Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably seen Andy Friedman’s cartoons and illustrations. His drawings have regularly appeared in The New Yorker and many other noteworthy magazines and newspapers. Now, it’s time to get acquainted with Friedman’s music. Backed by his band The Other Failures, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Friedman will appear at The Nick on Friday, February 20. Currently, Friedman is touring in support of his recently-released sophomore CD, Weary Things (City Salvage Records). Recently, the Weekly’s Brent Thompson spoke to Friedman by phone from his Brooklyn home.\
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BT: Andy, thanks for your time today. It seems like your hometown, Brooklyn, has become a thriving artist’s community. What were the catalysts that propelled its scene?\
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AF: It’s the oldest trick in the book – the Atlantic Records model. Atlantic was a tiny little upstart and then Ray Charles got huge and then suddenly it’s a major thing and everybody flocks to it. I can’t believe how many of these clubs in New York City – like the Knitting Factory – are closing up and moving to Brooklyn. It really has become like the West Village in the sixties. When I came here 11 or 12 years after college, it was where all the poor, scrappy artists lived. The area becomes cool and everybody moves here and big clubs come in becasue there are a lot of people to service. You still have to go to Manhattan for the 1,000 and 2,000-seat theatres, but Brooklyn’s become the real scene for small to medium-sized clubs. It’s funny how these things happen.\
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BT: We’re really enjoying the new album, Weary Things. If you will, talk about your writiing process and the evolution of the album’s material.\
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AF: I spend a lot of time in the car and when I’m not driving, I’m home washing dishes. I always have a notebook on me and I write down whatever pops into my head, whether it’s one word, one line or a whole song at a time. I wrote “Freddy’s Backroom” on a bunch of bar napkins in about as much time as it took to sing the song – it just happened. A song like “Locked Out Of The Building” is a lot of little thoughts that were weaved together over time. I like to quote Furry Lewis – the great country bluesman – who says, “I think of things and rhyme ‘em up” (laughs). That’s sort of how I roll. I don’t sit with a quill pen and a lamp and write these songs. You’ve probably heard this before, but they enter me and I send them out. The reason I send them out is two-fold. It’s how I deal with life if I’m confused or upset about something. I use these songs to get past it. On the other end, it’s to communicate and share and be there for some other lost soul. If somebody finds it and has use for it, then it’s my obligation to pass it on.\
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BT: Obviously, your professional life revolves around two creative mediums, music and illustrations. Does one inspire or affect the other?\
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AF: It’s like Jekyll & Hyde. I know I’m the same person – and I dont want to say that illustrations are just a job – but those are assignments. No one is ever calling me up and saying, “I need you to write a song about how you’re broken and miserable and lost.” But that’s how it works with illustrations. They call me up and say they want me to draw a picture of President Obama or Mick Jagger and I draw it. There’s not much blood and sweat that goes into it.\
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BT: What came first in your life, music or art?\
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AF: I’ve been drawing since I was a couple of months old and I never touched a guitar until March of 2005. I never sang a note until I sat down to record my first album.\
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Andy Friedman and The Other Failures will perform in a triple-bill show with Heath Green and The Back Row Baptists. Tickets to the 10 p.m. show are $7 and can be purchased at www.thenickrocks.com or by calling 252-3831.