i-D - Number 244 - June 2004
(click thumbnails for full-size images)
Sufjan Stevens: a good heart these days is hard to find.
Sufjan Stevens is a special kind of guy. His is a world full of hot cups of tea, plucked banjos, birds singing in spindly tress, happy hippos wallowing in mud; he offers hope in a bad world. He makes the impossible seem possible. With his fourth album, Seven Swans, he explores themes of religion and dragons, families and devils, William Blake and girls in pretty dresses, all coming from a boy who spent his formative years chugging down on classical baroque whilst mastering the oboe for his school band. During middle school he decided piano was the way forward. “It was a revelation to me because you invest an emotional weight when playing. You physically put your whole body into it.” A couple of years later Sufjan decided to jump out of the good ship Michigan and headed straight to the Big Apple where he honed his creative mind down the valley of literature, enrolling on and completing a bad ass writing course with flying colours. During one summer, a friend asked him to look after his banjo, which Sufjan preeded to play every single day, all summer long, finding his voice both literally and figuratively. It was whilst organising one of his tentative first shows in New York that he met with the Danielson Family, a meeting which was to shape his latest work, with production credits on Seven Swans going out to ringleader Daniel Smith. “We went on tour, the chemistry was real good and now we’re great friends.” Sufjan put out his first two long players with the help of his step dad, who supported his independent Asthmatic Kitty label both financially and emotionally. Then Sufjan embarked on his 50 State project (one album based in each state of America), starting with Michigan. His best bud, the Crafts Editor for Martha Stewart Living, provided the artwork for the album (consisting of hand painted deers) and repaid Sufjan’s compliment by hooking him up with her day job where he taught middle America how to knit. In his spare time Sufjan volunteers down to his local blind centre, helping the visually impared learn various skills with his kind words and gentle touch. “It’s the most satisfying thing, they have no pretence at all. They don’t see me for what I look like, they see me for who I am. When the music industry is all about honouring surface pretence, their reality is much deeper.” BEN REARDON
Sufjan Stevens is a special kind of guy. His is a world full of hot cups of tea, plucked banjos, birds singing in spindly tress, happy hippos wallowing in mud; he offers hope in a bad world. He makes the impossible seem possible. With his fourth album, Seven Swans, he explores themes of religion and dragons, families and devils, William Blake and girls in pretty dresses, all coming from a boy who spent his formative years chugging down on classical baroque whilst mastering the oboe for his school band. During middle school he decided piano was the way forward. “It was a revelation to me because you invest an emotional weight when playing. You physically put your whole body into it.” A couple of years later Sufjan decided to jump out of the good ship Michigan and headed straight to the Big Apple where he honed his creative mind down the valley of literature, enrolling on and completing a bad ass writing course with flying colours. During one summer, a friend asked him to look after his banjo, which Sufjan preeded to play every single day, all summer long, finding his voice both literally and figuratively. It was whilst organising one of his tentative first shows in New York that he met with the Danielson Family, a meeting which was to shape his latest work, with production credits on Seven Swans going out to ringleader Daniel Smith. “We went on tour, the chemistry was real good and now we’re great friends.” Sufjan put out his first two long players with the help of his step dad, who supported his independent Asthmatic Kitty label both financially and emotionally. Then Sufjan embarked on his 50 State project (one album based in each state of America), starting with Michigan. His best bud, the Crafts Editor for Martha Stewart Living, provided the artwork for the album (consisting of hand painted deers) and repaid Sufjan’s compliment by hooking him up with her day job where he taught middle America how to knit. In his spare time Sufjan volunteers down to his local blind centre, helping the visually impared learn various skills with his kind words and gentle touch. “It’s the most satisfying thing, they have no pretence at all. They don’t see me for what I look like, they see me for who I am. When the music industry is all about honouring surface pretence, their reality is much deeper.” BEN REARDON
The album Seven Swans is out now followed by Michigan on June 28, both on Rough Trade. For more info check out www.sufjan.com
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ISABEL ASHA PENZLIEN