@ZackTeibloom Ezra Furman rubbed his neck with a strained expression on his face as his manager told me new permanent band mate Andrew Langer would be doing most of the talking. Furman had played his first Lollapalooza that morning and had an after show at House of Blues later that night.

Even though Ezra says his least favorite part of playing shows is banter and his manager told him not to talk much during this interview, he talks up a storm on stage and chatted me up during the interview. That’s just how he operates.

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@ZackTeibloom Ezra Furman and his guitarist stayed at my house Friday night, listening to records and having some Sparks. OK, Ezra just ate a strawberry cheese danish and milk, but I was having Sparks. I don’t think he ever parties.

Somehow the conversation shifted to favorite albums and Ezra started making a list, which he called “The Favoritest albums.” I’m pretty sure that’s not a real word, but I’m not here to get technical. The list is 11 albums long and has a five album subsection called “But what about…”

Here we go, in no particular order: Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Ezra Furman hid behind a full beard in the backyard stage at Creekside Lounge, but put himself out there, as he always does, sounding confident as ever.

Always a fan of wordy intellectual t-shirts, he was sporting an Einstein quote “You can not simultaneously prepare for and prevent war.”

The short set was filled with charming Ezra banter, who seemed happy to be playing early in the festival. “I’m glad we met before we got jaded after 5 days of this s***,” he said to a giggling crowd. Read the rest of this entry »