As Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields was sitting in an empty room in upstate New York waiting for a “75-foot moving truck,” he pulled up his email and began responding to some questions I had sent him a week earlier.

Receiving his responses was a pleasant surprise. Although they’re expectedly brief, they’re potent with the kind of dry humor and quirky details that have made his songs seem like the product of a legend in the making. Had the truck come any earlier, I probably wouldn’t be writing this. He’s notoriously …bothered …by journalists. As an MTV writer put it earlier this year, “interviewing Merritt is like trying to get car keys from a guy who has been drinking since noon.”

Around the time of that interview, the Magnetic Fields had released their tenth album, “Love at the Bottom of the Sea.” After a string of more experimentally-leaning albums (I’m trying not to be one of those categorizing journalists here – see response no. one below), it’s somewhat of a return to the band’s 1999 three-volume concept album, “69 Love Songs.” The Magnetic Fields had been enjoying a relatively quiet life in the indie rock channels up to that point, but everyone took notice of this knock-out.

It’s an album more about music and its relation to love than it is an album about love. It’s easy to picture Merritt writing these songs – some involve drunken trysts, others comedic arguments and the mixing of religion and romance – with a creative bent to capture the proverbial love song from every angle. And sometimes it’s just flippantly honest, such as when Merritt repeats, “A girl in her underwear – if there’s anything better in this world, who cares.”

Flippant honesty, rude in its delivery but redeemed by its truth and humor, is Stephin Merritt’s game. It characterizes “Love at the Bottom of the Sea,” as well as this interview. Check out the songs “Andrew in Drag” (about a straight man realizing he’s attracted to his friend, given he’s wearing drag) and “God Wants Us To Wait,” a sarcastic ode to abstinence where Merritt sings: “I guess it’s true, I should have told you before/ And not have waited ‘til we’re nude on the floor/ Though it would be the perfect end to our date/ I love you, baby, but God wants us to wait.”

It’s hard to write about his music without quoting the lyrics – the guy seems to see things from a thousand different perspectives, with a consistent streak of beguiling wit running through it all. How do you write an effective song? First, “don’t bother with your stupid thoughts and feelings.” He had a bit more to say about that. I’ll hand it off to Merritt.

69 Love Songs put you on the map, so to speak. Can you recall how you were feeling back then, how you were interpreting the success and deciding where to go with your music? 

Before “69 Love Songs,” I remember feeling misunderstood. Reviews of “Get Lost” indicated that the journalists thought I was trying to make a rock record and failing in various ways. I needed to make something that just couldn’t be seen that way. Something big and difficult that went in so many directions that only a moron would file it under indie rock. Oh, well.

The lyrics of your songs speak of love, travel and interesting characters in a way that seems pulled out of a daydream or a thought left to unravel naturally in the mind. What is the inspiration and writing process like behind the lyrics?

I sit in a gay bar for a few hours each day with a cocktail, a pen and my little notebook I carry everywhere. I listen to the music playing in the bar – usually thumping disco – and eavesdrop a bit, socialize a tad and try to work on a song. Often nothing much happens, but sometimes I write three songs in a day.

The Magnetic Fields have had a long, influential career. Is there anything the band feels it has yet to accomplish – any specific goals you’d still like to reach?

I want to be filed under Variety Music.

Now that you’ve completed your “no synth” trilogy of albums, how do you feel about how they turned out, how they were received and where they carried the band? Was it refreshing to return to a sound closer to earlier Magnetic Fields or has the whole process just felt natural?

Why does anyone care what instrument happens to be playing those three chords? It’s not like anyone can tell the difference nowadays anyway. I should have soldiered on, using synthesizers when I happened to feel like it. But I like trilogies as much as the next megalomaniac.

You’ve written a ton of material. Is it easy for you to sit down and write an original love song?

Popular music is about tradition, not originality. I do not wish to profane a love song with any silly originality. You want originality, listen to Pauline Oliveros. Her new box set is breathtaking.

What do you recall about Jeff Mangum reaching out to you? Were you surprised? What was the experience of playing All Tomorrow’s Parties like?

In counterpoint to the usual music festival, ATP had miniature golf! Jeff Mangum came to our dressing room for a few minutes, but we really don’t know each other.

What songs on the new album are most special to you and why? Or, what songs do you most enjoy playing live?

I like “Andrew in Drag” because I don’t remember writing it. I don’t enjoy playing my songs live, I always prefer hearing the record, which I worked on for so long. The live version is a pale vestige.

I’ve heard that you detest touring, but are there any cities you specifically look forward to visiting when on the road?

My own.

A write-up in The Londonist described you as an “introverted and staggeringly intelligent recluse.” Would you say that’s an accurate description? How would you describe yourself, say, if you were speed dating and had one minute to do so?

Versatile top, 5’3”, Gen X, seeks arty pocket bear.

What are some of your favorite books and films?

I don’t generally have favorites; I don’t think that way. The movie “Carnival of Souls” has been very important to me, directly inspiring “The Charm of the Highway Strip.” I’m currently reading my way through the complete novels of Philip K. Dick. A few weeks ago I showed “The Black Lizard” to a film class. For my birthday next year I want to rent a room at the Anthology Film Archives and show “The Lead Shoes,” “Dreams That Money Can Buy” and “Victory Over the Sun.” Also I read verse novels, with an eye to writing one someday.

How did the change in environment from New York to LA influence your creativity and sources of inspiration?

Not a lot. Living in LA probably inspired my song “All She Cares About Is Mariachi,” but I don’t live there anymore. I bought a house in upstate New York, where I am sitting right now in an empty room, waiting for a 75-foot moving truck.

What advice would you have to an aspiring songwriter looking for the best way to turn their thoughts and feelings into songs?

Don’t bother with your stupid thoughts and feelings. Take the best music you can find and emulate it. Self-expression has nothing to do with art.

The Magnetic Fields will be playing on November 15 at the Redford Theatre in Detroit. If you want more advice form Merritt, offer him a cognac and you may have a shot.