Wayne's world

MUSIC:The cult status of Fountains of Wayne is on a firm footing, but don't count on them being wry. TONY CLAYTON-LEAtalks to Adam Schlesinger

ADAM SCHLESINGER, one half of the writing team of Fountains of Wayne, is in Cape Cod, and as he shoots the breeze, you can imagine his attention wandering this way and that, looking for possible characters to write about and potential locations to place them in. If there is one thing Schlesinger and childhood friend/co-writer Chris Collingwood are good at, it’s observing the traits of small-town America and highlighting the habits of their ordinary citizens.

“I think Chris and I try to incorporate locations we actually know into our songs, or at least use them as settings. It’s part of how we initially developed our own writing style, by taking things from our real lives and using them indirectly. It makes it more personal and more vivid. It’s easier for me to set a song in a place I know, than to write about somewhere I’ve never been.”

Formed in the mid-1990s, they named their band after a lawn ornament store in the New Jersey suburb of Wayne. They then set about punching their love of The Beatles into submission via an onslaught of Americanisms and the kind of guitar-driven pop music that was (and has remained) the right side of saccharine.

From their 1996 self-titled debut, to new album Sky Full of Holes, the band has been reliably brilliant, each record brimming with failsafe pop songs peopled by the kind of figures we recognise from our offices, our shops, our walks in the park and our hours in the bar. The danger, of course, is that Fountains of Wayne become the focus of finger pointing and pigeonholing – recently, one magazine described them as "dependably wry".

“I’ve never heard anyone say that they’re glad they can count on us to be wry,” says Schlesinger. “It’s one of those quotes that you could take either way, and certainly, there is some humour in our songs, some more than others. That said, I think we try to police that and make sure it isn’t the only thing we’re about. Sometimes, we get unfairly labelled because of that element, but if you really take the time to listen to our music and albums there are a lot of different approaches to songwriting, different moods.

“Some songs are very straightforward, some are sillier; we’re a broader band than people might think. On some level I’m happy if people know us at all, so if some think they know us or have a mis-impression of us but still like the music, then that’s a happy problem for a musician to have, isn’t it? It’d be a far bigger problem if they’ve never heard of you.” And yet, even notable commercial success eludes Fountains of Wayne. They came very close to it in 2003 with Stacey’s Mom – a humorously risqué a slice of male teenage fantasy – but not even a brace of Grammy nominations could prevent the band from returning to their cultish status. Not that it’s an issue.

“Chris and I have known each other for nigh on 25 years, and I remember when we were kids our dream was just to be able to make a living as musicians. The fact that we’ve taken it this far is what makes us the happiest. I don’t think we ever set out to be the next U2, and I think you can tell from our music that that wasn’t really our goal. Every time we put out a record and play some shows it feels like success to us. It’s hard to think about it beyond that. We make records not with the idea of reaching more people, but to make them sound like records we like.”

And so every four years or so, along comes a new studio album. “I wish we could put out more, but they’re hard for us to make. We don’t spend a lot of time in the recording studios – it’s getting a bunch of songs that we’re really happy with that makes the months go by. But, you know, perhaps the reason we’ve lasted this long is that we haven’t been too prolific; it’s good to have a break because everyone comes back rejuvenated and re-energized.”

Which brings us back to Cape Cod. The band is playing a gig there, which is why they’re holed up for a day or two in one of the prettiest places in America. In four years’ time, there will, most likely, be a song about it; there might even be a cameo appearance from a music journalist, and you can guarantee that the words “wry” and “dependability” will feature in it somewhere.

“If you put together a pop song and it comes out the way you’re happy with, then that’s fine,” says Schlesinger. “I don’t think our goal has ever been to be placed on a list of great pop songwriters. The good song is the reward itself.”

Fountains of Wayne: 3 heroes

Randy Newman: "I got a lot of that idea of writing in the voice of a character from him, and telling those little vignettes. Yes, I probably got that more from him than anyone else."

Paul McCartney: "He is one of my heroes. Chris and I were Beatles freaks when we were kids. McCartney seems to have this unbelievable range as a writer. He would do these genre exercises, almost, and switch from a blues to a pseudo-1930s standard. All of which are great."

Neil Finn: "I'm a big fan of this Crowded House guy – from a melodic point of view, I think he's got great qualities. He's maybe not as broad a writer as someone like McCartney, but that isn't a criticism, believe me. Finn has a particular vibe that no else can quite do."

Sky Full of Holes

is on release. Fountains of Wayne will play Irish dates in November