Josh Radnor – best known for his onscreen role as lovelorn architect ‘Ted Mosby’ in the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother – sat down for a chat with us about his musical venture with Australia’s own radical indie export, Ben Lee. Together, the wildly unexpected pair form the folk duo Radnor & Lee.
Josh and Ben met on the set of How I Met Your Mother, and instantly bonded over their love and passion for music. Much in the way that plebeian adult life consists of promising to ‘catch up’ but never finding the time, the longtime pals toyed with the idea of writing songs together for years. Until finally, in between balancing family life, a solo career and writing a children’s album about Islam, Lee perked up: ‘why don’t we do it this week?’
And so, after an ‘effortless’ jam sesh – Radnor & Lee‘s first track ‘Wider Spaces’ was born.
‘… it was effortless, it just really happened fast. And then Ben did a demo of it, which I love. It started to feel very real, like ‘oh my god, we wrote a song together and now we have to listen to it’.’
The two got together again the following week and wrote their second song, ‘Be Like The Being’ – the opening track on their 2017 self-titled debut record, Radnor & Lee.
Of their collaborative process, Radnor gushed about Lee’s contagious energy and constant bursts of creativity, ‘the great thing about working with him is he is an enthusiast’. But Josh’s own creative passion was evident even half a world away; I guess you could say, he’d caught Ben’s disease.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Ben brings his own knowledge of the music industry, and experience in songwriting and record-making to the collaboration. Radnor went into the partnership thinking he would write a lot of the lyrics, whilst Lee would carve out the musical accompaniment. But having received ‘the best song-writing masterclass’ working alongside the seasoned artist, Josh is now confident in providing his own musical input.
‘He also really honoured my musical vision… He lets me drive a lot of the content, just in terms of ideas… we really sit side-by-side and hammer these songs out together.’
The lads generally play as a two-guitar band, with Ben also weaving a bit of drum and piano in to the fabric of their folky composition. However, disproving the old adage re: the inability to ‘teach an old dog new tricks’ – I was shocked to learn that Josh only learned to play guitar at 42! Maybe there is hope for this gangly-fingered gal – and my parents, who bought me a guitar for my 8th birthday – after all.
Having been a bit of a prodigal violinist in his youth – abandoning said hobby to ‘be more social’ -Radnor found picking up a guitar to be a fairly easy transition; putting it down to his trusty ol’ muscle memory. When asked if the duo experiment with any other instruments, Radnor admitted that he’d love to muck around with a harmonica on one of their new tracks. But sadly, no plans to whip out a blue french horn just yet… I’m so sorry, Josh – I had to ask.
Moving on from my disastrously dad-jokey quip, I also wondered whether Josh didn’t regret starting his musical career a little earlier in life.
‘I do actually. In some ways I can be like ‘oh I wish I started playing guitar at 14 or 15’; but, on another level it’s perfect because I had a lot of stuff that I wanted to do and did end up doing.
And whilst he admittedly entertains the fantasy of being a ’19-year-old thrashing around in the garage’; it’s clear that Radnor’s music would have had an entirely different flavour if he’d followed his musical aspirations in his teenage years.
I hadn’t lived and suffered, I hadn’t failed enough. And I like the place that I’m writing from right now, it feels like I finally really have something to say and I love saying it with music.
It was fascinating listening to Josh ruminate on the evolution of Radnor & Lee’s music, even with only one record under the fledgling band’s belt. According to him, Radnor & Lee (2017) is ‘more spiritual, existential musings’ whilst their upcoming record has more ‘dirt and bodies, sex and life, and earth’ in it.
Coming from a theatre background, it wasn’t difficult for Radnor to transition from the screen to performing live music onstage. You’ve only got to watch one clip of a Radnor & Lee show to feel the uplifting energy and sense of community that these two bring to a live set. It’s actually quite awe-inspiring the way in which Radnor talks about their fan base, and the inevitable effect they have on the bands onstage presence.
We’re not this polished – I mean, we’re good! (laughs) – we’re not out there being music virtuosos, you know, trying to show you we created this perfect thing. We’re very open to the moment of what’s going on. We know the crowd is there. We like that dialogue when people come to see us play, we like hearing some fans, we love hearing how the music is helping people through tough times or helping them think about life in a different way – all that stuff is amazing.
‘In some ways, it’s kind of a love letter back to our fans, saying thanks for discovering us and spreading the word’, he impassioned.
‘There is something about playing live that has a lot of that electricity. You let it. You don’t have to, but we let it.’
It could just be the remnants of my recent inhalation of all nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother, but Josh’s energy and passion for his craft drew many parallels with Ted Mosby’s distinct brand of fire and tenacity.
Addressing the Cockamouse in the room, I wondered aloud whether Radnor’s HIMYM fame – whilst clearly a great base for exposure – had also induced any pressure to perform a certain way. Josh reflected that he ‘came to peace with that in Brazil’; after selling so many tickets on their South American tour he admitted that he was worried fans were ‘just coming to gawk at a guy that had been on TV’. Rather, he was pleasantly surprised,
‘…people were singing along to all the songs. It felt like if they came to us because they were HIMYM fans, they left Radnor & Lee fans.’
My musical predilections change as frequently as I change socks, and I must admit: the furthest I’ve ever strayed to the folk side is probably Angus & Julia Stone. But having listened to Radnor & Lee on repeat for the better half of the past month, I think it’s safe to say these guys have awoken a fierce folkish frenzy in me.
Radnor & Lee started as a hobby of sorts, and a fun side hustle to their respective successful careers, but now the two are preparing to hit the road – playing a number of shows on US soil before heading Downunder for a brief East Coast tour.
It might sound a little conceited to younger bands and artists struggling to find a toehold in the cutthroat music industry, and particularly with Sydney’s live music venues being bulldozed by developers left, right and centre… but, there is certainly something inspiring in that these two can find time in their busy schedules to create and deliver beautiful music together, out of passion and not necessity.
‘I think we’re at the point where we don’t need to be doing this (laughs) we want to be doing this.’
‘I guess I pour a lot of myself into this music… And once again, if people responded to me from anything I’ve been on on TV, it couldn’t hurt them to swing by and see a show!’ Radnor implores.
‘We’re just going to keep going, because we can’t find a compelling reason not to’.
If that isn’t the most inspiring quote of 2018 then call me Teddy Westside. Well guys, he’s right about one thing: I came a How I Met Your Mother fan, and left a Radnor & Lee one.
Radnor & Lee are set to grace our sunburnt shores next month, dates are as follows. Get your hands on a ticket to their Sydney show here!
Thursday 17th May – The Triffid, Brisbane
Saturday 19th May – Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne
Sunday 20th May – Metro Theatre, Sydney
