SALVAGE LOVE

Of Polaroids, slide projectors, arm wrestling and what happens when you find what you are looking for

an interview with Andy Friedman
by Davy Rothbart

Andy Friedman is a Brooklyn-based artist and the founder of City Salvage Records. His first book, Drawings & Other Failures, collected his pencil drawings and Polaroid photographs to stunning effect. In addition to showcasing his work in galleries, Friedman has struck upon a unique way to share his art with others­by touring like the rock'n´roll musicians he idolized as a kid. His unusual blend of visual art and performance has earned him praise from the New Yorker and the Boston Globe, among others. In the midst of another whirlwind zigzag through the country in support of his newest book, Future Blues, Friedman took a few minutes to rap with old friend and Ann Arbor Paper reporter Davy Rothbart.

Davy: How many cities are you going to on this tour?

Andy: I count the days I'm gone from home, not the cities. Even if I played Buffalo fifteen nights in a row, I'd still be gone from my home and my wife for two weeks.

Davy: Have you ever considered playing Buffalo fifteen nights in a row?

Andy: They've never even agreed to have me for one.

Davy: What happens exactly at one of your shows?

Andy: I'm on stage accompanying projections of my pencil drawings, paintings, and photographs, with an introspective monologue­no, an introspective rant-­no, an introspective ramble. I accompany my paintings with an hour-long introspective ramble.

Davy: I don't know any other painters that go on tour. How did all this touring begin?

Andy: I was born and raised on rock'n'roll and going to shows, listening to music. I'm not a musician, I don't have any songs, but I have what I have. It only felt natural to get on the road and find a way to perform my art, to get it out to people­not lecture about it, but relay it to people. It's not so different from a rock concert, I'm just a painter doing it.

Davy: That's cool as hell. Dude, can I open for you?

Andy: Sure, why not.

Davy: Tell me about the new book. Or album, as they've been called. I like that your books have been called albums.

Andy: Drawings & Other Failures was about a guy searching for something and all the confusion involved with that. Future Blues is about a guy who found what he'd been looking for, and all the confusion involved with that. I got into making books in the first place because I wanted to make records of where I'd been, and hopefully when someone looks at my books it might help them remember where they've been. That's how I learned who I was, by listening to other people's records, hearing where they've been, letting them put it down for me. So I've tried to do the same thing.

Davy: Yeah, all of my favorite art involves that kind of deep personal expression, whether it's Petey Pablo or Al Burian or Ross McElwee. Okay, Andy, what's the best show you ever did?

Andy: Well, I can remember the best moment. Last month I was opening shows for my friend Cary Hudson, who's become a pretty big alt-country rocker.. We were in Starkville, Mississippi, and it was a crowd of 500 or 600 people, and most people were digging what I was doing, so I was feeling great. Then fifteen or so frat boys started yelling shit at me from right up front. Stuff like, you know, "Get the fuck off the stage!"
At first I ignored it, but then I thought, I've got to figure out some way to use this. So I let it be silent for a second, and everyone thought I was unnerved, but it was weird, I wasn't. I had a whole row of drinks set out in front of me, and I drained one, and then looked down at them and said, "Do me a favor, go get me a fuckin´ drink." The whole place exploded with applause. I felt like such a bad-ass.
But the frat boys kept yelling. "Get the fuck offstage! Give us some fucking music!" And I said, "This is music, now go get me a fuckin´ drink". Later I arm wrestled one of them at his table and won. That was my best moment ever.

Andy Friedman performs from Future Blues on Tuesday, March 2, 8:00 p.m., at Henrietta Fahrenheit in downtown Ypsilanti, 126 W. Michigan Avenue, (734) 484-3833. Opening the show will be Poem Adept frontman Peter Rothbart and FOUND Magazine creator Davy Rothbart.