Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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I would go, Must be nice to beSufjan Stevens, he says.
Not realizing,Youve got a great thing happening here.
Though the members all had other projects to fall back on, they continued to return to the Pornographers.
And in the years since, Newman came to terms with the groups success.
Im just gonna do this till I die, he says.
And its not because I cant afford to stop; its just because its what I like to do.
Johns doing hisOak Ridge Boysbaritone.
So it sounds really massive.
Often I tear up singing it a little bit.
Also the Cars, thats what he did with the Cars as well.
Most surprising new song
Carl Newman:Probably Continue As a Guest.
I have no perspective.
You just lose all perspective.
Do you remember that?
Case:I would not doubt that.
We needJohn Collinsto answer that question.
I feel like weve always been just trying to patch things together.
I think about those things more now.
But I think I just presented it, like, Here it is.
I dont think we changed the key.
Case:No, we did not change the key.
Thats the only time I remember that.
But other times, we just ran with it.
I think I used Letter From an Occupant as a reference point for how high she can sing.
I was very glad that I did not have to sing that one.
That one is really weird.
A lot of them, thankfully, we knew.
He put on Jessica Numbers, and it had been so long since Id heard it.
Case:Yeah, the timing is very odd.
Same with Falling Through Your Clothes.
Because back in the day, as a live band, we kind of half-assed it.
Songs that were difficult or were giving us trouble, they got scrapped very quickly.
So we never played Jessica Numbers more than once or twice.
We never played Falling Through Your Clothes or Three or Four.
Case:We were young and undisciplined.
Newman:You know what it is to be in your 30s you dont care about anything!
Thats gotta be the most popular of all the New Pornographers Dan songs.
If we were gonna play one, it would definitely be that one.
Case:Wild Homes makes me cry, though.
Newman:That ones kind of tough.
He would never write a Wild Homes now, thats for sure.
Favorite of each others solo songs
Newman:I think its Pharoahs.
Or is it called The Pharoahs?
Case:Its just called Pharoahs.
Or it might be The Pharoahs, I dont actually know.
Its a song that moves in a very strange way, but it feels very natural.
[Laughs]
Newman:I honestly do not remember how that song goes.
I dont know how we could fit more people, so I dont really think about that.
Case:Like a good saxophone player?
Newman:Well, I know somebody who is gonna be playing with us whos really awesome.
Maybe I can just say him.
Its Adam Schatz, who has a project called Landlady, and he plays in Japanese Breakfast.
The guy got to playSNL; Im so jealous of him.
He plays saxophone; hes a great singer and just plays a ton of instruments.
I got my first choice in the world, can you believe it?
Werent we doing a benefit for a childrens hospital or something in Vancouver?
Newman:All of those reactions, they didnt seem shocking to me.
That one really made me laugh.
He doesnt deserve to be teased like this.I started it.
So I am definitely the villain in that scenario.
Poor Raffi did not deserve it.
For me, its really rare to not feel frustrated at the end of a record.
[Laughs]
Case:Im a big fan ofChallengers.
Newman:Yeah, people likeChallengers.
That ones been a dark horse throughout the years.
Newman:We did new bed tracks for Letter From an Occupant.
So we could do another Letter From an Occupant.
Case:Which would be absolutely super-weird to do.
But its there, so who knows?
Newman:John DenversGreatest Hitsalbum in the 70s, he rerecorded all the songs.
Like what, were going to sell the same songs back to the fans who already have them?
Like thelive versionof I Want You to Want Me versus thestudio version.
I mean, we havent had the same members the whole time.
Newman:Its never been a case where everybodys got their eggs in one basket.
Where everybodys betting on,This is our project.So that eliminates weird ego stuff.
That might get weird if there was that Whos getting what songs on the record?
Case:Which isnt really advice to keep a band together.
I remember thinking of it almost as a computer program.
Case:Maybe the answer would be, dont be sure of what youre doing.
[Laughs]
This interview has been edited for clarity.
