‘Sad Professor No More’: The National’s Matt Berninger Rethinks His Persona, Performs ‘Inland Ocean’ On ‘Daily Show’

The National frontman Matt Berninger swung by The Daily Show on Wednesday to promote his new solo album, Get Sunk. Berninger sat for a lengthy chat with host Jordan Klepper and then performed “Inland Ocean” from the recently released record.

The Midwest native explained the aim of Get Sunk was to showcase a different side of his personality. “The brand of the sad, depressing, borderline alcoholic college professor … I was getting sick of that character,” Berninger told Klepper of what became associated with The National’s music. He struggled with periods of depression, especially during the pandemic, and wanted to create a “happy” record that was more “positive and uplifting.”

Berninger used a different method for writing the 10-track follow-up to 2020’s Serpentine Prison. Instead of filling notebooks, he’d put lyrics on baseballs. The limited surface area helped him pare down his prose. He also discussed his connection to teenagers and Taylor Swift fans, working with members of The Walkmen and “Inland Ocean.”

“This is one of the first songs that made it to the album. This one I wrote a long time ago and I knew that it was going to be the first song on whatever record I was gonna to finish,” Berninger revealed of the track that opens Get Sunk. “I wrote it with Walter Martin of The Walkmen, who’s here tonight. This is a good prologue for the album. It talks about that murky idea of Middle America and sets up Indiana,” he added.

Watch Matt Berninger’s appearance on The Daily Show below: