In a 2001 interview, Newman talked about the absurdity of the Pornographers being billed a "supergroup" when only one of the Canadian band's six members was actually famous. That was fellow redhead and only non-Canadian member, Neko Case, who already had alt-country fans under her spell with her first two solo albums. "They have the posters with our five pictures and our five names, and you look at it and you go, 'Who the f-k are those guys?'" he says. "I know Neko but� Carl Newman?! Who the f-k is that?'"
Thirteen years later, not much has really changed. "Obviously, there's still that element," Newman tells me. "I mean, [Neko's] definitely the most famous person in the band. I know that there are people that like the band and don't know who I am, couldn't pick me out of a police lineup."

When the New Pornographers formed, Newman was identified as the "singer, songwriter, and guitarist." That was back when the band - comprised of Newman, Case, Dan Bejar, John Collins, Kurt Dahle and Blaine Thurier (Newman's niece, Kathryn Calder would officially join the band in 2006) - considered themselves to be a democracy, voting on everything. "As time went on, I thought, 'That's stupid, why would we vote on everything?" Now, most people would identify Newman as the leader of the New Pornographers. Occasionally, even Newman himself.

"The whole idea of a leader is weird," he says. "Sometimes I think, 'Oh no, I'm not the leader. We don't have a leader.' And then sometimes I think, 'Yeah, I'm the leader. And I'm not very good at it, I should be better. I should be a better leader!'

"But, it's not for me to say," Newman continues. "I didn't give myself that title, but I know I am in a slightly elevated position in the band. But, you know, I'm not going to go to my bandmates and go, 'Say it, say I'm the leader!'"

Perhaps the main reason he's become the band's default leader is because, unlike Case and Bejar, the New Pornographers is his full-time gig. "I don't think I could support myself with my solo career," Newman says. His third solo record, 2012's Shut Down The Streets, under the name A.C. Newman, may not have stormed the charts, but the album, inspired by the birth of his first son and the death of his mother, did help set the tone for Brill Bruisers.