Paul McCartney fields fan questions on Twitter

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Paul McCartney fields fan questions on Twitter
Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAY
October 3, 2013

Paul McCartney held his first Twitter interview Thursday, spending an hour fielding questions about his upcoming album and other topics. He began an hour late, starting by telling a questioner why he named his forthcoming album New: "I was playing around with more poetic titles but New was a simple word and the name of a song on the album."

New, McCartney's first album of new original material in six years, will be released Oct. 15 in the USA. The album was produced by Mark Ronson, Paul Epworth, Ethan Johns and Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin.

McCartney called both generations of Martins "very musical and smart," while adding that "Giles comes from a younger generation and has a more contemporary approach."

Pressed to describe New in one word, the former Beatle picked "fresh." McCartney also said he was particularly proud of a song called Early Days, as well as a hidden track on the album called Scared. He wrote another, Everybody Out There, to "get the audience singing along."

Some questions got technical, like the one about what strings he uses on his Hofner 500/1 bass guitar. Those would be flatwound, .95 gauge strings. Other questions were more general, like what three words he'd use to describe his fans: "Fan-Bloody-Tastic." He told another Twitter follower that he's motivated to keep producing music by "a love of what I do." When was the last time McCartney laughed uncontrollably? Yesterday, "at the video shoot for Queenie Eye," he replied. Also, "I'm amazed, amused & happy" that a large amount of his current fans are teenagers. "The band & I are very surprised at what a beautiful young audience we attract!"

Asked about the albums he had bought most recently, McCartney named Kanye West's Yeezus, the National's Trouble Will Find Me, Jay Z's Magna Carta ... Holy Grail and the Civil Wars' The Civil Wars. (Within minutes, the Civil Wars' Joy Williams tweeted that she was "completely honored.") He also mentioned a rumor of a possible duet with Bob Dylan but said the two artists "haven't picked up on it."

And what's the hardest part of writing a song for the man who penned Yesterday, Hey Jude and Live and Let Die? "Finishing it."




Paul McCartney performs during the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 21 in Las Vegas.(Photo: Jeff Kravitz, FilmMagic)