[piano intro] - [Announcer] "Shaped by Sound" is made possible through support from Come Hear NC, a program of the North Carolina Arts Council within the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

- "Shaped by Sound."

[clapperboard clanks] - 13 North Carolina artists.

Their songs, their stories, this stage.

[bright music] [bright music fades out] [gentle piano music] [gentle music continues] [gentle music continues] ♪ We'd hit the bottom ♪ ♪ I thought it was my fault ♪ ♪ And in a way, I guess it was ♪ ♪ I'm just now finding out ♪ ♪ What it was all about ♪ ♪ I moved to the West Coast ♪ ♪ Away from everyone ♪ ♪ But she never told me that you called ♪ ♪ Back when I was still ♪ ♪ I was still in love ♪ ♪ Until I opened my eyes and walked out the door ♪ ♪ And the clouds came tumbling down ♪ ♪ And it's bye-bye, goodbye, I tried ♪ ♪ And I twisted it wrong trying to make it right ♪ ♪ Had to leave myself behind ♪ ♪ Singing bye-bye, goodbye, I tried ♪ ♪ So come pick me up ♪ ♪ I've landed ♪ [bright music continues] ♪ The daily dramas ♪ ♪ She made from nothing ♪ ♪ So nothing ever made them right ♪ ♪ She liked to push me ♪ ♪ And talk me back down ♪ ♪ Until I believed I was the crazy one ♪ ♪ And in a way I guess I was ♪ ♪ Till I opened my eyes and walked out the door ♪ ♪ And the clouds came tumbling down ♪ ♪ And it's bye-bye, goodbye, I tried ♪ ♪ Treading the sea of a troubled mind ♪ ♪ Had to leave myself behind ♪ ♪ Singing bye-bye, goodbye, I tried ♪ ♪ If you wrote me off ♪ ♪ I'd understand it ♪ ♪ Because I've been on ♪ ♪ Some other planet ♪ ♪ So come pick me up ♪ ♪ I've landed ♪ ♪ And you will be so ♪ ♪ Happy to know ♪ ♪ I've come alone ♪ ♪ It's over ♪ [bright music continues] [bright music continues] ♪ Because I opened my eyes and walked out the door ♪ ♪ And the clouds came tumbling down ♪ ♪ And it's bye-bye, goodbye, I tried ♪ ♪ Down comes the ringing of the telephone czar ♪ ♪ It's okay to call ♪ ♪ I will answer for myself ♪ ♪ Come pick me up ♪ ♪ Bye-bye, bye-bye ♪ ♪ Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye ♪ ♪ Bye, bye-bye, bye-bye, I've landed ♪ - Ben Folds from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Right?

- Yes.

- Thank you so much for being here on "Shaped by Sound".

- Yeah, good to be here.

- I would like to know, in your opinion, do you think that place influences identity?

- Place influences identity?

Well, while it influences it, I don't think it necessarily influences it the way you might think.

I feel like from what I've compared of my adult friends from other parts of the country, that we had a really exceptional access to art and music, and North Carolina, excuse my ignorance, but it may be roughly the same size as England.

Right?

- Right.

- As opposed to it being like some pie in the sky thing that has to come from Los Angeles or somewhere else.

I don't believe that all of the other states in the country have that, like have that sense of, of sort of homegrown independent music.

When I came back to North Carolina after sort of, you know, living in Nashville, Tennessee and doing a semester abroad in Vienna, Austria, I was over there, it was really easy to find great musicians to start a band and we played our first gig within a month and we had our first album out within a year.

And overall identity, I'm proud of being from here.

I've lived in a lot of places, I don't tend to want to say I'm from them, although I could, I've spent more time in them.

For whatever reason, I do identify with this place and I'm proud of my peers who grew up and did things that I think are amazing too.

We punch above our weight, as we like to say.

[bright piano music] [bright music continues] ♪ Take a walk ♪ ♪ Out the gate you go and never stop ♪ ♪ Past dollar stores and wig shops ♪ ♪ A quarter in a cup for every block ♪ ♪ And watch the buildings grow ♪ ♪ Smaller as you go ♪ ♪ Down the track ♪ ♪ Beautiful McMansions on a hill ♪ ♪ That overlook a highway ♪ ♪ With riverboat casinos and you still ♪ ♪ Have yet to see a soul ♪ ♪ Jesusland ♪ ♪ Jesusland ♪ [bright music continues] ♪ Town to town ♪ ♪ Broadcast to each house, they drop your name ♪ ♪ But no one knows your face ♪ ♪ Billboards quoting things you'd never say ♪ ♪ You hang your head and pray ♪ ♪ For Jesusland ♪ ♪ Jesusland ♪ [bright music continues] ♪ Miles and miles ♪ ♪ And the sun's going down ♪ ♪ Pulses glow ♪ ♪ From their homes ♪ ♪ You're not alone ♪ ♪ Lights come on ♪ ♪ As you lay your weary head ♪ ♪ On their lawn ♪ [bright music continues] [bright music continues] [bright music continues] ♪ Parking lots ♪ ♪ Cracked and growing grass, you see it all ♪ ♪ From offices to farms ♪ ♪ Crosses flying high above your malls ♪ ♪ Along the walk ♪ ♪ Through Jesusland ♪ ♪ Jesusland ♪ [bright music continues] [music ends] - Your journey kind of takes you to the University of Miami and then from there you went back to Greensboro for a bit and then Nashville and New York.

But it seems like Chapel Hill in the 90s was really where it started to click on a different level for you.

- Absolutely.

- Why was that?

- I had been playing around with, working at trying to get my music up, for some of the songs had been sitting with me for 10 years.

It had been 100% rejection.

Quite honestly, I was living in New York.

I knew I had a lot better chance being in Chapel Hill than I did in New York, because that's where everyone was flying in to see if there was new music.

So I went back there, met Robert and Darren in December of 93 and we had our first gig in like February of 94, and we had our first album out at the beginning of 95.

- That's crazy that it happened that quickly.

- Flying, the point is is that it was opportunistic.

I was like, "Oh, okay, Chapel Hill, this is happening."

So we went there and started playing gigs and then just went off and toured the world after that.

[dramatic piano music] ♪ Well, she crept back in the house at half past three ♪ ♪ Shook her head to see him snoring in his sleep ♪ ♪ If you really loved me, she said ♪ ♪ I wouldn't have to be so mean ♪ [dramatic music continues] ♪ He's a heap of junk that pours from his top drawer ♪ ♪ Sometimes likes to spread it out around the floor ♪ ♪ It's evidence of what he was like ♪ ♪ He likes to remember when ♪ ♪ Sha la la, sha la li lo la li ♪ ♪ The end is growing near ♪ ♪ Yeah, we're treading water now ♪ ♪ Holding back our tears ♪ ♪ And the day is rising ♪ ♪ We're sinking, sha la la lo li ♪ [dramatic music continues] [dramatic music continues] [dramatic music continues] ♪ In a minute it will all be coming down ♪ ♪ And they know it now but no one makes a sound ♪ ♪ Such a shame to ruin this bright ♪ ♪ Lazy, sunny day ♪ ♪ Sha la la, sha la li lo la li ♪ ♪ The end is growing near ♪ ♪ Yeah, we're treading water now ♪ ♪ Holding back our tears ♪ ♪ And the day is rising ♪ ♪ We're sinking, sha la la lo li ♪ ♪ My my ♪ ♪ The cruelest lies are often told ♪ ♪ Without a word ♪ ♪ My my ♪ ♪ The kindest truths ♪ ♪ Are often spoken, never heard ♪ [fingers tapping] [dramatic piano music] [dramatic music continues] [dramatic music continues] ♪ She said, you've been pushing me like I was a sore tooth ♪ ♪ You can't respect me 'cause I've done so much for you ♪ ♪ He said, well, I hate that it's come to this ♪ ♪ But, baby, I was doing fine ♪ ♪ How do you think that I survived the other 25 before you ♪ ♪ Sha la la, sha la li lo la li ♪ ♪ The end is growing near ♪ ♪ Yeah, we're treading water ♪ ♪ And holding back our tears ♪ ♪ And the day is rising ♪ ♪ We're sinking, sha la la lo life ♪ [music ends] - What was it like for you to make and create Ben Folds Five in the 90s?

- It was so exciting.

We walked in the door when there was utter chaos.

The industry didn't know what was next.

They were open suddenly to anything 'cause there was no formula.

But boy, they found one in about five minutes and we were already through the door.

Everything we played in the studio when we made this album was a revelatory moment.

Every note was a rebellion, that's the way we felt.

And so it was super exciting.

This grunge era was yielding guitar bands, not piano bands, so, again, we were walking against the grain of that.

You know, indie music itself was already established as walking against the grain of what had existed before, so we were almost rebelling against the rebellion.

We moved a baby grand piano ourselves, the three of us, and then we had a fourth person and we would have help with that, but we would load it in and play with five other punk rock bands and get it out of the way, whether it was New York or wherever.

And within, gosh, you know, within six months of touring, even the album hadn't come out yet, the buzz on it was like, there was always lines around the street of these clubs, you know?

And you don't even know how that's happening.

There's no internet at the moment, you know?

But there's something about driving across a desert in the US, barely getting there, getting your stuff on stage, going, "Check, check, check," and then you walk out to go get a sandwich and you're just walking past a block line of people to see your music, where did they come from?

It was great.

♪ If there's a God ♪ ♪ He's laughing at us ♪ ♪ And our football team ♪ [intense piano music] ♪ Effington could be a wonderful effing place ♪ ♪ I can see it from the highway ♪ ♪ And I'm wondering ♪ ♪ Are they effing in their yards, effing in their cars ♪ ♪ Effing in their trailers in the back roads ♪ ♪ And the parking lots ♪ ♪ Of Effington ♪ ♪ Making my way to Normal, Illinois ♪ [upbeat music continues] ♪ Maybe I should ditch this little white rental ♪ ♪ On the interstate ♪ ♪ And get a new effing life ♪ ♪ In Effington ♪ ♪ I could change my name, grow a beard, start a family ♪ ♪ Or I could just keep on moving on, moving on ♪ ♪ And not stop till I get to Normal ♪ ♪ I want to live in Effington ♪ ♪ I want to die there too ♪ ♪ Please bury me in Effington ♪ ♪ In Effington, in Effington ♪ [upbeat music continues] ♪ I've got this movie in my mind of Effington ♪ ♪ And the soundtrack to it sounds like this ♪ [intense music continues] [intense music continues] ♪ And I wanna live in Effington ♪ ♪ And I want to die there too ♪ ♪ Please bury me in Effington ♪ ♪ In Effington, in Effington, whoa ♪ [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] ♪ If there's a God ♪ ♪ He's laughing at us ♪ ♪ And our football team ♪ ♪ And then the people who live in Normal ♪ ♪ Can buy the movies that I'll make in Effington ♪ ♪ That's what normal people do ♪ ♪ Do normal people do it too, normal people do it too ♪ ♪ Normal people do it, people do it, people do it too ♪ [intense music continues] [intense music continues] ♪ And I want to live in Effington ♪ ♪ And I want to die there too ♪ ♪ Please bury me in Effington ♪ ♪ In Effington, in Effington, in Effington ♪ - So, after this like roller coaster ride of Ben Folds Five, how are you applying that to like a solo career?

- I knew when I went off on my own, and this was a mutual decision, but I knew when I went off on my own I could now do anything I wanted.

This head game happens with older artists where everyone wants them to, quote, return to form.

And return to form means sound young.

But sounding young was being no idea what was next.

Art is nothing but contradiction and that's why people have a hard time with it.

It's like you're not supposed to care what anyone thinks, and yet what everyone thinks changes everything about your life and future and livelihood.

So do you care what everyone thinks?

Of course you do.

Being creative means going into the unknown, but it also means having a moment where you see it and it's inevitable and it happens before you start it.

I think that's kind of normal.

Right now, I'm in the phase where I don't want to know what I'm gonna do next.

I don't know what I want to do.

I never had a bucket list.

- Well, Ben, thank you so much for being here, we really appreciate it.

It's been a pleasure to have you on.

- Thanks, good to be here.

- Awesome, thank you.

[bright piano music] ♪ A mattress and a stereo ♪ ♪ Just like I started ♪ ♪ And a note composed with thumbs and phone ♪ ♪ On unpacked boxes ♪ ♪ It's so well written ♪ ♪ But I won't be sending it ♪ ♪ And I will not forget you ♪ ♪ There was nothing to forget ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ So there ♪ [bright music continues] ♪ Through shiny streets and dirty snow ♪ ♪ Blue skies in Ditmas ♪ ♪ Oh, Brooklyn is my second sleep ♪ ♪ Yeah, I damn well did this ♪ ♪ The world got big again ♪ ♪ You couldn't get rid of it ♪ ♪ And I cannot forget you ♪ ♪ There was nothing to forget ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ So there ♪ [bright music continues] [bright music continues] [bright music continues] [bright music continues] [bright music continues] [bright music continues] - Sesame Street.

[bright music continues] [bright music continues] ♪ You taught me nothing ♪ ♪ I owe you nothing ♪ ♪ How could I forget you ♪ ♪ There was nothing to forget ♪ ♪ No ♪ ♪ So there ♪ [bright music continues] [bright music continues] [music ends] - [Announcer] Thanks for joining us on "Shaped by Sound".

If you'd like to hear more of our discussion from today, you can find it over on our website, pbsnc.org/shapedbysound, or you can find it on the PBS App.

[gentle piano music] [gentle music continues] [gentle music continues] ♪ Are you the same Kristine ♪ ♪ I knew from 7th grade ♪ [music fades out] - [Announcer] "Shaped by Sound" is made possible through support from Come Hear NC, a program of the North Carolina Arts Council within the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.