By Andrea Morrison.

“I feel like I’m the last independent musician standing,” says the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens. “When I started out, I was naïve and ambitious. I sent demos around, but no one was interested.” They are now. For the past 17 years, Stevens has built a large fan base with nine studio albums and a variety of singles and collaborations released on his own Asthmatic Kitty label. And recently, he’s received additional attention for the songs he contributed to the award-winning, Luca Guadagnino-directed movie Call Me by Your Name. [Editor's note: His “Mystery of Love” has received an Oscar nomination for best original song.] Here, he talks with Lisa Robinson about indie music, music in the movies, and music for dark times.

LISA ROBINSON: You’re in good company on the Call Me by Your Name soundtrack—Bach, Ravel, Erik Satie, Ryuichi Sakamoto . . .

SUFJAN STEVENS: I don’t belong there . . .

L.R.: Tell me how your participation came about.

S.S.: Luca contacted me and asked if I wanted to write the music for his next film. And let me just say for the record, I often feel that there should be no music in film, no typical soundtrack. But Luca is one of those rare, special directors who uses music and sound in such abundance that you can’t imagine his films (I Am Love, A Bigger Splash) without the aural experience. He was already intent on using my song “Futile Devices” [remixed for the movie’s soundtrack], but he also wanted me to create something new. He sent me the book by André Aciman, which I loved, then the script, and I just started sketching ideas. I wrote the songs very quickly, but remotely—because I was on tour at the time.

L.R.: Your new songs (“Mystery of Love,” “Visions of Gideon”) in the movie are beautiful; “Mystery of Love” was even in the trailer. How would you feel about performing on the Academy Awards?

S.S.: I don’t know, is that what happens? I’d have to rent a tuxedo . . . . I have a dirty little secret: I’ve never watched the Oscars. But I’m just so proud of the film and I’m honored to be affiliated with a director who is so masterful and astute.

L.R.: You’re very private; you don’t do a lot of interviews—do you feel the music should speak for itself?

S.S.: I think that because my music is dynamic, and has a sort of breadth and depth, I hope that it will communicate on its own. I’m not in the habit of sharing my every move and maneuver; I still believe in mystery.

By Emmanuel Afolab.

L.R.: But your last album, Carrie & Lowell, about the death of your mother, was deeply personal.

S.S.: That whole endeavor was inherently troubled and problematic because I was obviously dealing with loss and grief, and very personal problems. In that case, I think the art failed me; the music didn’t solve anything, or answer any questions, or resolve any conflicts—death is finite. I don’t regret anything and I wouldn’t do anything differently, but the fact of the matter is, what really got me through it was allowing it to heal through time. The music itself didn’t offer any solutions.

L.R.: Why did you recently release The Greatest Gift—outtakes and demos from that album?

S.S.: It’s a little bit of pulling back the curtain and giving insight into the process—to see what didn’t make it on the album.

L.R.: How do you feel about being considered an “indie folk darling”?

S.S.: I’ve done a lot of different things—collaborated with rappers and experimented with electronic music—but I guess it’s the singer/songwriter part of me that probably speaks to people more than anything else.

L.R.: You’ve managed to have a very successful career without dealing with the traditional music industry.

S.S.: It wasn’t intentional, it just happened. And my stepdad has always been very supportive of me—I got started because of his support and he runs my label. I couldn’t get any attention from the industry at the time. And, thank god, in the early 2000s there was still a thriving independent music industry.

L.R.: You’ve said that in the current political climate, you want to make an angry dance record?

S.S.: For me, dance music can be revelatory; it’s physical, and the physical can transcend the emotional and the cerebral in ways that are necessary in these dark times. I think that we are called on now to reject anything frivolous. We need to speak clearly and coherently, with dignity and respect. We need to remind each other what are the basic tenets of being human.