Mark Kozelek: not quite as evil as Ariel Pink
With the year winding down, Kozelek phoned in to SPIN for an "exit interview," and quickly disasbused the magazine's journalist of the notion that Benji and the following critical praise has been the high point of his career.
"If you're 25, I could see how you could be tricked into thinking Benji is my most successful record, but I've been doing this long before online magazines existed," Kozelek said. "This year has been busy — but 2012 also had me very busy with Among the Leaves. I toured Australia/Asia, was all over the place. I was also busy in '93, touring those Red House Painters albums. NME and Melody Maker were saying I was the next Lou Reed or Van Morrison. So, everyone has their own version as to when the height of my career was."
The 47-year-old Ohioan was asked to provide the highlight of his year, and came up with a surprising response.
"A hug from a guy in Portland, Maine," Kozelek said. "He was in a wheelchair and he was up front and called out for songs all night and said he'd been waiting 22 years to see me. An hour-and-a-half after the show, I was outside with Steve Shelley and the others, and this guy pulls himself around the corner and asked me for a hug. I hugged him and he wouldn't let go. I held back my tears but when I got back to my hotel, I cried like a baby."
Don't get it twisted, though; Kozelek is not one to waste time worrying about peoples' feelings (particularly about The War on Drugs).
"If people want to write long, rambling, pathetic articles about how sad they are about song titles, have a blast!" he said. "I'll be out playing music to a room full of people, having a great time."
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