The New Pornographers. 8 p.m. Nov. 6. $30. Buckhead Theatre, 3110 Roswell Road, Atlanta. 404-843-2825, buckheadtheatre.com.
When A.C. Newman considers why the New Pornographers are still happily together 15 years and six albums after their inception, he cites the time the pop-rock group doesn't spend together.
“Part of it is we’re friends, we go way back, and this band doesn’t take a huge toll on anyone,” said Newman, lead singer and primary songwriter for the group, which started in Canada. “I think what breaks up bands is just being stuck together for eight months out of the year. After a while, you just don’t want to see each other. You’re just figuring out how to tour quietly. And then, after a while, a band that started out as friends, they’re not friends anymore, cause they’re just sick of each other.”
The Pornographers — which include fellow Canadians Dan Bejar, who heads the rock band Destroyer, and Neko Case, who has a successful solo career — came together in between their other projects to record and tour behind their latest album, the critically lauded “Brill Bruisers.”
“Especially since I don’t live in Vancouver anymore, it’s like, this is the time I hang out with my friends,” Newman said.
The group members will continue their musical bonding Thursday in Atlanta at the Buckhead Theatre.
Newman discussed songwriting, changing band members and the group’s blend of coffee in a recent interview from his home in Woodstock, N.Y.
Q: I love "Brill Bruisers." What kind of emotional well were you pulling from when you wrote the songs for the album? Where were you creatively?
A: I don't know if there was a lot of emotional well I was drawing from. Some songs are very personal, like "Wide Eyes," but I was feeling pretty inspired. I think I knew what kind of record I wanted us to make. I had a lot of songs written, so I had a lot of songs to choose from. It was just nice to sift through and just not worry about cutting eight songs. It's just kind of like, "OK, these ones don't cut it, but that doesn't matter. We don't need 20 songs on this record."
Q: Your drummer, Kurt Dahle, left the band recently after 15 years. How does that change the dynamic of the group, particularly when you're on tour?
A: It changes it a little bit. It's fairly subtle. It's hard for me to say. It changes a little bit, but at the same time, Joe (Seiders), our new drummer, is really amazing. And I feel like when I'm onstage, I don't have that sense when I'm standing up front playing that we're a different band. There's so many of us. It feels really good now. It's weird when band members change, but it's like anything in life. It's like, you go through a breakup, and then a year later you can't remember why you were ever sad about it.
Q: I was in an Intelligentsia coffee shop recently and noticed you guys have your own blend of coffee, Brill Brew. How did that come about?
A: Intelligentsia approached us. I guess they're fans. And I was very psyched about it. I love coffee but, more than that, I just love the absurdity of it. It just seemed crazy, like, we have our own signature coffee blend. That's crazy.
Q: So do you feel like you've officially arrived now that you have your own coffee?
A: Maybe some people might think that. Maybe that's what I love about it, that it creates the illusion of extreme fame. Like, somebody from my high school might see that and go, "They have a coffee named after them?" It's like getting your own Ben & Jerry's flavor. Like, that's superstardom. When you have your own Ben & Jerry's flavor, you're officially a superstar.
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