys and the Kinks and the Hollies. The Zombies. Just like everyone else, all of the songs on the radio when I was growing up. I think with Fountains of Wayne, we incorporate a lot of music we heard on classic rock stations and top 40 radio when we were younger. Some of it we don't even know if we like it or we hate it, it it's just in our brain.

Who are you listening to now?

I was really into that record by the Ting Tings. I think that is a great, fun record. I am a big fan of the band Spoon. I think what they do is interesting. It's much more minimalist than us. I think they probably grew up listening to a lot of the same music as us, but they have their own weird slant on it. It's very original.

You have written music for several film and TV projects. How did the gig for "That Thing You Do!" come about?

That was just a lucky break. I had a deal with a music publishing company at the time. The people there had heard about the film. They said, "This is something you should take a crack at. It's kind of up youralley." So I wrote that songs and did a demo with some friends. Miraculously they picked it out of the pile and decided that it was the song they wanted to use.

And it was played about 35 times during the movie.

Yeah it was awesome. It obviously opened up a lot of doors for me.

You also wrote the music for "Music and Lyrics". Were Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant involved in the process since they were playing songwriters?

They did all of their own singing, so they were involved in the process in that sense. They weren't involved in writing the material. We spent a lot of time together in the studio. It was a lot of fun. It was a fun movie to work on. The director and I have become really good friends.

You had a big holiday season. The L.L.Bean commercial. Recently you composed music for the Colbert Report holiday special. Whatwas that experience like?

For the commercial they just used the song- that was nice to see that particular song get that exposure because it wasn't really a song that had been played on the radio much, "Valley Winter Song." The Colbert Report thing was great. I worked on that with a guy named David Javerbaum, who I wrote a Broadway show called "Crybaby" with. He is the executive producer of The Daily Show. He called me up and asked if I wanted to work on the Christmas special. It was a lot of fun. A lot of different styles of music.

And Elvis Costello.

I actually got to see Elvis Costello singing something that I co-wrote. That was a big thrill. That was pretty big. Not to mention Willie Nelson. Rather intimidating.

What is next for Fountains of Wayne? Do you have a date for a new release?

We don't have a release date. We are in the middle of working on a record. We have recorded about eight songs so far. We are taking a little break to go out and do some touring and play a few of the new songs live and give ourselves some time to write more. I hope we will get it out sometime during the later part of this year.

What does the band have planned for the shows at Largo?

The shows that we are doing are very acoustic and stripped down. We are not bringing any amplifiers. It is just going to be two acoustic guitars and a piano, some percussion and maybe a small drum kit. We will try to play some stuff from all of our records and some of the new stuff as well.

And Mike Viola is opening?

Mike and I have known each other for years. He sang "That Thing You Do!" and co-produced that track. We were roommates for a while and we have played together in lots of contexts.

Which song stands out as accomplishing just what you set out to create?

"All Kinds of Time." It is about a football player. There is something about that song.

Lyrics for "All Kinds of Time"

The clock's running down
The team's losing ground
To the opposing defense
The young quarterback
Waits for the snap
When suddenly it all starts to make sense

He's got all kinds of time
He's got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
He's got all kinds of time
All kinds of time

He takes a step back
He's under attack
But he knows that no one can touch him now
He seems so at ease
A strange inner peace
Is all that he's feeling somehow

He's got all kinds of time
He's got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
He's got all kinds of time
All kinds of time

[Bridge]
He thinks of his mother
He thinks of his bride-to-be
He thinks of his father
His two younger brothers
Gathered around the widescreen TV

He looks to the left
He looks to the right
And there in a golden ray of light
Is his open man
Just as he planned
The whole world is his tonight

Video for "Mexican Wine"

Fountains of Wayne with Mike Viola will playing an acoustic show at Largo at the Coronet on January 21-22.