I was fortunate to sit down with John Carney, the writer and director of the movie Once, as well as with the stars, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. My review of the movie can be found here. The interview took place in a suite in the Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas, Texas, on May 11, 2007. Two other interviewers were also present. Carney, Hansard and Irglova were all very gracious, down to earth and even self-effacing. At the end of the interview, Glen and Marketa agreed to sing us a song, with Glen playing along on his battered acoustic guitar. The song, recorded in purely lo-fi bootleg quality, can be heard on the sidebar radio.blog, along with an edited audio transcript of the interview. (If you’re sure you’re going to see the movie, you may want to wait until after you do to listen because the interview does contain mild spoilers. Also, due to some brief profanity, the audio may not be appropriate for some workplaces.)

Part one of the interview starts somewhat abruptly with Hansard discussing the impetus for the songs in the movie, some of which came out of a collaboration with Irglova on an album called The Swell Season. Carney had heard the songs and wanted to use them in the movie, even before Irglova and Hansard were cast. Hansard also discusses recording the music for the movie, and Carney talks about the collaboration and process of creating the movie. Irglova relates her thoughts about acting for the first time. Finally, Carney shares some of his experiences securing funding for his projects, and Hansard tells about how his mother financially supported his early career by lying to the loan officer at her bank.

In part two of the interview, Hansard talks about his sentimental attachment to his guitar, the same guitar used by his character in the movie. Hansard and Carney talk about the reaction to the movie in Ireland. Carney also discusses why the lead characters in the movie are unnamed. Carney and Hansard riff about things that break and the notion of built-in obsolescence, which segues into a discussion of cinema and the way the movie makers decided to conclude the movie.

The song, “Falling Slowly,” features Hansard and Marketa’s vocals and Hansard’s guitar. Although the mono recording isn’t that great (there’s an annoying humming song during the opening moments) it does give you a sense of the song’s powerful harmonics. The audience was only three people, including myself and two middle aged journalists. Despite that, Hansard, like the busker he plays in Once, was the consummate performer, pouring his heart into the song. The Frames are famous in Ireland for putting on amazing live shows, and the song helps explain how they earned their reputation. You’ll have to take my word for it that it sounded much, much better live than it does here.

A couple of memorable quotes from the interview:

John Carney on exposition in movie dialog: “I cannot and will not, ever, write the lines, ‘So where you from?’ ‘Czech Republic, what about you?’ ‘Dublin.’ I cannot do it. I will never do it.”

Glen Hansard on success in Ireland: “Irish people are very much—we don’t entertain the idea of celebrity very much. We don’t really compliment each other in the way that Americans are very much about. Like if your film did well, would congratulate you. There’s a slightly different thing with the Irish where if your film did well it’s like, ‘yeah, ya’ f***er.’ I guess it’s a small town mentality. It’s a small town. But as a response, people were coming up to me going like ‘Well done. I was never really sure about your music. I never really knew if I liked your band.’ And again, it’s like the left-handed compliment, it’s like, ‘I never liked you, but fair play, you made a good film.’”

Here are some additional interviews and features about Once and its creators:

The New York Times Magazine: “Once,” An Irish rock musical’s journey to the screen.
The Gazette (Montreal): Q&A with The Frames.
Premier Magazine: Once’s Reluctant Ingenue, Marketa Irglova.
Ain’t It Cool News: Quint chats with Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova and John Carney about the low-budget musical ONCE