“HE’S GOT SO MANY SONGS THAT CUT THROUGH YOUR HEART”
KURT VILE: What I like about Springsteen is that he did come from that blue-collar background, but he didn’t actually work a job in his life. He says that in Born To Run.
I feel like I can identify with that, although I did have a blue-collar job for a while.
I didn’t go to college or any of that, I got a job driving a forklift. I was still hustling and my music was taking off while I was doing that job. Finally, I very conveniently got fired just before it was announced that I had signed with Matador Records. Times have changed since then, for me and Springsteen and everybody else. I’m not playing giant arenas, but in my world, the indie-rock world, I can make a living doing music and I feel very fortunate for that. He showed me that it was possible. I’m some kind of smaller version of thatt blue-collar musical tradition.