Matt Berninger
Matt Berninger
Matthew Donald Berninger, known as Matt Berningeris a Cincinnati native, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, primarily known as the frontman of indie rock band The National. In 2014 he formed the EL VY project with Brent Knopf of Menomena and released the album Return to the Moon in November 2015...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth13 February 1971
CityCincinnati, OH
CountryUnited States of America
admitting gone guy hours loses station stubborn wagon
I'm a stubborn guy that loses his temper, sometimes driving the station wagon in the wrong direction for hours and hours and never admitting that he's gone the wrong way.
against dig heels love people
People will dig their heels in and fight for the things they love and against the things they hate.
anxieties awake lie love romantic shadows social songs
I love to make songs out of some of those shadows - you know, some of the things you lie awake thinking about, social anxieties and romantic insecurities and all that stuff.
editing mood pieces putting switching takes
I do a lot of editing and switching around and putting little pieces together to get the right mood and personality, and it takes me forever to get a song finished.
lyrics
A lot of my lyrics are approximate meaning without me knowing why they sound right.
lyrics
Usually, writing lyrics for me is like bleeding drop by drop from the forehead.
began bought came freedom might people worried
At first, when 'Boxer' came out, people were a little let down, and we worried that it might be the end for us. But then it began to grow on people. 'Boxer' bought us our creative freedom.
feels good images involve listener literal lyrics riddles song swing
A lot of the lyrics I write involve images that just swing the song in a way that feels really good to me and there isn't a literal explanation. They're not riddles for the listener to solve.
feels minor vocal
The same song can have drastically different feels and personalities just by changing some minor things. A different drumbeat or some vocal overdub could completely transform the song.
good tiny
When it comes to lyrics, I just write down a lot of things, and only a very tiny fraction of it, I think, is any good.
detail worried
Once you do have a child, you want to talk about every detail of it. And it is really boring to all your friends, and it should be. I was really worried about even going there at all.
forget-everything forget like-you
You gotta lean towards the things that make you like yourself. Forget everything else.
writing important stories
It is the melody and the rhythm that are by far the most important and then words and imagery and stuff, story bits will start to stick to a melody and that is the way I write.
writing feelings trying
I never sit and fill a journal with lyrics. Most of the time I'm trying to write a feeling, not a story. I'm not necessarily trying to describe the details of a place or event so much as the feeling of the thing. It is a kind of weird alchemy that is elusive until it feels right.