A couple of weeks before Ben Folds Five released The Sound of the Life of the Mind on Sept. 18, Folds himself spoke to CBC Music about the band’s first new LP in 13 years. It was a wide-ranging chat, covering his own pursuits but also the state of rock ‘n’ roll in general.
“Even when we were making our records in the '90s, I don’t think it had sunk in for people that a rock band might have longevity,” Folds said, when asked about a resurgent interest in rock artists who were popular in that decade. “Because rock ‘n’ roll music, everyone was sort of trained to think it was over. The Rolling Stones you could look at but they seemed old as hell [even] in the '90s."
“Rock ‘n’ roll, you’re supposed to die when you’re young and the band’s supposed to break up and that was still part of the fabric for everyone,” he continued. “And now, there’s this idea that someone might actually get better with experience, like with anything else. Why can’t Mick Jagger shake his ass in his 80s? There’s really no good reason.”
Folds went on to discuss the rationale behind bringing Ben Folds Five back and the band's future together, making their new, somewhat heavy LP via crowdsourced funds and sending proceeds from sales to charity, how much he loves Canada, a “playful” new EP that could be in the works and the band’s label imprint, ImaVeePee Records.
To hear the full conversation, you have two options. You can download an MP3 if you right-click and “Save target as.” Or to stream it, press play.
See Ben Folds Five at Toronto’s Kool Haus on Monday, Oct. 15.
Related:
Stream Ben Folds Five's new album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind