Ever wonder what fun. lead singer Nate Ruess sings in the shower? So does Playback. So when we caught him on the phone just after he had cleaned up from a long jog, we asked him. “I was running through a Tame Impala song in my head,” Ruess confided. “It’s pretty much all that I’ve been listening to…but I wasn’t singing anything.”
Considering what a titanic year 2012 was for fun. – nearly a million copies sold of their sophomore album Some Nights, a ubiquitous, record-breaking single in “We Are Young,” a massive North American tour, heaps of critical praise, six Grammy nominations (leading to two wins, for Best New Artist and Song of the Year) – it’s amazing that the band has time for things like exercise and hygiene, let alone new music discovery.
But what struck us most when we spoke to Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost, ASCAP members both, was how insistent they both are on pursuing their art, above all else. Read on for a glimpse into fun.’s creative process, and their healthy perspective on success. And also what they like to sing at karaoke bars.
Congratulations on your Grammy nominations! Where were you when you found out, and what did you do immediately after?
Nate Ruess: We were fortunate enough to be invited to the nominations show and asked to play. So I think we assumed that we would at least get nominated for something. It could have really been anything. Where were we, Andrew?
Andrew Dost: We were in the crowd for the first one – I think the first one is the one that Hunter Hayes played over, right? That was a really magical moment, to hear him playing “Some Nights.”
NR: Yeah, that was really cool. And then it kept happening all night. It was really cool to be able to be side stage, getting ready to play “We Are Young,” and then hear your name nominated again, and then have to go out and play. At that point, pretty much anything they’d announced we’d been nominated for. So if anyone wasn’t sure who we were, that was our chance to show people.
Let’s go back to the formation of the band. To these ears, there are elements of each of your former bands The Format, Anathallo and Steel Train in the fun. sound. What do you remember about synthesizing your different tastes when you were first starting out as a band?
NR: It was kind of like an “all bets are off” type of thing. It’s right there on [our debut] Aim and Ignite. You can really hear those influences on that album, specifically. And that was like everybody bringing what they had from past bands into the band, with little regard for the songs. Which I think made it a unique album, and made it really special for us. But once we got to Some Nights, there was a conscious effort to clean it up and be a little more focused. Which was awesome, because subtlety is generally not something that the three of us are very good at.
I understand that a lot of times, Nate, you’ll bring in the lyrics and melody of the song, and the rest of the band will flesh it out. Was it always that way, from the Aim and Ignite days?
NR: Yeah. That was something that started in The Format, and that’s how we write all the songs, for the most part. I guess I just hear songs in my head. It’s not just lyrics and melody – it’s a whole bunch of things. And I do my best to explain it, and once it gets into everybody else’s hands, it becomes a lot more unique, a lot more special.
How involved are you in the rest of the recording process, once you’ve presented all those initial ideas?
NR: I’m sitting around the whole entire time. That’s a lot of it, for me, to try to convey what I’m hearing in my head. And then there’s a lot more freedom for Andrew and Jack [Antonoff, fun.’s guitarist]. As long as it doesn’t end up stepping on my idea, or if it’s far superior, then I just back the f**k off.
Can each of you tell me what the other bandmate on the phone brings to the table that you don’t?
NR: Andrew brings, essentially, everything that I don’t. He knows how to play an instrument, which is the first thing, but not even remotely the most important. I think that it’s Andrew’s sense of melody, his ability to work us out of any tight spaces…he picks up quick, he conceptualizes much faster than I do. In the songwriting process, he’s responsible for just holding it down.
AD: I think when Nate said I “hold it down,” that’s a good reference point for what he does. Nate doesn’t hold it down. Nate is the one that lets it takes off. Nate is the one that brings this otherworldly songwriting talent. I know things, and I know the logic of instruments and roman numerals and chords and how it fits together, but what Nate brings is this counterintuitive sense of wonder. He’s tapped into some bizarre, ancient songwriting magic. That’s an ability that I don’t possess, but fortunately I don’t need to, because Nate does. The way we fit together is really great. But yeah, I’d say Nate brings the magic.
Have either of you felt any desire, to learn some of those complementary tasks?
AD: One thing that’s different between Some Nights and Aim and Ignite is that more than ever, we understand what each of us does well, and what each of the other guys does well. And we want more than anything else to let the people do that. So I’m not gonna try to bring in a full song. I’m gonna try to listen to what Nate is bringing in, work with that and help make that better.
I would like to think that when it comes time to do my thing, that the guys will let me do that. And for Some Nights, that’s really the way it worked out. We’re not so much trying to learn how to do what everybody needs to do, but we’re trying to get better at what we individually bring to the table. And to have some ego about that, but also to let our egos step out of the way when it’s time to do that.
NR: It’s tough. I’ve gotten used to doing a lot of songs with Jeff [Bhasker, Some Nights co-writer/producer], and Jeff brings a certain magic, too. But there is a thing where if I’m writing a song for someone else or doing anything like that, it’s like “F**k, I need Andrew and Jack!”
I think the way that I write songs, I have this way of grating on people. What was so special about Some Nights is that Jack and Andrew didn’t fall into that trap. They actually were just like “We know exactly what he’s talking about.” It’s an amazing thing, where we can all pick up where the other person leaves off, make sure that the right things happen with the song. I can’t wait for the next album, because the confidence [we have] in one another is really high. But I think there’s even more pressure on ourselves to do even better individually, because the confidence is so high as a whole.
Nate, were there any songs on Some Nights that you brought in and your bandmates and Jeff Bhasker took them somewhere completely different that you never could have predicted?
NR: Yeah. [With] a song like “Why Am I the One,” I just had that chorus. I had a verse that, in retrospect, was pretty weak. That was one where Andrew and Jack really cleaned it up for me, gave me a better progression to sing over. It ended up fitting the song so much better, and made it one of our favorite songs.
“Some Nights - Intro” was an amazing thing. I remember playing it for Andrew and Jack. I went to Jack just because I was so anxious and excited about the song. I think we still don’t know what time signature the chorus ends up falling into, in “Some Nights - Intro.” I was like “I’m sorry, I know this is a crazy time signature. Let me try and figure something else out.” And they were like “No!” It was cool to watch both of them geek out about how to sort the time signature. I think Andrew and I are always on the same page. We have such a thing from playing live together, doing this and that, that if I’m singing, and he’s playing piano, we’re really just one person. I’m always anticipating his moves perfectly, and he’s doing the exact same thing for me.
And “Stars,” that was a good example. We didn’t know exactly where that one was gonna go. It was probably the oldest song – I had it in my head for years, even when we were doing Aim & Ignite. I think Andrew and Jeff both talked me into doing that one. Jack and I were doing something else, and Andrew had the whole day to himself to work on “Stars,” and it was amazing to come back to hear the progress that Andrew had made. It was like a lot of things that I had envisioned in my head, but done so much cooler. That’s my favorite song on the album by far.
Andrew, I’ve read that you went bananas watching Jeff Bhasker make beats. Was there anything you learned from him that you’re going to bring to the music you make in the future?
AD: Yeah. I guess when I think about pop songs, I think about a lot of things that sound the same. And I think about the same four-on-the-floor kick. Which is cool, there’s certainly an art to that too. But I kinda was expecting someone as successful as Jeff to have a formula. What Jeff taught me is that there is no formula. That every song has to be special, and every song deserves its own sonic world. Everything has to be unique. No stock sounds allowed, no stock keyboard patches allowed, everything has to be tweaked. That creates a space for the song to live in, a certain atmosphere that can only exist for that song. And you know that you’re in that song as soon as you hear it.
Hearing somebody like Jeff impart that sort of wisdom was really awesome. Jeff obviously has lots of commercial success, but he also is approaching this from a very artistic place. And it gave me a lot of confidence in terms of knowing that every song can be unique, every song has to be unique. It doesn’t just have to have a four-on-the-floor beat in the chorus to be a hit. In some ways, it can’t. It has to be its own thing. That was a big lesson from Jeff that I want to apply to everything I do.
It’s interesting you talk about that individual sonic stamp for each song. I noticed the same thing, but also that there are lyrical tidbits and production quirks that bind the entire album together.
AD: Sure. That was another part of the whole thing. We set the parameters early on for the album. I think it was “We Are Young” that did that, in terms of the big, driving beat, the keyboard sounds supplying a lot of the low end. Nate’s vocals, obviously, are unmistakable. So we wanted to set our guidelines immediately. And that was important for the album, too. Because the album has to be a world that you enter that you don’t leave until it’s over.
That’s not how every artist as successful as you looks at albums these days. You could look at the variety of the first three singles from Some Nights and assume the fun. was a singles band. But what you’re saying is that Some Nights had a holistic design from the beginning.
NR: I don’t mind an album that’s just a collection of songs. But for me, I have to visualize a beginning and an ending. I need bookends for an album, and then I fill it in. What inspires me is whatever’s going on in my life. I like to use that as motivation, capture a point in time, and then fill in the middle. So it’s important for every song to fit into that.
I would never in a million years say that [Some Nights] is a concept album. But songwriting really takes a lot out of me. So I want to be inspired the entire time, and in order to even fill out an album, not just have a bunch of singles, you really have to approach every song like it’s a single. And furthermore, we have no f**king clue what’s a single and what isn’t a single. Leave the business to the business people, and pray to God that they let you be an artist.
There are a lot of images that keep popping up in the lyrics of Some Nights. Fire, stars, even that phrase “some nights” that hops from song to song. What kept bringing you back to those themes? Is it even a conscious thing?
NR: It’s not too conscious. I think that Some Nights, for better or for worse, was coming off of what was a daunting emotional year, so I had a lot of lyrical fuel. A lot of it just happened to have tied into a lot of the same stuff. I had a nautical theme in The Format for a few months, where all I could write about was nautical things. I think it’s just phases in lyrics that I’m not even too conscious of. Someone pointed out to me last night how many times I say “undoubtedly,” or “essentially.” Just in my general talking. I think that “some nights” was another one of those things, where I was just saying it. I tend to write it out a lot.
You guys are masters of great choruses. You have so many of them across both of your albums. Do you have a philosophy on choruses? Is there something that you think all good ones have to contain?
NR: No. I’m very mindful of a chorus, and when an album becomes too chorus-driven. It’s often that our album is chorus-driven, but I never want to make it all about the chorus. And I’m such a fan of the punk rock days. “It Gets Better” was a huge song for me, because I love repeating choruses: “It gets better / It gets better / It gets better / It gets better.” And those are harder to write, for me personally, than a chorus that goes big and you can have a lot of different lyrics. It’s really hard to be consistent and catchy with just a couple of words.
A lot of your songs sound like they’d be impossible to pull off live. Does the live show factor into your writing process?
NR: I never think about the live show when we’re writing a song. I mean I think sometimes when we hear it on the speakers, we think about how it’s going to sound live. But the three of us live for playing live. We love it. So we’re always up for a challenge anyway. If we could make Aim and Ignite work live, then anything is possible.
AD: It doesn’t really enter our process too much when we’re writing. We’re usually thinking about recording, or thinking about what form makes this song live best. We never think about “Can we pull this off live?” We’ll figure out some way to pull it off live, for sure.
Nearly everyone that listened to the radio in 2012 has a “We Are Young” story. My personal favorite was walking down State Street in Santa Barbara at 2AM, hearing every single patron of the bar I just left singing along at the top of their lungs. What’s the most memorable place you’ve heard it?
AD: The one that I remember more than any other is when I got home from tour for a day, and I was driving around Detroit, where I live, and it was on two different stations at the same time. And I was just thinking “This is so crazy! I’m in my hometown, in my own car, and my song is on the radio on two stations!” And then I also saw a brief clip of the USA Olympic Men’s Basketball Team singing it all together after they won a gold medal. That was pretty exciting, too.
NR:That was the one that did it for me, too. Basketball is my favorite thing outside of music. And so when Andrew sent me that clip – actually, I don’t think I’ve seen it, still. It’s a little too real for me.
Do you embrace your success with open arms? Or are there parts of it that turn you off?
NR: Probably a little bit of both. It’s nice to feel welcomed. That’s the cool thing about the Grammys, really. Your peers are acknowledging you on a grand level. There’s something very flattering about that, and that is something that’s pretty awesome about what the last year has been. Also, there are most certainly perks that come with this. But it can feel really invasive. I’m not much of a people person in general, and I’ve made my life as a songwriter and a human being never feeling like I belonged. I never want to feel like I belong, because it’s impossible for me to do that.
AD: I embrace it with open arms [because] growing up, being in bands, even being a career musician, you don’t necessarily know if people are gonna listen. That was always a struggle for me, because I’ve poured so much of myself into projects over the years and not felt like anybody was paying attention.
One of my favorite things now is that I know that I have to work hard, I have to give everything I have. People are gonna hear our next album, and I’d better make sure that I was trying absolutely as hard as possible on it. Which I always do, but to some degree, you feel kinda strange, making a giant project – you go to put on a play, and nobody goes. One of the things I embrace most about what’s happened to us this year is the knowledge that it’s okay to work hard, it’s okay to give everything. That’s a good lesson. It’s worth the effort; it’s worth trying as hard as you possibly can.
Andrew, you wrote that gorgeous piano intro to the “Carry On” video. Is there any more composing work in your future?
AD: I certainly hope so. I want to score films, and fun. has kept us a little too busy to get into that. But yeah, as soon as the fun. machine slows down a little bit, I really would love to compose for film.
Nate, how about you? You’ve done co-writing and a whole lot of guest vocal spots recently. What’s on the horizon for you?
NR: Just kinda taking it easy. I’m really just concerned about the next fun. album. Anything that I do, whether it be the Ke$ha song [“Die Young”] or the Pink song [“Just Give Me a Reason”] or whatever, I don’t like to put more than like four hours into something. Just because it’s a cool thing to do, but the only thing I care about is fun. We’ve always dreamed of…not becoming rock stars, so to speak, but we do care about the music more than anything, and I want to make sure it’s coming across as good as it possibly can. We didn’t expect this crazy success to happen on this level, but now that it’s here, we have to embrace it, and do our best to uphold it and make great art. That’s a task that’s seriously a full-time f**king job.
What stage is the next album in right now?
NR: I wrote a song that I haven’t played for anybody yet that I’m freaking out about right now. I’m sure I’ll play it for Andrew and Jack when we get on tour pretty soon. But it’s the same thing. Some Nights was very slow going, and thankfully so. Because you can get tired of songs if they’re sitting there too long. I like to get that moment where everybody’s clicking, and everybody’s inspired to work on it. Being on tour constantly can be really daunting. So yeah, I’d rather try to reject a bunch of songs in the process and slowly get two or three songs before we go into next year and start worrying about the next album.
Fun. is such a spectacular band for folks like me who love voices. What are your go-to songs to sing at karaoke bars?
AD: One of the first and only times I’ve ever been to a karaoke bar was with Nate, and I think he was planning on singing “Edge of Seventeen,” but we secretly snuck in “Mambo No. 5” as a prank on him. Rather than get embarrassed, he didn’t even miss a beat, and was really vibing on it. He did an amazing job on “Mambo No. 5.”
NR: Now “Mambo No. 5” is my go-to move.