In today’s day of the best Washinton Post reader chats ever (for my tastes) that have nothing to do with politics, rocker Ted Leo all but said that his career has been like drinking Felix Felicis every couple of years:

Omaha, Neb.: Greetings from the landlocked Midwest, Mr. Leo. If you could attribute your level of success (i.e. selling records, kids showing up at your shows, etc.) to any one person/entity other than you, who would it be? Record label? Booking Agent (Tim is truly gifted!)? Bandmate? Soulmate?

Thank you.

Ted Leo: That’s seriously an amazing question, because there’s a definite machinery behind everything that a band does, and sometimes it’s hard to figure out how far to go in delegating certain responsibilities and staying COMPLETELY DIY. I really feel like I have been lucky in choosing to work with the right people when it was the right time to make a move toward “working with people.” I booked myself until I had a friend in Boston who wanted to start a booking agency at exactly the time that I was getting really sick of booking myself, and that was good, then, as I started to work with Lookout!, I got the benefits of having a label with a press person and a little bit of a budget for ads and stuff, exactly at the time that people were starting to actually care about my records; I found some of the best people to play with when I wanted to start playing more with a band again, and all of our respective “things” grew together. I think we all helped each other. I know that sounds like a cop-out, but it’s not - it’s just been a matter of being patient until you feel like you’ve found the right people at the right time, and hopefully it’ll all click.

Other cool chats today? Chris Jericho and Jim Gaffigan.

Ted Leo - Rock And Roll Dreams’ll Come Through (Barry Dworkin Cover Live On WFMU) (info)

Posted by thelumberjackthief |