Image by Paul Hammond
I was lucky enough to meet Owen Pallett, a.k.a. Final Fantasy last time he performed here in Halifax. I think one of the most surreal moments I have experienced in the past few years was sitting in a dingy bar talking to him about Japanese literature while alcoholic gamblers played VLTs behind us.
I contacted Pallett a few months ago when I found out that he would be performing in Halifax during this year’s Halifax Pop Explosion. I wanted to interview him about the show, his career and his upcoming album, “Heartland”.
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Your father was a church organist, correct? Did you grow up surrounded by ecclesiastical music, or was there any room for a bit of pop music in there?
FF: My favourite records, by age, were as follows. 3: Pachebel's Canon. 4: Vivaldi Four Seasons. 5: Bach Double Violin Concerto. 6: Holst The Planets. 7: Bartok Music For Strings, Percussion and Celeste. 8: Prokofiev Romeo And Juliet. 9: Stravinsky Rite Of Spring. 10: Digital Underground Sex Packets. 11: Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene. 12: Shostakovich 10th Symphony. 13: Black Sabbath Paranoid. 14: Sibelius 1st Symphony. 15: Bjork Post. 16: Tori Amos Boys For Pele. 17: Pink Floyd Animals. 18: US Maple Long Hair In Three Stages.
There. You can trace my entire history.
Have you ever wanted to do any arrangements of any "classical" pieces and record/perform them? I remember seeing you live for the first time a few years ago and thinking, 'I wonder what he would do with Part's "Fratres"…"
FF: No. I don't really think it's necessary. "Classical" pieces are concert pieces, meant for live performance. There's no point in trying to recreate a Mahler symphony on record. Also, in the 70s, I felt that it was pretty clear that most 'electro-acoustic' composers didn't give a shit about what was going on in pop music. Now, it's totally different. New music composers are writing albums, they're getting into how they sound. Honestly, I think 2008 was the best year for music, ever.
I heard about the performance you contributed to at Pop Montreal where you and members of Bell Orchestre created a new soundtrack to "Cruisin' 57". How did that come about?
FF: Well, Stef Schneider used his swishy-sense to contact me. I was busy banging some dude and all of a sudden, a message came in on my gaytennae. It said, "zzzzzrallyinmontrealzzzzzbringgaypr0ntothehipstermasseszzzzzzzpleaseconfirminvolvement". I thought to myself, "Gay porn? Hipsters? I'm there." Then I got in my penismobile and spurted off to Montreal. We rehearsed in between dinner parties and bathhouse visits.
In truth, Stef e-mailed me and I said, "OK."
The last time I emailed you, you were walking on something for the Pet Shop Boys. How was it working with Neil Tennant, a man who is arguably one of the greatest queer pop songcrafters of all time?
Awesome! He has a really strong Newcastle accent, though; it was difficult to understand him over the phone. Which is ironic! Because he has the finest elocution of all pop singers. But the new songs are great, they're a band that never fell off.
What was it like to work with the Pet Shop Boys?
Amazing!
Did the twelve-year-old gay kid in you get a little freaked out?
A little bit. Neil was sweet, complimented me on some Youtubes he'd seen and He Poos Clouds album. I have a hard time coming back and saying, "Well, Being Boring changed my life." I should've said so.
You've collaborated with everyone from Zach Condon to Grizzly Bear to Fucked Up. What is it about collaborations that bring about so much in you?
When you're a solo musician, there's no way of getting accurate feedback on your work. Except applause (measured in seconds). I love working with other musicians, just so that you can occasionally get a "that sucks!"
But your collaborations are rather disparate. Do Pet Shop Boys have anything in common with Fucked Up?
No, both collaborations were very different, obviously. Every collaboration is different. Pet Shop Boys, I didn't even meet the guys until later. Fucked Up, I didn't hear anything or score anything before recording, I just worked it out with them in the studio. Arcade Fire, they have clear ideas of what they're looking for, so I typically work with the entire band---especially Win, Regine, Sarah and Marika---in realizing their goals. I have a borderline perverse fascination with being entirely "at your service". It's wonderful.
Who have you yet to collaborate with that you would love to?
There are too many people to name. Thomas, my guitarist, we're only just starting to get to know each other musically, I'm really excited about working with him on writing some new songs.
Name a few, just for shits and giggles. (I personally have always wanted to do something with Yoko Ono).
Diamanda Galas, obviously. Dagmar Krause, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Dolly Parton.
Has anyone asked that you have said "No" to?
A few. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark asked me to do some work for them, orchestrating their early hits, but I those songs are too dear to me, it felt like I was asked to tattoo my children. After working on "Souvenir" for a couple of weeks, I turned them down. I once said no to Of Montreal, although I regret it. I did an arrangement for a song on Spoon's "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" album, I thought it was one of the best arrangements I'd ever written, but they turned it down.
How did you react to their "no"?
I cried for about six seconds and then I stepped up my game.
You also are well known for performing covers of everything from Mariah to John Cale. Where does this love of covers come from?
I work on lots of covers at home, most of which you'll never hear.
Damn. You've done one album of covers, would you ever do another? Maybe of various artists, a la Cat Power?
I'd definitely love to do another album, covering another single artist. Or even more Alex Lukashevsky songs.
Are you sick of playing any?
Most of them, except Simon Bookish.
Have any of the artists whom you've covered contacted you to let you know what they think of your covers?
OMD did, Andy McClusky was really sweet about it.
What have you yet to cover that you think you should?
Hmm, I don't know. I used to really enjoy playing covers. In 2005, it really felt like not as many people were doing covers of contemporary songs, except for laffs. Now, though, it's out of control. You've got Glee doing po-faced versions of everything. Rappers covering indie, classical musicians covering IDM. It's mostly great, but I think the final straw for me was seeing that shiteous Dan Black cover of Biggie Smalls, that really, really damaged me and I don't think I'll ever try and cover anything ever again.
You've worked with so many people; do you ever feel like you're not giving yourself enough time for yourself and your work?
Always! But when I'm alone, I get lonely really quickly. I can work for a couple of days on my own before I start e-mailing Elton John, like, "Sir? Sir? Need an arrangement? What about now? How about now?"
How do you feel about performing with a symphony?
Excited like you wouldn't believe. There's a large part of me that wants to go out and get a camel raincoat, brimmed hat and thick brown spectacles. Walk around Halifax like an L.A. composer. But I'm restraining myself.
You were classically trained. Do you think your music fits in a symphonic format?
Not really. I studied classical but my heart and my ears are for pop albums. It's a funny thing, right? My boyfriend did cinema studies and now all he wants to watch is Lindsay Lohan. I'm dating a Cinema Studies graduate and I've never seen a single Truffaut.
That said, I've wanted to make an orchestral album for some time and I'm excited that I might be able to share some songs in that format. Nostrovia!
If you were to perform a traditional "classical" piece, what would it be?
Galina Ustvolskaya doesn't sound anything like Final Fantasy but I've always thought our music comes from the same place.
You're constantly touring. How do you find time to write/compose?
I have a laptop.
You once told me you have moments where you wonder if what you're doing is worthwhile. How do you fight that?
There are a tonne of things I could say about this, but most are best saved for therapy. Essentially, I feel that the music scene that I grew up with, and the values and currencies that shaped me, that scene is long past. I'm not talking about file sharing--although it is a hideously manic thing for a musician to consider that their music is both worthless and yet eagerly shared. I'm talking about the surprising things that free music has midwifed. The value of music writing, for example; many people would rather read about music than listen to it. Which is really interesting! But it's also kind of weird, as a musician.
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Final Fantasy performs with Symphony Nova Scotia, Friday October 23rd, at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax.
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