Adam Green on His Biggest NY Show Ever, Drinking Jager in NY, Waking Up in Berlin

Adam Green, "Morning After Midnight" (MP3)

Adam Green plays his biggest New York show ever when he headlines Town Hall this Saturday, May 10 with Tim Fite and Laura Marling. Tickets are $26 and still on sale here. Expect costumes.

"I just woke up. I had a pretty wild night in Berlin. Let's put it this way: I owe some people some money."

Used to be that Adam Green was best known as Kimya Dawson's other half in the Moldy Peaches, the anti-folk Captain & Tenille who rhymed phrases like "Steak for chicken" with "Who'm I gonna stick my dick in?" Then came January 2008, when Green became both the shyly intoning boy on the centerpiece of the Juno soundtrack, "Anything But You," and the vocal model for Michael Cera's closing-credit cover-song pas-de-deux with Ellen Page. Fast-forward to March 2008, when Green became, to the world-at-large, a momentary YouTube phenom--promoting his goofball-cabaret solo record Sixes & Sevens, he showed up for a guest appearance on cross-the-pond talk show TV Total hilariously hammered, spun wiseass-b.s. about fighting in Iraq, and at one point, affectionately jumped in the burly male host's lap. It was pretty awesome.

So you never know what you're gonna get when you interview Adam Green. I got a pleasantly wry dude with a measured patter and an occasional Snagglepuss hiss-laugh in a Frankfurt dressing-room. My first question was going to be "Are you drunk?" Turns out, I didn't need to ask.

Village Voice: Hey, how's it going?

Adam Green: Who is that?

Village Voice: I'm Camille.

AG: Camille!

VV: Where are you?

I'm in a dressing room in Frankfurt. Yeah, Frank-furt.

What's it like?

It's a nice place. It's sort of like a squat. There're like German squatter kids at the place I'm at.

You're big over there, I've read.

Well, I don't know. It's hard to say. Where I'm playing in New York is Town Hall, right?

Yes.

This place [Mousonturm] is not as big as Town Hall.

So you're bigger in New York?

Maybe? It's hard to say. I've been touring everywhere for seven years. It's funny, I can go to Copenhagen and maybe a zillion kids will come and then I can go to Philadelphia and there'd be nobody. For all I know, I could go to China and play their version of Madison Square Garden. It's become really nebulous where there are geographic pockets of people who're buying my records. Or not buying, just listening to my songs.

Either way, this Town Hall show really is a big deal for you.

Yeah, it's major for me.