Made popular by the HBO hit series "The Sopranos" and a rock band based on the East Coast, Fountains of Wayne in New Jersey is a store one visits if in the market for a nice fountain or a lawn ornament to place in the backyard.
The privately owned store, technically located in Great Falls but named after the city of Wayne, pops up in some background shots of several scenes in "The Sopranos" and is also the name of a band that composed the radio-friendly song "Stacy's Mom."
The band, Fountains of Wayne -- with its members Adam Schlesinger, Chris Collingwood, Jody Porter and Brian Young -- was founded in the mid-1990s subsequent to an abandoned musical duo effort between Schlesinger and Collingwood. The pair, that over the years have become well versed in crafting the 3-1/2-minute pop tunes, later regrouped in New York City and formed Fountains of Wayne. Much of Schlesinger's (originally from Montclair, N.J.) and Collingwood's lyrical content on the most recent album, "Welcome Interstate Managers," was inspired by people and places in states like New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts along with life on the touring road as in the case with "Bought For a Song." Schlesinger and Collingwood, the primary songwriters for Fountains of Wayne, still continue to unearth inspiration from their former days as post-collegiate men working the proverbial disenchanted job.
Collingwood writes about his problem with seasonal affective disorder on "Valley Winter Song" and unrequited love on "Hung Up on You" which features pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph. Schlesinger, on the other hand, touches upon the frustrations of dealing with an incompetent waitress on "Halley's Waitress" and the power of a phone or e-mail message from a former lover on "Little Red Light," along with drinking on the job on "Bright Future in Sales."
Both Collingwood and Schlesinger have a remarkable knack for what a strong melody and clever lyrics promise in a song.
Schlesinger and Collingwood recorded and put out the Fountains of Wayne debut album in 1996 as an effort between the two men. Porter, who plays guitar, and Young on the drums joined the group shortly after the album's release. The group toured for more than a year promoting the work and, in 1999, recorded "Utopia Parkway."
Aside from Randolph, former Smashing Pumpkin member James Iha and singer/ songwriter Jen Trynin are guest players on "Welcome Interstate Managers."
The Beach Reporter recently sat down with Collingwood and talked about the meaning of several songs on "Welcome Interstate Managers."
The Beach Reporter: A lot of the songs revolve around characters from small towns or who are stuck inside the white-collar world. It seems as though being a musician who once lived in New York City you don't share a great deal in common with the subjects of the songs, at least nowadays. Are these songs based on when you guys did have less-than-desirable jobs?
Chris Collingwood: Oh, hell, yeah. I had the worst jobs. I was a temp coming out of college, which was in 1990. But also it depends on the song because sometimes there is some really detailed personal information interspliced with some fictional narrative. Sometimes it is just straight-up personal. Like the song on the record called "Valley Winter Song" which is exactly about where I live right now and the fact I'm afflicted with seasonal affective disorder. There are also a couple of songs on the first record like this one called "Barbara H," who is my wife, and there is another one called "Joe Rey." A lot of the first record came out of real experiences and some on the second album. The third record, there is a lot of truthfulness to it.
For example?
There is a tune called "Bought for a Song" on the new album, which is pretty much just about touring. It's kind of a montage of things that happened to us while on tour. I could tell you each story and where it came from if you wanted but it's probably pretty boring. It's just about being on tour, being reckless, and being in Japan and Germany. At one point, Jody, who is our guitar player, I think got carried out of a van because he was so drunk. This was before the Backstreet Boys really hit in America and they were staying at this hotel, and we pulled up in this van with the dark windows. All the kids were in front of the hotel, standing outside, and they thought we were the Backstreet Boys. Because of the crowd, our drummer Brian had to pull Jody out of the van because he couldn't walk and then he threw up everywhere.
You make mention in the song of drinking sake out of aluminum cans?
That's in Japan where you can buy sake out of a little vending machine on the street. The can has a little button on the bottom and you push it. In a separate container from the actual sake can it's got whatever the same s**t it is they put in those hot packs that you put on sore muscles, so it heats it up in the can. You get really drunk and (like in the song) go to the Lexington Queen.
When was this?
This happened while on tour for our last album. That's when we were young and irresponsible. Now we are old and irresponsible.
Do you find it more difficult to write about the personal stuff or the stuff that's more based in fiction?
I think in my case it's a combination of both. It's often really interesting for me to take a personality trait or incident that's personal from somebody I know or something that happened and then fictionalize the rest of it based on the original kernel of the idea. Other times, it's just easier to write a straight-up narrative. I don't know, I don't think there is an easy answer to that. I would think almost any writer you would ask that of would say your personal experiences informs everything that you do, so there's no dismissing it, so sometimes you include pieces of you and sometimes you don't.
The song 'Halley's Waitress?'
Yeah, that's an expression we've been kicking around forever. I think Adam's grandfather introduced us to little witticisms like that. On the first album there is a line attributed to him as well, "Lead us not into Penn Station." It's just one of those expressions because Halley's Comet only comes around every 76 years or something.
Well, it's an interesting song just because the melody seems to romanticize a job as a waitress. The line, 'We miss when you're gone, so long, so long' is kind of funny only because people usually miss their server when they need something from them and so I think it really highlights how bad that job is.
That's an interesting way to look at it. That is something that Adam and I really like to do: Take a subject matter and contrast it with the sound of the song.
What do you think is the most challenging part about writing a really interesting pop tune?
I think in my case, the ones that come out the fastest are the best for me but that's not always true either. I don't think there is any specific rule. Some of the ones I slaved over, like from the last album "Troubled Times" and this record "Valley Winter Song," are good but in a different way. Some of the more visceral ones that just pop out in two seconds are more fun to play live. I think a good song should be able to stand up on its own whether it's played by a polka band or an orchestra.
What are your top-five desert-island albums?
Can I rule out the Beatles? Because they would all be Beatles albums if I had to correctly answer that question.
"Knife," Aztec Camera
"Blue," Joni Mitchell
"Odyssey and Oracle," The Zombies
This is going to sound really stupid because it just came out, but "Indiana" by David Mead. It's the best record I've heard in 10 years. He's a good friend of ours so I feel bad saying it but it really is an amazing album.
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