Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for narrative songs about her personal life, which have received widespread media coverage. At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at 15, she signed her first record deal.
Her 2006 eponymous debut album was the longest-charting album of the 2000s in the US. Its third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008.
Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", it became the US' best-selling album of 2009 and was certified diamond in the US. The album won four Grammy Awards, and Swift became the youngest Album of the Year winner.
The National’s Matt Berninger on Bringing ‘Frankenstein’ to Life, Working With ‘Gifted’ Taylor Swift, and Frontman Lessons From R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe
variety.comWilliam Earl The National have long been one of indie rock’s most revered bands, and like many of their past albums, the songs from their recently released ninth outing, “First Two Pages of Frankenstein,” take on a life of their own onstage.
The band — frontman Matt Berninger, guitarist brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and bassist Scott Devendorf and drummer Bryan Devendorf, also brothers — are known for their intense live shows and are currently in the middle of a North American tour, and of course have received a wave of new fans thanks to their recent collaborations with Taylor Swift.
Variety spoke with Berninger how the band’s music changes during a live show, the emotional meditation they gained from playing one song for six hours straight, and writing with Swift. What is your process of bringing newly recorded material from the studio to the stage? It’s a strange evolution, because the songs are all written in these very private moments, and I never think about what it’s going to be like to perform anything when writing it.
But then walking on stage and doing the songs in front of people changes so much. Being on stage is not a naturally comfortable place — I’ve always found it challenging to find that right area where I’m genuinely connecting to the songs and not trying to think too much about being in front of people and performing.
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