Ted Leo Performs Live on the Interface

After staring off in fledgling punk bands in the early '90s then moving to his own Pharmacists project as the new century started, it's safe to say that veteran rocker Ted Leo has the music thing down. While some musicians who've been around are accustomed to reading every last word written about them, Leo's not only not interested in that, he actually welcomes listeners to interpret his songs in however way you see fit. Or as he put it, "Interface with them."

"I do try to write in a way that -- more often than not, not all the time -- is at least open to some interpretation," Leo told Spinner during a recent Interface taping in our New York studios. "I'm not just writing a diary, like I want people to actually be able to interact with the songs and get something out of them."

"I mean, certainly there are songs that I have that are about something very specific," he added. "But it would be really rare that somebody else's interpretation that was different would bother me, unless it was like a completely opposite and offensive take on it, which luckily I haven't run into yet."

Leo, who is a professed lover of the Internet meme "Keyboard Cat," is often branded as being a very political musician -- and that's not to say that his previous records haven't dipped into themes of veganism, democracy and war. But on his new album, 'The Brutalist Bricks,' Leo lets his hair down a little bit, showing a not-so-serious side this time.

"The whole thing is actually a little bit lighthearted than I've been at times in the past. For example, 'Where Was My Brain?' is a song that I don't mean anything that I'm saying in it. It's done with a little bit of a smirk you know?"

Maybe Keyboard Cat's rubbing off on Ted? 'The Brutalist Bricks' is out March 9 on Matador.