As a pre-concert ritual, Ben Folds was planning to hang upside down in a dark closet and develop film. Or so he said.

“If I would win a thing of film this big,” Folds said holding his skinny hands a shoulder-width apart, “and have to take it all in 24 hours and have someone develop it for me, it would be like putting a kid in a room full of candy.”

Photography is Folds’ new hobby, one he’s teaching himself. Although he sometimes takes pictures of landscapes, he mostly snaps shots of his children — 3-year-old twins Gracie and Louis.

“They’re my best buds,” he said. “They just always surprise me. I laugh harder at (Gracie) than at anyone, and she’s 3-and-a-half.

“I guess that shows my mental age.”

Awkwardly perched on the edge of a black leather couch in rust-colored corduroy pants and a funky dark hat, Folds has just finished his sound check for Thursday’s concert. Hanging tapestries cover the small lockers that line the walls of his “dressing room” in Patten Gym.

On a table against the wall sit the organic foods Folds requested — spinach, beets, grapes, bananas, shallots and carrots.

Lots of carrots.

“More carrots than you can shake,” he said.

Folds’ quirkiness is part of what endears him to fans. As a performer he improvises, changing his songs to fit the mood of the crowd.

“The performance is at the moment — it’s not a repeat or revision,” Folds said.

Although a lot of Folds’ songs are based on experiences, they don’t always begin that way.

“When I start working on the music, that dictates that the song is about something,” he said. “Sometimes I even think I’m making it up and I realize it’s true. It’s just what I do.”

His wife, Frally, served as his inspiration for the song “The Luckiest,” but he said it started as something he was writing for the final scene of the movie “Loser,” when “two nerds kiss.”

Before writing the song he and friends watched the final scene, which sucked, he said. He thought he could redeem the ending with his ballad, which caused his friends to cry during their second viewing.

But the song and original ending failed to make the final cut, so he released it on his next album, 2001’s “Rockin’ the Suburbs.”

Although he has been commissioned to write songs, Folds said he typically tries to stay away from the corporate side of music and knows others who do the same.

“The music business right now is in horrible condition — both sides of it,” he said. “The less they pay attention to me, the better for me because they won’t fuck it up. If they don’t know what I’m doing, I won’t get in trouble.”

Despite Folds’ frustrations with the music business, he plans to record before and after his February tour in Japan. Chances are Folds will travel abroad with his same crew of three friends as he has with this season’s college tour.

In previous tours, Folds toured with a large entourage. Now Folds takes with him only the people he needs.

One time, Folds said, he saw someone in an airport he thought he recognized. When he asked the person how they might know each other, the person turned out to be working on his show and was traveling with Folds.

“I keep it as small as I possibly can without working them to death,” he said. “If you have a big crew and you have a big bus and everything, you’re just working to feed that organization. This way hopefully everyone gets paid more.

“I’m kind of stubborn about doing things the way I’m supposed to.”

The crew is heading out to Minneapolis for tonight’s show, and Folds said he will take turns driving with his three crew members.

But for Folds music comes easier than driving, he said, because he quickly veers off course.

“(Performing) is something I don’t fuck up a lot,” he said. “Or, I do — but I’m used to it.”