Will Oldham on Bonnie "Prince" Billy

by Will Oldham, Alan Licht

W - Sweeney called me and said that Johnny Cash just recorded "I See A Darkness." We had a Bowery Ballroom show a week or two later, and he invited Rick Rubin to come to the show; he came to the show ... and asked if I wanted to play piano on the song.

A - Which you agreed to do despite not knowing how to play piano.

W - Yes...

A man who acts under the name Will Oldham and a singer songwriter who performs under the name Bonnie Prince Billy has, over the past quarter of a century, made an idiosyncratic journey through, and an indelible mark on, the worlds of indie rock and independent cinema, intersecting with such disparate figures as Johnny Cash, Bjork, James Earl Jones, and R. Kelly along the way.

These conversations with longtime friend and associate Alan Licht probe his highly individualistic approach to music making and the music industry, one that cherishes notions of intimacy, community, mystery, and spontaneity.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir, Autobiography, Memoir

400 pages

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Will Oldham is a singer-songwriter and actor. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Reviews

[Lee Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up because it could've been 600 pages longer. A textual manifestation of every fan's fantasy to sit down for a few hours/days and chat with Will about his music and history and performance and identity and the Incredible Hulk. Also fantastic to turn down pages to look up so many musicians I didn't know: Solomon Burke, Oum Kalsoum, Roger Miller, Roy Harper, June Tabor. Can't think of another book-length interview, although Renegade by Mark E. Smith comes close (loved BPB's references to MES and the Fall, too). Would love to read Volume II in 2030 or so after BPB records a few dozen good albums (something to look forward to). Otherwise, for Will fans, this is major, essential listening.

A longer impression complete with a mini-review of a summer 2012 concert is here: http://eyeshot.net/willonbpb.html

[Patrick Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best music book since Our Band Could Be Your Life. If you're a fan of Will Oldham, in his many incarnations, this is the book you've been waiting for -- an in-depth look at Oldham's life, creative process, and philosophy. A book-length interview between Oldham and his sometimes collaborator, guitarist Alan Licht, this book covers every aspect of his career, including his acting work. All of his albums -- Palace and Bonnie "Prince" Billy -- get a thorough examination. This was eye-opening for me, and it made me consider some of my favorite songs of his again from a new perspective. For that alone, the book is a 5-star read.

But if you're not necessarily a fan of Oldham, I still think you'd enjoy this book. It's a rumination on the creative process and the current "indie" cultural scene in America. Oldham is clearly a sort of "super-connector" or whatever the Gladwellian term is, as he crosses paths with seemingly countless indie celebrities, including but not limited to Steve Albini, screenwriter D.V. DeVincentis (High Fidelity), Johnny Cash, Bjork, Jem Cohen (documentary filmmaker), John Sayles, Harmony Korine, R. Kelly, PJ Harvey, Marianne Faithful, David Berman, and Michelle Williams. One of the more interesting aspects of his career is that he often puts them to work as musicians, regardless of their previous experience in music, a tactic which earns the comparison to John Cassavetes that Licht makes. Korine plays on a BPB record, and I once saw D.V. DeVincentis accompany BPB on tenor saxophone at the El Rey Theater in LA.

I went into this book with an idea of Will Oldham. It was an idea of him as a reclusive nut, but a genius. An oddball who probably lived in the woods and didn't own a car. I was completely wrong about everything except the part about him being odd and a genius. He is odd, whether he would recognize it or it not, and he's a kind of genius, I think. One of the great pleasures of this book is reading his philosophies on everything from live music to alcohol.

On alcohol:
"It seems like alcohol is related to poisoning and deadening and turning things off, after the second drink. The first two drinks are great, and I recommend them to anybody for any reason, and I have no respect for teetotalers who deny themselves one drink a week or one drink a day even, unless they have an alcohol problem. But after that second drink…it seems like a little suicide every day…"

On auto-tune:
"I don't mind T-Paid, and I don't mind the huge Cher single years ago -- I don't have anything against Auto-Tuning -- but when it's Auto-Tuning with the idea that you're making the audience think that it's your voice, your singing, I tend to think that's a little weird."

On shared tastes:
"I went and saw Total Recall [1990] in one of those weekend sneak previews the week before it opened, and I was like "I love this movie, and this feels great." I love a movie that millions of other people like. It makes me very happy, even though they probably like it for a different reason. But my fantasy is, that even if they do like it for another reason, that there's a relationship and the beginning of the ability to communicate with other people about something: we can talk about Total Recall."

That's just a taste. The entire book is packed full of observations, insights, and just plain greatness. I can't recommend it enough.

[Edmole · Rating 5 out of 5]

In which Will Oldham talks to his friends for 300 pages, and Ed sits rapt listening to his bearded hero, imagining the words passing that mulchy beard, and is satisfied by what he hears.

What I found particularly interesting in this is Will comes from the generation who grew up listening to 80s alternative rock/hardcore/punk and while he plays folk/country music, the morals and lessons and contrariness of those bands is deep in his DNA. Reading it I was a little jealous of that time, that sticking your moral and musical flag in the ground and sticking to it. Of sticking with a record because that was the only record you have. But then I also love how we now have the looted toyshop where everything is for everyone and it's all basically free.

Anyway, Will talks through his history of making music, his philosophy of collaboration as a means to constantly renew and to give him a chance to interact, his desire for freedom and refusal to be tied to a place, an idea, or a self. How being Bonnie 'Prince' Billy allowed him to keep making music as he could be in a role, even if that might be the role of himself. He's a very inspiring man, self-made, driven even when unsure, and possessed of a titanic brain. Also totally obsessed with film - he is far more likely throughout to compare his work or the work of others with films, acting, and how films come together. This man, who it is easy to assume is some sort of auteur, sees himself more as a producer, bringing together elements and people and hoping he can corral it into something good. This is the unspoken truth about art, that there are hundreds of people involved in producing art, and all those elements contribute to the end product, and then again that end product is changed and understood differently by everyone who consumes it.

Speaking of things being changed by those who consume them, my favourite quote from the book:

"Making records is commerce, and it's about fooling yourself as a writer and a performer and fooling the audience into not thinking about it and accepting it. It's like when you walk down the street and say 'Look at that girl's ass, it's so great.' You're ignoring also the fact that she farts shit out of that ass. It's the same kind of thing."

He also tells us of a dream he had where he was trying to get Bruce Springsteen to record a Guns N Roses style solo. Bruce told him he was riding a winning horse, so Will replies 'Yeah? Well I'm riding a winning pig.'

May you ever ride the winning pig, Will.

[Brian Beatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Musician interviews rarely rise above the lowest rung of the entertainment journalism ladder, but there's considerably more to Will Oldham than the typical singer/songwriter/actor/photographer. I credit his home state of Kentucky and the sense of cantankerous glee evident in his work. And while an early 90s Palace show at Lounge Axe in Chicago still ranks among the worst live music I've ever been unfortunate enough to witness, Oldham remains among my favorite musical artists because he brings genuine art to every tune, every performance. The what and why of this delicate art are made clearer by this book-length chat. There's yet to be a 33 1/3 edition as enlightening as this sit-down.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

He sure as shit talks about how much he likes R. Kelly a bunch

[Alex V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was immediately consumed in Will Oldham's cleansing fire when I took the bus from my office at a Microsoft campus to another Microsoft campus across town in Redmond to buy a Palace Brothers CD some guy had for sale on the company's internal swap shop message board. I knew people who bought cars off this thing because they proudly told me and everyone they had. The guy's office was completely blank, lit up with blaring overhead lights. He had two desks strewn with computer parts and a small stack of CD's he was selling and nothing else. He barely looked up from his work as the transaction occurred.

I think Will Oldham fandom is similarly hermetic for anyone that experiences it. He created the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy character as an amorphous buffoon from which his songs could emanate, leaving him free from the responsibility of the content. He severed the publicly accessible rope bridge between the artist and the art, which always backfires because the obsessed weave their own spider webs between the two and feast on every trapped fly caught in the associations. Which is, I think, what whoever Will Oldham is wants us to do, maybe? I don't know.

In a book-length interview, Oldham reveals almost nothing about himself except that he reveals nothing about himself. As a policy. And it works. I read the whole thing waiting for the egg to crack and it never does. The reader and fan is left forever playing egg race with the artist, careful to never drop the precious cargo of art. An obsessive's catalog unfolds, every weird little split single and side project is discussed. I did feel a fanboy's sour victory in harrumphing at the omission of the live Get the Fuck on Jolly! tour disc, my favorite piece of Bonny Billy ephemera. That album is so good.

I feel I know about as little about him now as I did on the bus ride across Redmond over a decade ago and I'm still interested even though I don't spazz out about every release as I once did. The identity games got old for me, but the music still hits me where I live. Part of me wishes he'd just let all the nomenclature about who he "is" go, but this book demonstrates the scaffold of obscurity to be precisely what allows him to make the curious work he makes. "He" is the process, which, when you really obsess about it and construct just the right frame around it, seems like the purest form of artistic practice. See? He did it again!

[Vandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

strange guy, good interviewer, wish more bonnie "prince" billy was on spotify

[may edit with more thoughts]

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess I didn’t pay much attention when I found out about this book and added it to my reading list, but I assumed it was an autobiography — or biography, I suppose, if Will Oldham is writing about his musical persona, Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Instead, it’s a series of interviews Oldham does with his long-time friend and sometime musical collaborator, Alan Licht. The result, in terms of what we learn about both Will Oldham and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, is probably more interesting, and more compelling, with the guiding hand and direction of Licht’s questions.

I came to Oldham and his music pretty late (well, I missed the pre-Bonnie era, anyway). Though I was living in Bloomington and attending college at Indiana University at the same time he was launching Palace in Louisville, Kentucky, and though I used to road trip at least once a month (probably more like every other weekend) with friends to see hardcore shows there, I didn’t “discover” him until a coworker turned me onto the then somewhat-recently-released “I See a Darkness,” circa 2000 or so. I wasn’t listening to punk and hardcore exclusively in the mid-to-late ’90s, but I certainly wasn’t listening to anything like the music Oldham was making.

Oldham doesn’t generally do interviews or press or traditional promotion for his albums, and he gives compelling reasons for why this is so, but he is a great interview. Licht clearly has topics on his agenda to uncover, but he’s loose enough to let the conversation go where it will. Oldham is as human, as real, as down to earth, as I expected. But he is also way more thoughtful than I expected. Not just in his consideration of Licht’s questions or the care with which he answers them, but in the fact that he thinks. He is a thinker who thinks about everything, sometimes obsessively or compulsively so, which has clearly been a drawback for him or prevented him from being as loose or as free in certain situations as he would like. But because he thinks, because he is thoughtful — intentional — about what he does and why he does it, and, more importantly, what and why those things are, that’s what makes him so … him. Oh, and he has a great sense of humor, and offers up plenty of anecdotes, too.

To quote Lloyd Dobler, ���I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or by anything sold or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.” I think Oldham would say pretty much the same thing, but has made peace with the way he’s made a living out of — and made a life from — making music. That music may not always succeed (even Oldham acknowledges this), but with a better understanding of what he’s fundamentally trying to do, to capture, to experience, to create — in a word, community — makes me love the music he makes on a deeper, more intimate level. Whether you’re a Bonny fan or simply enjoy finding out what makes interesting people, well, interesting, this one’s for you.

[Cailin Deery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having made it through the whole thing, I can tell you what I got from this: some surprising autobiographical or incidental details of Will Oldham’s life, and his amusingly arbitrary yet rigid opinions on the world (I still feel like it’s anyone’s guess what Will Oldham’s stance might be on any given issue). That’s it. Not enough reason to pick this up.

Reading this was like getting stuck at a table with two dudes indulgently carrying on about common experiences with zero regard for you: people, artists, producers, recorded material, tours, memories and references… only to occasionally remind you why you’re there in the first place by making oblique, fleeting reference to a promising anecdote. Here you go: a 400-page “interview” between two long-time friends, plus you: the silent witness. It just occurred to me; this book is really a long eavesdropping session.

The moments I loved the most were all unexpected. For example, Will Oldham’s completely un-ironic love for R. Kelly. When Will first met him (Rob), he stole his dew rag wrapper out of the trash, asked him to sign it (one of the only autographs he’s ever asked for) and kept it as a souvenir. After this encounter, he was invited to take part in Trapped in the Closet (appeared in episode 15) and his thoughts at the time? “This is amazing. Dreams can come true.” On the flipside, he becomes mesmerized by others’ poor taste (disclaimer: I am not hating on R. Kells): for example, his fascination with the cult of Jimmy Buffet. He wanted to understand the adoration so listened to all his records, read all his books, and then put together a 7” vaguely in the style: Gulf Shores.

I was initially hooked discovering small details, like the fact that he took the photo on the cover of Spiderland (!) or his bizarre, endearing correspondence with Glenn Danzig (founder of the Misfits, Samhain, Danzig). Will would send Glenn boxes of whatever: cow skulls (why not!), collages he made from old encyclopaedias, you name it. He’d ship off this box-o-stuff plus a $10 bill in the hope of getting 7”s that were out of print. And it worked! He’d receive packages back with OOP records, shirts he’d never seen before, all sorts of Samhain stuff.

Will can be pretty indiscriminate in his creative pursuits, too. For example, the excellent Superwolf started off as experimentation. Will wrote the lyrics to three songs, sent them to Matt Sweeney to write the music, and instead of rehearsing, they went straight into a live show to see how it came together. He also has a penchant for picking up translated poems, folk stories or cracking open obscure books and singing (or sometimes, really, just reading) them. Master and Everyone? The lyrics you hear were discovered – an old Italian folk song – found in the back of an opera programme. In Get on Jolly, Oldham sings Tagore poems. He dusts off old gospel tunes (like Washington Phillips’ “I Had a Good Father and Mother”) and delivers them in a style that sounds – not just word for word but flourish for flourish – exactly like the original.

Part of the reason I wanted to pick this up was because Will Oldham has a reputation for having crusty old man opinions. As mentioned earlier, I don’t feel much the wiser on who he is exactly; I didn’t find consistency in his attitude. After listening to a favorite album in privacy and then hearing it played live at a show was like “going to a strip club and seeing your girlfriend there.” Oh. He’d rather his albums be organized alphabetically rather than by artist, and would be happy if every album had its own unique audience. If he plays a show that he’s not happy with but is told it was a great show, it bothers him. Conversely, if he plays what he feels was a great show and someone says it sucked, he’s pleased for the criticism. Humans have had the same impact on the destruction of the earth as a single sound wave. I’d say he can’t make this stuff up, but I’m tempted to say that he does.

Welp, there you go. Don’t read it.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less about Will Oldham the person than Will Oldham the actor and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy the musician, which is a bit of a shame. And at 400 pages, it ends up being a little overindulgent. But there's a lot of incredibly interesting anecdotes and insightful quasi-philosophies littering much of the book and Oldham sheds a lot of light on his two decades of strong musical output.

Some quotes:

"But it's nice, it's a great position to be in, to be in a relationship with a woman and be able to call her 'baby' without her getting angry about it."

"I think records and music are more appropriate and more respectful of the human soul than the churches are."

"I guess the idea is that I listen to certain favorite songs over and over because for some reason I just haven't finished listening to them."

"You don't know what your relationship to a record is going to be until you're dead, because it always has the potential to change."

"The first two drinks are great, and I recommend them to anybody, for any reason, and I have no respect for teetotallers who deny themselves one drink a week or one drink a day even, unless they have an alcohol problem."

"In New York, at the beginning of the day you set out to get somewhere, and by the end of the day you end up nowhere near that place. It's like being on a university campus. You do have all the access to art and music, but art and music -- unless you are a full-time employed artist or musician -- isn't really life. Everyone's struggling to afford to live there and juggling all the cultural activities, but at a certain point aren't all the cultural activities supposed to be a fraction of our existence and enrich our existence, but not be our existence?"

"Making records is commerce, and it's about fooling yourself as a writer and a performer and fooling the audience into not thinking about it and accepting it. It's like when you walk down the street and say, 'Look at that girl's ass, it's so great.' You're ignoring also the fact that she farts shit out of that ass. It's the same kind of thing."

[Burgoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will Oldham has a reputation for opting out of music industry promotional activities. He just doesn’t do the promotional circuit for each release, with the obligatory interviews, television appearances, etc etc. That’s why it was a bit of a shock to discover this title.

Alan Licht (a friend and sometimes collaborator) sat down with Oldham for a series of interviews over the course of a week. This book is the result of those interview sessions. It reads less like a typical industry hagiography or personality profile, and more like rambling conversations between friends. That’s why it works.

Yes, the sort of information fans crave is in here: recording session information, discussion of song lyrics, influences, etc etc. But much of the fascinating material is the discussion that emerges at the margins: Oldham’s idiosyncratic views on the music industry, art, film, and how to balance the demands of the commercial and the artistic.

This is probably not for the uninitiated. No effort is made to bring readers up to speed. There are no references to reviews or any attempts to contextualize Oldham’s recording history. However, for those familiar with his catalog, it provides a fascinating glimpse into this idiosyncratic artist.

[Rupert · Rating 4 out of 5]

You never know which book on a vacation pile is going to pull you in. I love the early music of Will OLDHAM under various guises, but lost interest after the masterpiece I See A Darkness, so I wasn't sure this book would hold my interest. It's a fascinating read, though, and really interesting to read the fresh approach he took/takes to each new album. His music is extremely connected to his life, each album tied to a different home & a different, though often overlapping, circle of friends and contacts.

[Leah Weyandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential for any Will Oldham fan.

“...instead I had this weird thing which made me turn to movies and books and records to find a community...”

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been patiently waiting for this book to appear for a while now and was very glad to see it arrive the other day.

It is a must for any BPB fan as Will Oldham discusses all aspects of his musical and acting career to date. In fact at some point through the interviews he must talk about nearly every song that he's recorded.

During the interviews Will reveals the inspiration behind many songs and albums, how they evolved and who was involved, together with information about his approach to the recording process. Of course it's not just dry facts for musos about record production, you get to understand Will's outlook on music, films, touring, work, family etc. as well.

The book is split into eleven chapters and pretty much covers BPB's career chronologically. Extras include a short introduction by Alan Licht, illustrations by Magnus Johnstone (who also did the cover for Arise Therefore and Wai Notes), a discography and a strange timeline that starts off with Captain Cook discovering surfing in Hawaii.

Any downsides?...well, not really, though some photos might have been a nice touch.

[M. Sarki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update 13 Nov 2012: I attended a show that featured Bonnie Prince Billy and I wrote about it here:

http://hub.me/aerUX

One of the most interesting interviews I have ever read. I wish it hadn't ended. And I wish I could do this book more justice by writing a better review. But for now this must do. Too engaged with other things such as D. H. Lawrence who is wearing me out. (In a good way.)

Some news about BPB found here:
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/20...

And be sure to watch the new video of "I See a Darkness":
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/0...

[Michael Liquori · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes this book unique is that Will really focuses a lot on the evolution of his thinking regarding various artistic as well as life decisions. Further surprising is that he is a very analytical thinker and well-able to communicate these ideas. This is a real rarity among great musicians, who generally lack insight or even fear that their muse may fly away if they try to examine it too closely.

[Jamie Grefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much to digest, but at the same time these conversations between Licht and Oldham capture a beautiful fluency of thought, a casual opening of one of my favorite artist's mind. This book has certainly given me a lot to think about in terms of how I will listen to Bonnie Billy's music and, moreover, it provides a deep context into who this person is and the communities that helped shape and define his music.

[Goatville9 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read for all Will Oldham fans. This is a book to return too over and over again to extract some nourishing bit - be it a musician reference or a discussion about music and art.

[Matthew Lacorazza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit rambling, but great for fans who want a peak into Mr. Oldham's mind.

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan from somewhere in the mid-1990s, so this was a good read… found this in one record store. Basically one long interview with some breaks, this was made from conversations with a long-time friend and associate Alan Licht (a musician and writer from New York). At the end is a fun(ny) timeline, and discography up to 2010. There are some explanatory notes in some pages below the text, clarifying some persons and such. Oldham doesn’t always come in clear in interviews, what few there are, and this book gives a fan more than enough insight into his thoughts, including certain songs and albums.

Bonnie Prince Billy has been happening from about 1998 onwards, but we also get to hear about the Palace records, and his time being an actor in some movies. Licht has known him since the early 1990s, so there is some ease in this book-interview; no doubt there was some breaks in it – I don’t think it was all done in a day.

It’s not just talk about the albums, and their songs, and their cover art, or about the moments of acting (mostly not active in this now). Other things include: music influences, preferring small shows, touring experiences, bands and musicians he has worked with or seen, why he prefers smaller record labels, use of his songs in movies, his experiences with Johnny Cash, recording live shows, Scotland folk music visit, the good of using studios’ house engineers, living in various places, voice as an instrument, what popularity level is good…

You really get a feeling he really likes doing what he’s doing – no reason to retire, being a musician feels like a necessity. The bits about working with R.Kelly make me think what he would think about him now, now that RK has been sentenced for a long time for his many abusive behaviors. Maybe a new, expanded version of this book would be interesting? Still, I think a lot of what’s in here won’t need much to expand on, though the albums that have come after this would be nice to read about.
But if you’re a fan, and do like the idea of having this book, a book-long interview where both seem at ease, talking, this is a pretty decent one a read.

[Gregg Cosgrove · Rating 3 out of 5]

You really have to like Will Oldham to read this book. I don't know why you would pick it up or even know about it if you didn't have some interest in Will. I have lost interest in Will. The last several records that he has made have been mediocre, at best. I assume that he always smoked pot but it seems like his love of the weed has influenced his decisions - or maybe he just makes decisions that I wouldn't make. Anyway, what felt vital about him and what made his music interesting, is not very interesting lately. I don't think he will quit making music and I imagine that he will make music again that will appeal to me, again, but I feel like my relationship to him as a listener has changed over the last few years. All of that said, there were some interesting parts about his own feelings of other people's music (which makes him seem hypocritical when talking about his own music) and his philosophy about his own life are certainly thought-provoking. I didn't dread reading it but I was looking forward to finishing it up and moving onto something more interesting.

Do you want to know if we're on the same wave-length? Arise, Therefore, Viva Last Blues and Ease Down the Road (#1-3). Everything else: meh. Some good, some bad.

[Dennis Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Also, I haven't heard much of Oldham's music. This book is a commentary on popular culture as much as it is a book about his music. He has a very unique perspective, since he got his early start as a child actor. I had read a short magazine article about him and then saw the book at 1/2 Price, so I bought it, started it, put it down for something else, put it on the "to read " pile for about a year, then picked up again bout 4 days ago and read it straight through, basically totally enthralled with it. Not sure exactly why, other than it seems to be a very important book, to me, culturally at this point in American society. He discusses very eloquently the difficulty of finding where you fit in society. That is a question for a lot of people who don't buy into consumer pop cultural internet based society. I didn't read it twice, I put that in accidentally and can't figure out how to change it. I will be consulting the book, just because there are tons of movie references of films way outside the pop culture norm that I want to try and find.

[Raül De Tena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy es, más que probablemente, uno de los enigmas musicales más estimulantes de las últimas décadas, tanto por su propia música como por el hecho de que no es sólo un alias escogido por un músico avergonzado de un nombre demasiado común: por el contrario, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy es un personaje creado por Will Oldham y llevado hasta el extremo de sus máximas y muy variadas consecuencias. Es, tal y como afirma el mismo artista en este “Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy por Will Oldham” (publicado en España de la mano de la editorial Contra), una especie de cuerpo vacío que una persona con múltiples inquietudes e intereses puede habitar para, sin poner en peligro su integridad íntima y personal, dar rienda suelta a todas esas posibilidades a través de un personaje protéico al que no se le puede pedir ningún tipo de coherencia a la hora de intercambiar sus máscaras porque no es más que eso, un personaje. Las mutaciones se suceden en un eterno fluir en el que todo parece tener sentido porque, inevitablemente, todo existe a la vez en una dimensión unívoca. Ya se sabe: sólo los niños, los borrachos y los personajes de ficción dicen la verdad.

Pero hay otro motivo por el que Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy es un enigma: su ya mítica alergia a las entrevistas. Una alergia contra la que sólo utilizó antihistamínicos durante la promoción de su disco “Beware” (Drag City, 2009) para, al fin y al cabo, demostrarle a su discográfica que una promoción tradicional no conseguiría que un artista como él vendiera más discos. Precisamente en relación a este último punto es donde hay que sopesar la auténtica valía de ”Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy por Will Oldham“. Tal y como escribe en la introducción el propio Alan Licht: “¿Por qué iba a aceptar Oldham dar una entrevista de la extensión de un libro? Una razón es para contestar preguntas sobre su pasado en un solo volumen, para proporcionar una fuente de información básica de consulta a futuros interlocutores… y quizá así no tendrá que dar tantas entrevistas“. Este prólogo actúa también, sin embargo, como maldición sobre el libro: más allá de esta intención que casa perfectamente con el disgusto del artista ante ser entrevistado, hay que tener en cuenta que Licht es un músico que ha acompañado a Oldham en gran parte de su carrera. También es un musicólogo que ha escrito varios libros centrados en el minimalismo, pero eso parece quedar siempre fuera de la casa en la que ambos están charlando: ya sea por pudor o por respeto a su amigo, Licht convierte la entrevista en una sucesión brusca de preguntas y respuestas que raramente se aventura a ir más allá de la intención de ser esa “fuente de información básica” que él mismo menta y que, sin embargo, queda lejos de las múltiples capas de profundidad que los fans de Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy suelen encontrar en este personaje y en su música. En ocasiones, la conversación se torna frustante cuando una línea de reflexión abierta se ve cortada por una pregunta que cambia de tema por completo.

Pero lo cortés no quita lo valiente, y por mucho que ”Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy por Will Oldham” se centre más en lo biográfico y en la superficie que en lo metafísico y lo profundo, la carrera de este artista es lo suficientemente apasionante como para mantenerte pegado a las páginas del tomo sin posibilidad de escape. Los discos se repasan uno y uno en orden cronológico, construyendo así una pluscuamperfecta obra de de consulta para releer fragmentariamente en el futuro cuando quieras encontrar sentido a esta canción o aquel disco. Y, sin embargo, es inevitable que el mayor interés surja cuando la conversación transcurre por los parajes entre la realidad y ficción: Oldham fue actor hasta que se dio cuenta de que la realidad de este oficio nada tenía que ver con su idea de lo que debería ser un intérprete. Y así, de rebote y porque la música siempre había estado presente en su mundo, acabó abrazando esta profesión que, al fin y al cabo, era lo que más se parecía a su idea de lo que tendría que ser un actor. Él mismo lo puntualiza en una respuesta: “Estoy seguro de que la relación que tengo con los actores es parecida a la relación que tengo con las canciones, porque los actores son sus interpretaciones; no es gente que viva fuera de sus interpretaciones, en mi mente. Así que al final son como canciones. En muchos aspectos, actuar es como versionar una canción. Tiene mucho que ver con la flexibilidad y con intentar aceptar mucho de lo que ya está ahí“.

Es en esta relación entre música y actuación, entre las máscaras y quien se esconde detrás, donde ”Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy por Will Oldham” adquiere su relevancia primordial. Y, pese a ello, y en un alarde de coherencia con su eterna socarronería, Oldham siempre está apartando a manotazos los moscardones de la alta cultura. Lo suyo es más bien el oficio y la artesanía sin ínfulas de estrellato (pero con mucha capacidad de trascendencia), la sátira que aligera un peso específico que tiene que ser entendido por quien escucha, nunca alimentado por quien crea. Detrás de Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Oldham puede reírse a mandibula batiente de la industria que necesita para sobrevivir: “Hacer discos es comercio. Se trata de engañarte a ti mismo como compositor y artista -y al público- para no pensar en ello y aceptarlo. Es como cuando vas andando por la calle y dices <>. No tienes en cuenta que de ese culo salen pedos con mierda. Es algo así“. Oldham se ríe de la industria y asume el engaño como motor de vida, eso está claro. Pero nunca se ríe ni de lo que hace ni de quien escucha. Será por eso que es imposible reírse cuando él habla, cuando contesta a las preguntas de Licht. Sólo hay espacio para la rendición y el respeto.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I’ve been reading this off and on for quite awhile now and I must say, I am a low level Bonnie Prince Billie fan because a lot of the details in this book were beyond me. Will Oldham talks in pretty great detail about the songwriting process and his thoughts on recording, performing, touring, and even acting. Every question posed by Licht receives a thoughtful answer. What I learned pretty quickly is that Oldham is very sharp and opinionated, which I found refreshing. I also now feel (and probably already knew) that I’ve barely touched his catalog of work. Great overall window into an incredibly talented mind, but not a casual read at all.

[Marinho Aguilar · Rating 4 out of 5]

No soy mucho de leer biografías, pero en éste caso sin chistar hice una excepción. Resulta por demás interesante intentar conocer y descifrar lo que tiene Will Oldham en la mente, su relación con el cine, la música gracias a las profundas entrevistas que le hizo Alan Licht por varios años. Además cuenta cómo una generación de músicos forjó una forma musical y estar en los inicios de Drag City, bandas como Slint, cercanía de David Berman.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account into the creative process of Will Oldham. As a friend and sometime collaborator Alan Licht gets Will to open up about making records, playing live and also acting whilst also giving readers an insight to the his influences in music, film and books. Alan Licht is a friendly interviewer so this doesn’t look to get Will on the ropes with any deeply difficult questions, but by being warm this gets the singer to open up in a way he hasn’t before.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been part of Will Oldham's cult following for almost three decades, yet I put off reading this book for the last of these decades. My fear was that reading a three hundred page interview of Will Oldham would reveal to me how horribly cringe he is. Turns out he isn't, but it's a rather boring book?

Worth mentioning is that there's a 1979 album ("Babble") by someone called Kevyn Coyne and Dagmar Krause which I quite like and which I got to know through reading the book.

[Dave W · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're interested in unique and creative people, look no further. You might not have heard of him or his music, but Will Oldham has some fascinating lessons if you are willing to listen. This book offers a candid and introspective look into the life and creative process of musician Will Oldham, exploring his career as Bonnie "Prince" Billy through interviews and personal reflections. Great for fans of music biographies, indie folk, and artistic self-discovery.

[Juan Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as I wished it would be: An evidence that behind one of my most admired catalogues stands a person, not unlike your loved ones: Patient and impulsive, deep and shallow, agreeable and exasperating, and brilliant all around.

[Perry Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting interview/memoir (sort of) about an incredible songwriter and musical talent. If you like BPB, and you should, this is worth checking out.