Phillyist Interviews... Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird (MySpace) may very well be one of the most interesting musicians around right now. His self-proclaimed description as a "Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and whistler" does not do justice to the layered, richly subtle musical spectacles he offers audiences night after night. He could add that bees love him, as a swarm decided to descend upon our interview. Bird lands in Philly again this weekend, and if you haven't seen him live, it is time to end that gap in your concert-viewing repertoire. Check out the show details below the interview.

Phillyist asked some readers what questions they would have for you, is that alright? They are going to be a little more random than a normal interview.

The first one they asked is "what did it feel like to release an album at such a young age?"
Um, you mean my first album?

Yeah, exactly.
Well, I started it when I was in school, in college, when I was like 19, and actually turned it into an independent study project which turned it into a label and had to make it all legit and stuff, but I think I put it out when I was 21 Music of Hair and I was totally engaged in every aspect of it...the printing was all done by hand, not by me personally, but the whole process of recording: not just recording but working with artists and stuff is a pretty exciting time, so it was my my pet project for three years and I kind of made it like it was—sort of what I was capable of—to demonstrate that I had the mindset of being a professional musician eventually. Because I was in school and I divided it into three parts showing the folk fiddling thing, the early jazz thing. I listen to that record, and there is some technical stuff I'm not even sure I can do anymore (laughter)...

That's great. Someone else wanted to know about your collaboration with Martin Dosh; they wanted to know specifically how it changed your music and if there are any other collaborations in the works?
The first part is how I got hooked up with him?

Yeah, or just how did it change your music, what effect did that have?
Well, in some ways, at first it didn't seem like the most obvious choice—he came from the this more underground hip/hop kind of beat scene—but it was actually a perfect, pretty perfect pairing. Because we're both used to doing the one man band, I think we understood each other pretty well. His field, it's what I like, very back on the beat, and his playing just kind of tips down...its really the kind of music I dig from dove stuff to early funk 45, the kind of stuff I listen to. So it actually made a lot of sense. And did it change the way I make my music? I'm sure, yeah I'm sure it has. The songs I do where they are total collaborations, where I hear something that he does and I'm like "that's bad ass, I'm gonna write some lyrics to that," those are totally different types of songs—like "Not a robot, but a ghost" and...what's the one we did on Armchairs? They really pop out. The ones that are true collaborations really are so obviously a different process and so in that sense a change. Otherwise I keep doing what I do solo and he just fills it out and does his thing with that. They [the songs] happened to work, so no, I mean, some ways I don't. It's bound to affect me because of the way he plays, but unless it's actually writing a song together, it doesn't really change what I do...