Big Think interview
Here is what I just posted on my Jonathan Coulton web site:
The email was as follows:
Today we're running a video interview with singer/songwriter Jonathan Coulton (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20397), who's so famous that you might never have heard of him. That's because he's "internet famous"(http://bigthink.com/ideas/20408) (i.e. he has a passionate fan base that he's built up online, but his face isn't recognizable enough that he would get stopped by people on the street).
In his Big Think interview (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20397), Coulton describes the process of writing a comedy song (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20406), saying that his inspiration usually comes from a nugget: a line, an image, or even something a character would say. Coulton has had many songs that have gone viral; from his breakout tune "Code Monkey," which is about a sad software developer, to "The Future Soon," (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20413) a song about a depressed pre-teen who imagines a world where technology saves him.
While many of Coulton's songs are comedic, he says comes up with his best ideas by listening to sad bluegrass. His favorite song? "My Precious Children" by the Stanley Brothers. "He's talking about how his kids have grown up and moved away ... I'm getting a little shivery just thinking about it," says Coulton. "Maybe it's because I'm a parent now that, that means so much to me, but that's the one that I was driving somewhere in the car and that song came on and I started weeping."
Though Coulton is aware of the difference between famous and "internet famous," (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20408) he remains humble to his fans. He says his passion lies in writing serious songs, but "I'm happy for the fans who think of me as a novelty musician and I'm happy for the fans who think of me as a writer of important songs. However you like me, I'm just glad that you like me."
What's next for Coulton? During the interview, he disclosed that we won't see his next project online. (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20412) After opening for "They Might Be Giants," band member John Flansburgh commissioned Coulton to write a record that the band will produce. "That is the thing I'm working on right now, feverishly and with enormous panicky feelings."
Finally, Coulton pulled out his guitar and gave an exclusive unplugged performance (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20413) of his song "The Future Soon." Enjoy!
I have just got an email from the guys at Big Think.
They have just published a video interview with Jonathan, and in response to one question, he expanded on something he announce a few weeks ago on his blog.
The question in question is here:
What’s next for you?
To see the rest of the interview in full:
The email was as follows:
Today we're running a video interview with singer/songwriter Jonathan Coulton (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20397), who's so famous that you might never have heard of him. That's because he's "internet famous"(http://bigthink.com/ideas/20408) (i.e. he has a passionate fan base that he's built up online, but his face isn't recognizable enough that he would get stopped by people on the street).
In his Big Think interview (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20397), Coulton describes the process of writing a comedy song (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20406), saying that his inspiration usually comes from a nugget: a line, an image, or even something a character would say. Coulton has had many songs that have gone viral; from his breakout tune "Code Monkey," which is about a sad software developer, to "The Future Soon," (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20413) a song about a depressed pre-teen who imagines a world where technology saves him.
While many of Coulton's songs are comedic, he says comes up with his best ideas by listening to sad bluegrass. His favorite song? "My Precious Children" by the Stanley Brothers. "He's talking about how his kids have grown up and moved away ... I'm getting a little shivery just thinking about it," says Coulton. "Maybe it's because I'm a parent now that, that means so much to me, but that's the one that I was driving somewhere in the car and that song came on and I started weeping."
Though Coulton is aware of the difference between famous and "internet famous," (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20408) he remains humble to his fans. He says his passion lies in writing serious songs, but "I'm happy for the fans who think of me as a novelty musician and I'm happy for the fans who think of me as a writer of important songs. However you like me, I'm just glad that you like me."
What's next for Coulton? During the interview, he disclosed that we won't see his next project online. (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20412) After opening for "They Might Be Giants," band member John Flansburgh commissioned Coulton to write a record that the band will produce. "That is the thing I'm working on right now, feverishly and with enormous panicky feelings."
Finally, Coulton pulled out his guitar and gave an exclusive unplugged performance (http://bigthink.com/ideas/20413) of his song "The Future Soon." Enjoy!
Comments
Nerd-factor, rising!
Farting Monkey Heads is the name of my JoCoPaSTOMGB tribute band.
I can't really hear the difference between how Jonathan produces his recorded music and other "real" bands (but that's probably just me), so I wonder if it's worth the expense. I can see how it's time for him to try something different, and working with Flansburg is going to be a treat. I hope it's better than before.
Change is hard. I remember when Weird Al's second album came out, I was quite disappointed that he hadn't played all the songs on the accordion, like on his first album. I felt the humorous aspect of the rock music being played on accordion was an important part of what made him Weird Al and funny. I got over that quickly enough. Of course we still get a sample of that humor on each album with the polka medley.
Besides, change is never a bad thing in music. Most of Thing a Week was written with Jonathan decidedly OUT of his comfort-zone - this new project sounds like it's taking him to the same sort of place, and I think the results will reflect that