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Each week ZIO asks a different musician the same 11 questions via email. Visit Zoom In Music every Wednesday for a new installment or subscribe to the RSS feed.

This week, divergent songwriter Ben Kweller puts pen to paper for us.  His in-depth answers describe the variety of influences that have inspired his music over the years.  Known for breaking the boundries of music genres, Kweller has dabbled in everything from punk to ballad to folk to pop.

A native of Greenville, Texas, Ben moved to New York City when he was 19.  This is where he began his career as a solo artist, catching the attention of people like Evan Dando of the The Lemonheads and Jeff Tweedy.  Eventually he was signed to ATO Records and began recording studio LPs.  

Kweller is moving back to his roots, both musically and physically. After relocating to Austin with his wife, Lizzy, he self-produced his newest album, Changing Horses.  Kweller describes it as a compilation of country songs he started gathering when he was 16. The highly-anticipated Changing Horses goes on sale nationwide next week.


1.  What music did your parents play in the house while you were growing up?
Beatles, Hollies and other British Invaders… Born In The USA, Nils Lofgren solo albums.

2.  Who is the best artist we have probably never heard of?
Nils Lofgren. Start with his debut album Nils Lofgren. Favorite song from that album is “The Sun Hasn’t Set On This Boy Yet”…  Next best artist you probably don’t know is Urusei Yatsura, from Glasgow. Noise-pop band from late nineties. They broke up. Made some classic stuff. Key tracks – “Kewpies Like Watermelon”, “Plastic Ashtray” & “Phasers On Stun”. All from their debut: We Are… Urusei Yatsura

3.  What record did you used to love, but now can't stand?
Hhmmmm…. That’s hard because even now I can probably find great satisfaction out of my Colour Me Badd and Bel Biv Devoe albums should I be so lucky to find them!

4.  What song do you want played at your funeral?
Don’t know. Probably an old song I wrote called “Song For My Children”.  I played it at my grandfathers funeral 6 years ago… maybe I’ll record it one day and request that it be played at my funeral. And then I’d want a love song played to my wife. But really I’ll probably never get around to requesting a good song so I’ll leave the music to my wife Liz. She makes the best mix tapes and I know I’ll be happy with anything she plays…

5.  What is your favorite b-side?
Of all my b-sides, “I Quit” from “The Rules” 7” is my fave. But the best B-side of life has to be “Marigold” from Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box” single! I mean come-the-fuck-on! It was the first time any of us ever heard Dave Grohl sing lead vocal!!!  I was like “No fucking way!! That’s Dave???”  AWESOME!!! What a sweet voice…  I definitely wasn’t surprised when a little album called Foo Fighters came out a few years later.

6.  Which medium do you prefer: vinyl, cd, or download?
If you know anything about me, it’s probably no surprise to you that Vinyl is my fave.

But I guess it goes like this:
- Vinyl at home
- CD in the car
- Download on the plane

For me when I record, it has to be analog.  Mainly because that was the only thing they had when I was coming up so it’s how I’ve always worked… Secondly, I think having a computer screen in the control room is a crime. You know you have a problem when musicians are looking at the music for problems instead of using their ears.

7.  What artist would your fans be surprised that you like?
I don’t think anything surprises my fans anymore!  At least nothing in my record collection would. From Weird Al to Skip James I think they’d understand.

8.  What musician would you choose to cover one of your songs?
Beethoven solo piano – “Different But The Same”

9.  Who is the most overrated artist?
Maybe Britney Spears or somethin’ like that, ya know? And she’s probably got some talent other then her bod and moves. There are so many of these kids that just wanna be stars but you really can’t call them artists… artists create things. They make art! 

Some would say, “Well Ben, what about Elvis, or Frank Sanatra or Ella?”
Well, to them I say: “Those people did create. They existed in the days when you HAD to be good to even get in the studio door. It was a huge bonus that Elvis was gorgeous, but if he had a limp and a crooked eye, he’d still have had his place in rock ‘n’ roll.

Listen to those recordings… you know there was no trickery or smoke and mirrors. It’s pure. Raw. Real. In 2009, we can make the tone-deaf sing! That ties back into my issues with digital recording… So in this age of digital recording it’s not the singer who is the artist, it’s the producer... Theyre the one creating something from thin air.

10. What musician or band do you wish you’d seen play live in their prime?
Some of my dreams aren’t to see the prime but to see the before the prime… but there are a few prime-times thrown in… starting with what would have been a sick prime: Van Morrison when “Brown Eyed Girl” was #1. Nirvana in the studio recording Bleach. Dylan at Café Wah. Beatles at Ed Sullivan as an audience member. Garth Brooks Debut album tour.

11. What non-musical influences do you have?
Past and present non-musical influences include: My grandfather, Traveling, Camping, MLK, JFK, NYC, LSD, LOVE, Judaism, Wicca, Witchcraft, making love, cocaine, Tarot, the outdoors, fishing, sitting at the diner, excersize, Texas, old people, photoshop, chopping wood, painting, drawing, renovating, taking out the trash, Cats, mowing the lawn, my old Volvo that I sold, my parents, my friends, my enemies, making bonfires, strange food, single malt scotch whiskey, native Americans, and probably the biggest of all, my wife Lizzy. 

Watch Ben Kweller's recent performance on Letterman
Read Ben Kweller's Blog
Discover Nils Lofgren and Urusei Yatsura
Relive the Beatles' debut on the Ed Sullivan Show

Check out more installments of THESE QUESTIONS GO TO ELEVEN:

Adam Green
Art Brut
Camera Obscura
Chin Chin
The Cribs
Darlings
Dead River Company
Fool's Gold
Fujiya & Miyagi
Golem
Jukebox the Ghost
Talib Kweli
Jeffrey Lewis
The Low Miffs
Lights
M83
Man Like Me
Marina & The Diamonds
Meg & Dia
A.C. Newman
Cale Parks
Silvery
Tapes 'n Tapes
Tiny Animals
The Von Bondies
White Rabbits
Wild Light
Yo Majesty!

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