You talked about gatekeepers. You have to be your own gatekeeper. How do you ensure that you are your own most constructive critic?

That’s been one of the biggest challenges for me. There are some traits, or learned skills, that helped me early on, but became less helpful as things grew. I had to figure out how to let other people in, and let talented people do their jobs. I like producing music. You learn to trust your gut. But, also you learn that you could be helped in some ways by bringing on a talented person. I can get a little close to the music; sucked into the minutia. I had to learn to bring on people I can trust.

And has that trust yielded the desired result?

I don’t know. I think that I have grown. There have been benefits from that growth. The last couple of records I let other producers help me out, and the records feel more whole because of that. I feel like there has been some success in that I used to want to write every single part in every single song. I’ve kind of grown out of that. I figured out that you’re always learning, growing, and improving as long as you care about it.

For someone hearing or seeing you for the first time, what is it you hope to convey?

What I appreciate about any kind of art is that I love things that are really well-done but still accessible. Older pop music had, maybe, more character, a little more nuance. Today, there are bands that are ‘cool,’ with a lot of cred. And there are bands that are accessible. I feel like that is alienating. I would love for people to come to a show and appreciate it on the face of it. But, if you want to unpack it a little more, I’d love for you to be able to appreciate it on that level, as well. I would love to make music that was as accessible as it was carefully crafted.

Though it’s Ben Rector on the marquee, you seemed to have embraced more of a band concept. Is that a fair assessment?

This record, some of the songs were tracked live. I did want to bring in people that I thought were talented and great, and see what would happen in a live setting. Basically letting those guys do what they are really good at and see what happens. For the live show, the guys are super-talented players. I want it to be something that’s inclusive of everybody in the audience. I’m in a fortunate place to be around talented people and I want to soak that up.

Speaking of inclusive for your audience, the end-of-show audience selfies, and now videos you are doing have taken on a life of their own. How did this come about?

Because I have not done as much mainstream stuff, there is not as much name-recognition (for me) as other people. The people that are excited about me are really excited about it. For a while I was looking for a way to show that what I was doing was cool. But, I’m also deathly afraid of being pompous. The first time we did a video, it felt like a unique and exciting thing; what a fun thing for people to get to see. Now, people are really excited to find themselves in the video. It’s super-fun, and on this tour, I’ve been thinking of ways to spice it up.

The metaphor for this album and tour seems to be a bike. Is there particular significance to that or did you just like the image?

I initially took pictures for the album in a photography studio. The album is called Brand New. I wanted it to be vibrant and youthful, and jump out of the speakers. When we got the photos back they all looked serious and staged. I had bought a bike, and the night before I went out on tour, I called a buddy who is a photographer to come over and shoot me riding a bike. It felt so much more alive, so much more ‘me’ than standing in front of a white background trying to look cool. I just don’t do well with that approach or that appeal. The bike felt like being a kid again.

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