Indie band fun.

Yes, their name really is fun., and their songs live up to that moniker: their debut album Aim and Ignite is bright, colorful, and joyful, and it brings cheer to all who listen. (Anyone to whom it does not, I suspect, isn't human.) Their songs, such as 'Light A Roman Candle With Me' and 'Barlights', are beautifully named; their melodies soar and their lyrics are touching. The Brooklyn-based band is the brainchild of Jack Antonoff, Andrew Dost, and Nate Ruess, with the latter of whom I recently had a conversation. We discussed self-help; songwriting; stage performances; and a variety of other topics. Enjoy the interview.

Hi, Nate, how are you doing?
I’m good; how are you?

I’m good! You guys are Brooklyn-based, right?
Uh… yeah. Well, I’m Brooklyn-based, at least.

How did you guys form fun.?
I was in another band, the Format, at the time. We had all worked together in the past, and as soon as the band I was in had broken up I called those guys because I’d always wanted to work with them all at once.

What is that? There’s some sort of weird static on your phone; what—
Hang on; I’ll… Okay. Is it gone?

Yup.
I think it was the wind.

[laughs] So a lot of your music on your album is really… it’s very playful and inventive. How do you arrive at these lyrics and arrangements?
I don’t know. It’s not like we’re necessarily seeking out to do self-help music—or, like, self-help music to a lush background, I suppose? But I think that when I’m writing a song I usually have the whole song in my head, so it calls for that. And I think it was maybe right place-right time, as far as my lyrical mood was concerned, and it’s just sheer coincidence that the band name is [literally] fun.

Did you refer to the music as self-help music?
Chyeah.

How come?
Um… well, it was self-help for me!

[laughs]
And I think one of the cool things about lyrics is they become universal for whoever’s listening to them and wants to make them their own. And I guess with songs like ‘At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)’ that’s just inevitable. The goal is to put someone in a good mood.

Now that I’m thinking about it I guess it makes sense to call it self-help music: songs with titles like ‘Be Calm’ having lyrics like ‘Though it may feel like you are breaking down / I know it gets so hard sometimes / Be calm’… This is the first time that’s occurred to me.
Yeah. Well, when I was writing the lyrics at one point I just thought to myself “Oh my gosh, this is very self-help.” But I like that. I like that because it hasn’t always been like that to me, and there’s a larger motive of feeling pretty good and at least telling myself to try and have a more positive outlook about things. And I think I stuck with that and eventually ended up believing what I was writing.

That theme definitely does make sense with a lot of songs on the album, but I don’t know how you could classify, like, ‘Light A Roman Candle With Me’ as a self-help song.
Yeah. Well… I actually didn’t write the lyrics for that. That was one I didn’t write the lyrics for.

Well, that would explain why! [laughter]
I suppose so! That song was Andrew’s.

Do you guys keep to yourself when you write songs, then, or is it more collaborative?
It varies so much. A lot of times I’ll have whole songs in my head and then I’ll come to the guys and I’ll have lyrics and melodies and I’ll sing it to them, and I might have some idea as far as arrangements are concerned, but pretty soon it becomes their own thing and they’re so talented that they make it something it probably never would have been without them. Sometimes we sort of write together and then I’ll put lyrics and a melody on top of it. Then ‘Roman Candle’ was a song that Andrew had written that we just heard and thought was so beautiful that we wanted it as ours.

So what are some of your influences or fun.’s influences—musically or even non-musically?
Um… I was kind of listening to a lot of Van Morrison and Fleetwood Mac. I don’t think it came through so much, but it made me excited to listen to music. And there were two records that I just became really obsessed with, so much so that I just started listening to them all the time every second I got. And I think all of us were going to a lot of Broadway shows at the time, and we were kind of inspired by that as well.

I can see that, actually! I can see that influence a lot in your music.
Yeah, it’s definitely there. [laughs]

And, like showtunes, your music is a bit larger-than-life.
[laughs] We try.

Well, you succeed. Are there any non-musical influences, maybe literary or cinematic, that have also impacted your output?
Not for me. I’m not much of a Renaissance man. I either play video games or music. [laughter] It’s really bad. Lately I’ve been kind of obsessed with James Dean, but I haven’t really put that into song as much and I think I only referenced him once in Aim and Ignite. But I can see something like that really takes over.

Yeah… I feel like fun.’s music is more pop-art, Andy Warhol, than James Dean-y.
Well, that’s a very flattering compliment. Thank you.

I mean, it’s got a very bright, colorful sound that will engage with a lot of people.
Yeah. I think that we were all just so excited to be doing it and that’s why it ends up being like that. Everybody is generally an optimist, and I’ve never been in a situation where everybody was so optimistic. It really changed my outlook too, and I think that’s where the brightness comes from.

Are there particular places that you enjoy playing? Like I imagine people would react differently to the music in different locales. Like New York versus… Idaho.
I think so. It’s weird; I think a lot of States in general react differently. You might have the exact same amount of fans, but the crowd reaction when you play live will be different. For example, Nashville is such a wonderful place to play. And you sort of take on a much more serious mindset when you get onstage and really focus on playing with the band and sounding great because in between the songs the crowd sort of claps and then stops because they’re ready to hear more music, whereas in other places, like California, say, it’s more about the energy. And New York is just surreal, because… it’s New York.

[laughs]
So you have to take both of those things into account.

Are you from New York originally?
No, I’m from Iowa and I lived in Arizona for most of my life. I’ve only lived in New York for about a year and a half.

Oh, wow, so you really are… um… I’m a born and bred New Yorker, and it’s always funny to hear how non-native New Yorkers talk about the city. Because it’s interesting to see what they seize upon that people who grow up here take for granted.
Right. Right. I can totally see that, and I’m in such a new phase with New York that it’s still very romantic to me. It’s still very surreal. And so I’ve yet to have that moment where it’s just another thing. In the mornings I’m still like, “Wow, I’m waking up in New York; what is going on!?”

You’re still in the honeymoon phase. You and New York haven’t started bickering like hell yet.
Well, I mean, the parking situation… the traffic…

That’s why people in New York don’t drive. [laughs]
Yeah, well, this is a lesson that I’m just learning now. My girlfriend has always been a New York car person, so I thought that was how it would be, but… now… I’ve become a very city driver, but it’s still freaking me out, so I prefer to just stay in our little neighborhood and chill out there.

I mean, if you live in Brooklyn, a car kind of makes sense. But the second you go into Manhattan it’s just like—don’t—don’t bother. Don’t even bother.
I have gotten so many tickets, and I don’t even get that! I think Jack, who also lives in Brooklyn, is responsible for like 90% of all the tickets that I’ve ever had.

[laughs] New York traffic officers can also be pretty vindictive. This is another reason to avoid driving.
It blows my mind. That’s what I was going to say—that was going to be my biggest gripe. It’s unbelievable. But if that’s all they’ve got then I guess… I mean, the biggest problem I’ve got going on right now is that I live in front of a hydrant that doesn’t work.

There always seem to be cops there if you violate the most minor traffic code, but if you need to take the subway it’s like… prioritize much, city?
Yeah! [laughs] Totally.

I was wondering whether you, or maybe the whole band, have a life philosophy that you tend to adhere to.
Well, for us, it’s been a really marvelous couple of weeks regarding seeing how much the band has bloomed. And it can be kind of cliché, I guess, to think like “Oh, well, be nice to everybody.” But I think we have this very DIY work ethic and we prize treating the people working our concerts and everything with as much respect as possible—just trying to be really good people who are appreciative of their circumstances. And I think that’s going very, very well for us, and it’s my favorite part of the day.

I like that you mentioned having a DIY approach because for the rest of my life I’ll picture you guys putting together your music with brightly colored construction paper. And glue.
Some of us in the band do that! Andrew is very… very much like that. He is like Ready Made magazine.

Check out fun.'s excellent music on their MySpace or visit their website.