Ben Gibbard Interview
Ben Gibbard ranks among a group of songwriters who are carrying on the tradition of pop songwriting as art. As the Beatles are there to remind us, the pop terrain is both wide and perpetually renewable. If the term itself, “pop,” was at one time loaded with negative connotations, writers like Elvis Costello, Randy Newman, Aimee Mann, and even Tom Petty and Kurt Cobain, have helped to challenge this perception by demonstrating that material with a strong melodic orientation can be dark, ambiguous, rigorous in its intelligence. If one thinks of pop not as a genre or a song form dictated by particular chord progressions, then the possibility of pop as a diverse music marked by its emphasis on melody emerges. And that’s where Gibbard is doing his work.
Ben Gibbard has earned the respect not only of a wide fan base but of his fellow musicians by elaborating upon pop music’s rich history. His gifts in this area have helped Death Cab For Cutie and his other project, the Postal Service, go from being indie acts to commercial success stories. But both groups have set a standard for what an “underground” band can do overground. The old myth of commercial success and art being altogether incompatible is undone. In many respects, Death Cab For Cutie is a model of what a band can do as the music industry simultaneously fall apart and rebuilds itself.
