Stephin Merritt: Aren't They A Gem?

Songwriter Stephin Merritt talks about bridges and key changes.

ABOUT THE GUEST Stephin Merritt is a singer-songwriter who has released more than a dozen albums with his band the Magnetic Fields, along with albums from the 6ths, Future Bible Heroes and the Gothic Archies. He’s also composed music for movies (Pieces of April, Eban and Charley) and stage (Coraline, The Orphan of Zhao, Peach Blossom Fan) and was the subject of the documentary Strange Powers.

ABOUT THE HOST Neil Goldberg is an artist in NYC who makes work that The New York Times has described as “tender, moving and sad but also deeply funny.” His work is in the permanent collection of MoMA, he’s a Guggenheim Fellow, and teaches at the Yale School of Art. More information at neilgoldberg.com.

ABOUT THE TITLE SHE'S A TALKER was the name of Neil’s first video project. “One night in the early 90s I was combing my roommate’s cat and found myself saying the words ‘She’s a talker.’ I wondered how many other other gay men in NYC might be doing the exact same thing at that very moment. With that, I set out on a project in which I videotaped over 80 gay men in their living room all over NYC, combing their cats and saying ‘She’s a talker.’” A similar spirit of NYC-centric curiosity and absurdity animates the podcast.

CREDITS

This series is made possible with generous support from Stillpoint Fund

Producer: Devon Guinn

Creative Consultants: Aaron Dalton, Molly Donahue

Mixer: Andrew Litton

Visuals and Sounds: Joshua Graver

Theme Song: Jeff Hiller

Website: Itai Almor & Jesse Kimotho

Intern: Emme Zhou

Digital Strategy: Ziv Steinberg

Thanks: Jennifer Callahan, Larry Krone, Tod Lippy, Sue Simon, Jonathan Taylor

TRANSCRIPTION

STEPHIN: Should we do a slate?

NEIL: Yeah, sure. I'll just clap. Neil, talking to Stephin Merritt whose work he has adored since whenever the Faraway Bus came out.

STEPHIN: Wayward.

NEIL: Wayward Bus. There's a faraway. Where does faraway fit in that? I know there's something.

STEPHIN: I don't know. I have a large catalog.

NEIL: Yeah, I've heard. Word on the street. But it is true, I have just so profoundly loved your work since way back then.

STEPHIN: Thank you. I'm thirsty. It's hot in here because I've turned the air conditioner off for audio.

NEIL: I appreciate that.

STEPHIN: I will be doing product placement for Mineragua Sparkling Water again and again.

NEIL: Mineragua sounds like it could be a symptom. I'm sorry, I can't have a podcast today. I have Mineragua. I feel a little bit refreshed just looking at the label. Do you mind my asking, before we got on online, you were mentioning that you had COVID and you are experiencing brain fog. Can you describe what that feels like?

STEPHIN: Well, it feels like writer's block and an inability to organize anything. I mean, everybody, pretty much... A lot of people have writer's block, but I have really weird writer's block. I agreed to write an article about ELO for a book someone is doing about the albums that changed my life. And I tried to write about ELO out of the blue. I just had to write 1000 words. I happened to have already written 1000 words on ELO out of the blue in junior high school, so it should not be a problem. But it took me six weeks and I eventually gave up. I just couldn't do it.

STEPHIN: At the risk of interviewing you, in your background you have what seems to be a painting studio with a television on it, on the desk. Do you paint the television?

STEPHIN: When I was in film school I filmed the television all the time. It's a really good source of images.

NEIL: I don't paint, my studio mate does, so those are her paintings. Then the TV, I've got asked to do a project where I'm revi