The Sophian

Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Arts

Successful musician, native Texan and secret fishing aficionado, at the age of 27, Ben Kweller is a music industry veteran - he was still wearing braces when his band Radish was hailed as the new Nirvana in 1995. Now a solo artist with his fourth album, "Changing Horses," due out Feb. 3, 2009, he opened for long-time friend and fellow musician Conor Oberst Nov. 6 at the Academy of Music, rocking out to his melodic, fun and oh-so-sincere tunes. The disarmingly polite and down-to-earth Kweller saved time for The Sophian following his Thursday night set, dragging at a cigarette in the rain and showing off some southern charm.

You've been a figure in the music industry since you were 15, and you've been called the next Kurt Cobain and the next Elliot Smith - how have you dealt with that pressure, and how have you managed to succeed in spite of it?

Well, I've never really listened to that. The thing is, I've always been really good at just being in my own world and not paying attention to celebrity, the cool thing and fads, and I know nothing about what's going on in pop culture or in Hollywood or in movies or anything. So I just do my own thing and follow my heart, and that's sort of the key for anybody. And if you're successful, that's cool, and if you're not, at least you're making art that you love.

What are some of the greatest influences, musical or otherwise, on your songs?

The greatest influence is mainly life, just stories and things that I see and people that I meet and people that I love and friends. My music is about life and it's about people and dealing with different things through life. My music's about hope and about optimism.

Your previous albums are uplifting, they're positive, but you've talked about how your new album, "Changing Horses," is darker. Can you talk some more about it?

It's got some darker qualities; there are definitely some songs that are darker and more bluesy. There are stories about people that are more from the back alleys of society, you know, from homeless people to prostitutes to junkies. But there are some happy and fun songs, too.

Why did you decide to write about the junkies and prostitutes?

It's been around my life and I've seen a lot of that stuff firsthand. I don't know, those are just the songs that came out of me at the time.

So you've worked with a lot of amazing musicians, and toured with them - you've worked with Guster and Ben Folds -

Continued...

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