Britt Daniel performs with the Divine Fits in Austin, Tx., October 2012. Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
When he isn’t writing infectious Spoon albums or partnering with Dan Boeckner (one of the main songwriters behind Canada’s Wolf Parade and the Handsome Furs) to form Divine Fits, Britt Daniel is being generally awesome and surfing the web. On Wednesday he stopped by Reddit to do a friendly Ask Me Anything, which revealed a lot of juicy tidbits about the frontman and his personal interests. Were you even aware he had a soft spot for Whataburger fast food or that he finds songwriting kind of, well, aggravating? Neither were we. Here are eight surprising factoids for your next Britt Daniel trivia sesh.
1. Britt Daniel loves to cover Destroyer, but can’t recall his favorite album by the lo-fi performer.
When asked what his favorite Destroyer album was, Daniel likely shrugged and wrote, “I’m not sure. We used to cover ‘It’s Gonna Take An Airplane,’ though, and even had Dan [Boeckner] come sing it with us once in Houston.”
2. Britt Daniel has excellent taste in music and doesn’t even mind greatest hits compilations.
See: Victorialand by the Cocteau Twins, Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, Prince’s Sign O’ The Times, Bo Diddley’s Go Bo Diddley and Primary Colours by The Horrors. He’d also love to tour with the Rolling Stones. And would give these records to his kid if he had one: Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 20 Greatest Hits, Diana Ross & the Supreme’s Greatest Hits, the Beatles’ Revolver, 1999 by Prince, and Never Mind the Bullocks by the Sex Pistols.
3. He also has excellent taste in Tex-Mex food.
His picks: Ninfa‘s and Armando‘s Mexican restos in Houston, Whataburger fast food joint in Temple, and Madam Mam‘s, Salt Lick and Ruby’s in Dallas. Dude really loves him some Tex-Mex.
4. Britt Daniel is not afraid of using pantyhose in the recording process.
When asked what recording the split-EP series, Home, he did with Conor Oberst was like, Daniels had a weird response: “I remember the two of us going to Walmart to buy pantyhose to make a homemade microphone pop screen. Wish I had a picture of that.”
Watch Spoon perform “Got Nuffin’” at Merge XX below:
5. Britt Daniel used to craft bloops and bleeps for a living.
No he wasn’t a Skrillex type, but before Daniels wrote about heartbreak, he made sound effects for videogames. “What a job that was,” he quipped.
6. Britt Daniel still hates Axl Rose.
“He’s a prick,” he said.
7. In case you’ve been wondering who “Sister Jack” was, here’s the answer.
This is him-slash-her, said Daniel.
8. If you’re looking to become a good songwriter, Daniel suggests getting off the internet.
“If you’re a new songwriter, keep in mind the odds are you aren’t very good yet,” he said. “It took me a long time to start writing good songs and I still spend a lot of time on ones that end up not being good. I would just say to work hard and keep doing it and get off the internet and try not to focus on trivia.”
Watch the video for Divine Fits’ “Would That Not Be Nice” below:
