Our Music Chair recently had the opportunity to ask Glen Phillips some questions about his career and his upcoming show at the Sweet Pea Festival. We thought you’d like to “hear” his responses.
Sweet Pea: You’re known for your honest and insightful lyrics – one Sweet Pea fan described your music as listening to a musical diary – would you say that this statement is true?
Glen: I hope so. My favorite songs by other writers are the ones that make me weep, and I hope to perform the same service for others. I try to write from a pretty universal emotional point of view, but to talk about the bits we’re not supposed to talk about – the emotional elephants in the room. I’m not sure that it’s a diary, but I do try to go to the places that scare me a little.
SP: You’ve recently collaborated on the Works Progress Adminstration – how did that project come to be and how is it different creatively from your other work?
Glen: I met Nickel Creek back in 2000, and we toured a bunch and made an album under the name MAS. Sean Watkins and I had been wanting to do more collaboration, and put together a group of 8 from friends we’d made through Largo (a club in LA) and our other travels. It was a life changing experience to work with such high levels of talent and joy.
SP: What are you most looking forward to during your trip to Montana and the Sweet Pea Festival of the Arts?
Glen: I haven’t been to Montana for a while. I’m mostly looking forward to a nice long run with some beautiful scenery.
SP: The music industry has changed dramatically in the past ten years. Having been a witness to the industry’s shifts, what would be your advice to aspiring musicians in today’s market?
Glen: Do it yourself, and love what you do. There’s no point in trying to make music for someone else (to please a record company or manager or whatever) any more. The current successes are almost entirely people doing what they believe in on their own, and gaining a critical mass because of the authenticity of their creation. It’s not about getting signed or discovered any more. It’s also even more crazily random than it used to be, so don’t leave your other skills behind.
SP: Sweet Pea’s mission statement is to promote and cultivate the arts – what do the arts mean do you?
Glen: The arts come right behind food, shelter and community as the basic needs of a human being. They are the languages that say the truths that words alone cannot.
Join us Saturday, August 4th, at 1:30 pm as Glen Phillips performs on our Mainstage!