The artist The National’s Matt Berninger calls “our Andy Warhol”
You can tell what kind of person someone is by the records that they swear by. The National‘s Matt Berninger is no different. As a devotee of everything from classic singer-songwriter music to 1990s alternative rock, Berninger brings his crop of inspirations to the fore of his own music, even if The National doesn’t sound as though they have any direct forefathers.
When Berninger appeared on the “Home Edition” of Amoeba Music’s show ‘What’s In My Bag’ during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, he shared the records that helped shape him as a musician. Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly rubbed elbows with the Pixies’ Come On Pilgrim without either seeming out of place.
Artists as diverse as Cat Power, Tom Waits, and Leonard Cohen all found their way into Berninger’s pile. As genres crossed and blended in a seemingly random fashion, Berninger took time to highlight some lesser-known albums by big names, including Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint and the Sinner Man and Booker T. & the MGs’ Melting Pot. For his final pick, Berninger chose a relatively new record from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, 2019’s Ghosteen.
“I think my favourite artist of contemporary time honestly is Nick Cave,” Berninger shared. “He writes more generously, with more bravery, than any artist I know. He writes incredible novels and screenplays and makes incredible films and his blog is brilliant along with any of the other things that he does.”
“He leaps off into the bravest places with everything he does,” Berninger adds. “I think he’s our Andy Warhol or something.”
It wasn’t the first time that Berninger would sing the praises of Cave. In a 2020 interview with Hot Press, Berninger claimed that Cave was a better songwriter than Bob Dylan. “I really do think that there are better songwriters writing songs right now than ever,” he said. “So many artists are doing their best writing right now. Like Nick Cave, and his last couple of records. For me, Nick Cave is the best songwriter alive. And I’m aware Bob Dylan is alive. Nick Cave has even gone past Cohen and Tom Waits for me – and that’s my trinity.”
“It’s because of these past four years, of just being saturated with absolute bullshit from the news and information,” he continues. “Everyone knows it’s bullshit. Even the culture – the TV shows, the pop music, and everything else. Nobody can choke it down anymore. I don’t know any artists – and I mean the ones that are really artists – who aren’t making their best stuff right now.”
“Sometimes you have incredible craft, but the art’s just not there,” Berninger added. “Just tell me something true! Tell me something new, and real! For example, ‘Wet Ass Pussy’ [WAP]’ is a beautiful work of art – because it’s fucking true. And it’s bold, and it’s beautiful. And it’s fun! That song has both the art, and the craft – because they crafted it into such a banger! The video’s amazing too. Everything about that is art. I think everybody’s tired of packaging these little ideas into something safe. Everybody’s like, ‘Fuck it – blow it all up’.”
Watch Berninger discuss some of his favourite albums down below.
