Well, there were a few different moments. I remember being in my band just post college and making a little name for ourselves down South, and because I’d never experienced any kind of recognition before, that felt like, Wow, we’re fuckin’ famous. And then later on, when Ben Folds Five started really making a buzz, and it was pretty quick; we got from where we weren’t [famous] to where we were really fast. I remember being pushed through Brownie’s, this East Village quasi-punk-rock club in New York, when a little bit of the mania part of a career had begun. Even though we didn’t have a big record yet, it just felt like it was all happening; I remember there were two dudes on either side of me pushing through the crowd, it was nutty. The next time I remember it being obvious was in Australia with Ben Folds Five, probably at the beginning of the Whatever and Ever Amen phase; ‘Brick’ was just becoming a hit there, and I remember being in the middle of the street outside after a show, being just packed in, signing [autographs], and realizing I had to take a deep breath and sign my way out of it. I remember thinking it was scary and bizarre, and I was kinda not in a great place then anyway, thinking, God, this is fucking weird. Just being so closed in that it was like being in the middle of a packed train, just physically not being able to get out. I just left and was like, Holy shit.
Ben Folds on the first time he felt famous.
7 months ago on October 15, 2011 at 07:15pm
- NYMAG: Was there a moment you felt like the tide was turning against you?
- Ben Folds: "Insecurity in your art and self are horrible demons. And when I quit the band and went solo, that was scary. I just had twins, after having been 'rock band dude,' and I worried that I was entering a way too grown-up phase and was going to be cast aside. Then [my first solo album, Rockin' the Suburbs,] was released on 9/11, and I can’t complain about what happened, but it crushed the record commercially. It got some good reviews, but it was the beginning of the era that continues now of people going real personal when they don’t like my records. I’ve kind of gotten to a place where I can say [about a writer who keeps slamming me], 'Oh that fuckin’ joke again, he’s still around?' And that it means you’re actually still around and relevant. But that was a pretty low time. Another time was, ironically, upon the release of my highest charting solo record, Way to Normal. I had a rough personal time, made a record that had a certain kind of humor in it, went with a producer who contributed to a distorted sound which made it sound a bit more bitter, and I felt bad — l felt it was being misunderstood. Magazines I’d respected growing up like Rolling Stone were jumping out and saying I was the angriest guy in show business and somebody better take this guy out now. And I just felt like, yuck. Despite that, the touring of the record was beautiful, it was great. But in my perception I felt like I put out a record that was picking fights."
7 months ago on October 15, 2011 at 12:05am
