What Magnetic Fields' documentary Strange Powers got wrong, according to Stephin Merritt
Merritt talks tours, songwriting, and his hyperacusis days before Saturday's sold-out Atlanta show at Variety Playhouse
When his band released its three-disc opus 69 Love Songs in 1999, Stephin Merritt became an instant hero among the lovelorn indie set. Sad-sack lyrics, sure, but only sometimes. What's characterized Merrit's songwriting for his band the Magnetic Fields more than anything else is an infatuation with catchy melody and wry lyric — Sondheim, Porter and Tin Pan Alley translated for the indie set.
Since then, Merritt & Co. haven't eased up, releasing a number of albums (including 2008 and 2010's thematic cousins Distortion and Realism), and touring just because they have to. Merritt, meanwhile, has involved himself in musical theater, film scores, audiobooks, and more — all while the 2010 documentary film Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields captured the process.
The band — Merritt, percussionist/vocalist Claudia Gonson, cellist Sam Davol, and guitarist/banjo player John Woo — swings through Atlanta on April 14 to play a sold-out show at the Variety Playhouse. They've got a swell new album on hand called Love at the Bottom of the Sea, and Creative Loafing recently got Merritt on the phone to chat about songwriting, why he’d rather make videos than tour, and what the Strange Powers documentary got wrong.
I assume you've seen the documentary made about your band.
Of course.
Is that something you're comfortable watching?
Oh no, for me it's boring see my friends say things that we all say every day. There's certainly no point in me watching it. I don't learn anything.
How does it work as a representation of you and the band, and of what you do?