Interview: Owen Pallett, The Canadian Formerly Known As Final Fantasy

Bostonist: You've recorded songs about Spectrum before this. How does Heartland relate to the material on your EP Spectrum 14th Century?

Pallett: Spectrum 14th Century is meant to exist as a musical atlas.

Rather than map out anything on paper, or write some essays about a fictional culture, I just decided to preface Heartland with a bunch of fictional folk songs that would extrapolate on the culture and societal norms of the place.

The first song "Oh Spectrum" is meant to be the sound of the city, and from then on, we're in the countryside.

Bostonist: Bostonist's favorite hair-pulling composer, Nico Muhly, played piano on Heartland, on "The Great Elsewhere." We're always pleasantly shocked when two people we'd love to see collaborating end up collaborating.

Pallett: Nico and I are less co-workers and more co-conspirators.

We've talked about working together, but the trouble is that we have very different political ideologies and a very similar skill set. His contribution to Heartland may appear limited to piano on half a song, but in fact, he was with me in Iceland most of the time I was recording the beds, providing his commentary and a great deal of feedback.

Bostonist: We've always been impressed by the covers that you work into your live performances. For entirely selfish reasons, we must ask: Do you have any plans to record your version of John Cale's "Paris 1919" ever?

Pallett: I can't cover John Cale any more.

I had heard from a mutual friend that Mr. Cale wasn't in as cushy a financial situation as his miraculous back catalogue ought to provide him. I do not know if there was any truth to that rumour, but it made me want to show a small token of my appreciation of his music.

I tried to persuade Arcade Fire to cover "Paris 1919", but it didn't really strike their fancy. So I did it myself, but I had an electro-acoustic piano out with me at the time, I can't do it any more.

It was a good cover!

Bostonist: Have you found that the audience's response to "Peach, Plum, Pear" has shifted as Joanna Newsom has gone from obscure oddity to indie campfire singalong music?

Pallett: "Obscure oddity" and "indie campfire singalong"? Those are some harsh connotations.

When I first started working covers into my set, it was cause there were some artists who I really felt a desire to go to bat for, Joanna being one of them. I read some shit-talk about Milk-Eyed Mender when it came out, music writers can be bastards.

So I covered that song, it's a good song for a guy to sing.

Destroyer is another, pre-reissue OMD is another, pre-Mimi Mariah as well. (Post-Mimi Mariah has enough boosters already.)

These days, everybody is doing covers, so the desire has worn off.

Bostonist: You're no longer going by the name Final Fantasy. Was the decision to record and perform under your own name purely a legal matter, or does it reflect some sort of creative shift?

Pallett: It was purely legal. I still catch myself calling it Final Fantasy, it's really a "thing," removed from my person, it's weird to be calling it "Owen Pallett."

Bostonist: Does this mean we can't ask you questions like "What was your preferred Final Fantasy NES party composition?"

Pallett: I haven't played any JRPGs since my testicles descended. The only two computer games I play as an adult are chess and a rather frustrating rogue-like called Ancient Domains Of Mystery.

Bostonist: Some of your subject matter has been characterized as "nerdy." Do you think that D&D and imagery of that ilk are still "nerdy" in a culture where normal, boring teenage girls want to bone vampires?

Pallett: You are revealing a great deal about yourself with that question.

I'm really as much of a jock as I am a nerd. When I get some time at home, I'm doing chin-ups and chugging creatine. I ski mogul runs and do backscratchers.

But you can't really write songs about those things, can you? (Can you?)