Ryan Tedder is the frontman for the band OneRepublic and a sought-after songwriter and producer who has collaborated with pop artists including Adele, Beyoncé, One Direction, B.o.B, Maroon 5, Zedd and Kelly Clarkson.
READING I’m always reading multiple books. Right now it’s “Escape From Camp 14” by Blaine Harden, about a North Korean prison camp that’s incredibly depraved and disgusting. Also “Mission to Paris” by Alan Furst because I’ll read anything about Paris. And I’ve left three different copies of “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin on three different airplanes. It’s what the film “Lincoln” is based on and I’m halfway through it, so I have to get another copy.
LISTENING I listen to Muddy Waters probably more than anything. Next to Muddy Waters it’s probably Arcade Fire’s album “The Suburbs.” It’s pop music, but it’s smart pop music. The fact that they are doing a stadium tour without having a true hit on the radio is a huge testament to how great a band they are. I’m also a big fan of Birdy. Her debut album is phenomenal and she was only 15 when it was released.
WATCHING I love “Iron Chef.” I’ve been into cooking for about 10 years now. If I hadn’t gone into music, I’d have gone into food. In the next few years, I think I’d like to open a restaurant where my wife and I pick the chef and we plan the entire menu. I think an interesting concept would be a Spanish-Asian fusion restaurant — Spasian. You could have prosciutto wrapped figs with goat cheese and some crazy dim sum and paella won tons.
FOLLOWING I go to CNN.com, like, five or six times a day. I don’t know. Maybe I have I.D.P. — information deprivation paranoia.
I also check out a lot of the music message boards to see what people are listening to, and if I have a song that’s out, I see if people hate it or love it. There’s ATRL, Pulse Music Board and Digital Spy. And I go to Pitchfork. They are to music what The New York Times is to books.
COLLECTING I collect historical papers. I have handwritten letters from Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Edwin Stanton and William Seward. My family has been in America since 20 years before the Mayflower. At an early age, I got to know my family history and that got me interested in American history. Owning an actual piece of history makes it real. And it’s all appreciable. They’re not going to make any more.
SECLUDING I bought a hoodie in Portland, Me., that has changed my entire flying experience. The hood on it is so damn big, it provides instant privacy. If you sit down and don’t want someone talking to you, you just flip this hood up. It’s like the hood on the emperor in “Star Wars.”
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The New York Times
Hello Ryan.
There are lots of people in the industry that watch ATRL though.
