The War on Drugs frontman Adam Granduciel joins Brad from The What Podcast for a special interview about the band's new album, I Don't Live Here Anymore.
In addiction to discussing the progression from the TWOD's previous full-length, A Deeper Understanding, Granduciel is joined by his bandmates for a four-song performance. In this exclusive set, The War on Drugs perform the new LP's "Change," "Old Skin," "Occasional Rain," and the title track.
Elsewhere in the episode, Brad, Barry, and Lord Taco talk the latest Bonnaroo news and Peter Jackson's new Beatles documentary Get Back. Listen now, and make sure you like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also follow the Consequence Podcast Network for updates on all our programs, and snag the "Radiate Positivity" T-shirt at the Consequence Shop; a portion of proceeds goes to help those impacted by Hurricane Ida.
Topics: The War on Drugs, Bonnaroo
Guest: Adam Granduciel
We have dates! Bondaroo 2021 dates have been announced. Black Friday sales and codes have been released. Hangout Fest has a lineup coming. The wheels are in motion for Festival Season 2022 while we wait. A chat with more on drugs today on the What Podcast. Plus something we've never done on the podcast before, a What Podcast exclusive. Barry Courter, Brad Steiner, Lord Taco, which bands this year that matter the What Podcast, it starts right now. You're always trying to do your best. Don't worry about what happens next. Cause it never ends and we just begun. We crash into the set it's on. So gather round and tell everyone. We're ready for the end. I mean, this is really weirding you out, isn't it? Yeah, it kind of is. Why? Cause you've never had a hat. You've never seen me in a hat? No, because of the hair. I know I never want to cover up the money, but the point is, is that I found one hat and I think this one hat looks okay on me. It's the only hat that I've been able to say, okay, that's okay. But no, it's all right. All right. You think that looks okay on you? That's the one you picked? This is the one I got. What do you think? Wow. Okay. All right. I know it comes as a startle to you and it's a shock to the system, but you know, when you look this pretty, you can pretty much wear anything Barry. Wow. Again, judges. So you, so you can wear anything and that's what you pick. Exactly. That's what I got. He's some kind of point. I got no point to prove them. Just, you know, look, there's a, there's a very important football game on tonight. Uh, I'll be wearing my Washington football hat. So I might as well just be wearing a hat all day. All right. Make it a whole day. Go with it. I feel like taco, do you have this feeling like Barry is upset that I've joined your side and not his? Cause if you think that he's feeling a little alone and by himself, that I'm now part of the hat club. Taco wears a hat. Yeah, you're kind of on the losing end now. I mean, you want to join the winning team and put on a hat. I'm joining the winning team and switching sides. I'll switch sides. No, I'm good. That's why Barry's so upset about this. He doesn't want to be left out of the hack. I'm going to go with the moneymaker. If you show up in a hat next week, we'll know what happened. Yeah, you're exactly right. It better be something special though. Every something special. If you, Oh, you could wear a hat with me wearing a hat. I'm just glad it's not turned around backwards. Oh yeah. I'm glad if I did this kind of thing, I like that guy, you know, like this doesn't work. Yeah. Oh no, that's great. That's great. Yeah. Taco, thanks so much for looking out for me. Yeah. Sure. Nailed it. Yeah. You're going to get an honest answer from us. What can we do to make him look stupid? How's everybody? How's everybody doing? What's new? What's happening? Everybody's good. The big news this week, dates are announced. We feel good about that. That's a, you know, it's weird how that happened the day after our show came out. Hasn't that happened before? I don't know. I, we have nothing to do with this, I'm sure, but it didn't, it was a little strange. Like the second that we, that we say it, it comes out, you know, maybe we need to start talking, you know, and putting other stuff in the universe. Yeah. What else are we really, really wanting? Prince, like they're listening to us. Prince come back. Yeah. Could Prince come back to life and play? Better go ahead and tell it. It would sell some tickets. Announce it. Yeah. So I don't know if you guys noticed this, but I tweeted this out a couple of days ago, but not only do you have the Bonnaroo announcement dates, but you got a Coachella lineup coming. And the other thing that I heard was you will get a hangout lineup in the next two weeks. Yeah. By the time you hear this, you might already even have it, but it will be no later than the seventh or eighth of December. So yeah, we're, we're days away from it feeling like festival lineup season is on. Well, pre-sale tickets, what day after Thanksgiving for Bonnaroo. So they got that going. Is there a way to tell if tickets are moving at a steady rate? Like, can you go and look and I know in the past, they, when they close down certain tiers, that gives you an idea as to how tickets are moving. But you know, then we figured out the, that tier system is total BS because there could be 10s, 10 tickets inside the first tier. Well, look at everybody sold out. Tier one. We don't know what the number is. That's for sure. But that is one way to tell, you know, if it fills up quickly, like it has the last couple of years. But I was looking at it earlier and man, there's a whole bunch of categories. Like what? Well, you know, it used to be just seem like GA or VIP. Now it's well, look, they've had GA plus for a couple of years. GA plus VIP platinum platinum is $3,500 by the way. GA shuttle VIP. Are they, are the platinum people still on a bus? You know, they get their own tour bus. Is that like rolling? I'm on a, I'm on a bus. No, they got rid of roll like a rock star. And that became the, that are going to be over in the woods. The famous Brad Steiner. Hey taco, how much you charge into a live in that bus with you? Then maybe a dollar. We'll talk. Wow. $1 man. You are such an accommodating man. We need to talk about your business plan. I think they've got Thursday dinners. They've got all kinds of different things. I like to have dinner on Thursdays. I like Thursdays. Fridays are pretty good. They're going to let people in Tuesday and Wednesday as we have, as they were going to last year. VIP is able to get in Wednesday now. Supposed to have their own entry into Centaroo. I mean all kinds of different changes. So interesting to see. You know, I kind of get distracted every time I hear Barry say Tuesday or Wednesday. I kind of lose everything that you're saying because I start thinking about words that I might say that would distract other people. Like, do I say something in a way that distracts somebody so completely, it just knocks them completely out of the conversation. Didn't realize it was that annoying. It's not annoying. No, I think it's endearing. Actually. I love the Tuesday and Wednesday. I it's what grandma would say. You know, I, it's so endearing and lovely. It's hearkening back to the days of your when you hear me say, wash. That's what grandma used to say. Worse the car. My, my, my grandmother, I, and I do this all the time. She used to walk around the house whenever something would be like really startling to she, she go, I declare, well, I declare not an, not an oopsie daisy. She never did. Whoopsie. Noopsie daisies. No. You're still camping. Right. But you're still camping. You know what? I don't know. It's not the roll like a rock star where they had the buses where you would, yeah, platinum RV camp or whatever. It's okay. I don't know what you get. Well, let's look platinum RV camping. Okay. So there are times where, you know, we will, we'll be walking around and you know, this is not a pattern on our back. Do you know the AC guys can't even get into platinum? You know, they don't even let your, the, the all access badges into platinum. So I mean the $3,500 well worth it. I wonder how many of those they actually sell. What do you think they're selling in platinum for? Is it some 500 of them? I have no idea. Let's see. You get the new exclusive campground, tree shaded area behind Brewers Village, air conditioned lounge, all inclusive dining and drink, private showers, restrooms, fast track entrance, wifi, lawn games. If they sell 500 of those tickets, they're making $1.7 million. Yeah. Well, they get Bloody Mary. We have Bloody Mary's. We're under, we're underpriced. There's not much of this that we can't match, you know, and we could cut this price in half. You know, we could save you a lot of money. You get to sleep in taco. Our concierge Brian Stone. Who doesn't like to see his, you know, Jerry Nick's our Bloody Mary guy. He'll make you a Bloody Mary guy. Yeah. Now go back to these private showers. Are they suggesting that the regular showers are not private? I mean, is somebody showering me? Yeah. Is that showering with you? Yes, you do have complimentary spa services, services and lawn games for somebody like taco. You're going to have to explain to him what spa services are. I don't know. What do I look like? I know. So how much is it just regular VIP? Man, you are not the kind of, you know, help desk I was looking for today. I gotta go back. 1200 regular $1,250, $1,250. So 1250, that is just a ton of money. And let's say they sell 1250, right? And let's say they sell, you know, 2000 of those $2.5 million. I mean, just in the VIP upgrades alone, you just, you know, cleared three and a half million, four and a half million dollars. I think a lot of these are like business write off type things. Yeah. Well, it's still, you know, still money into live nation and to monitor. And this is, you know, the, the fear was something like Bonnaroo is not going to come back or somebody, if somebody was worried about it, just remember live nation has more money than God. They are rolling in money and they're just, they're doing better now than they did before the pandemic, which is nuts to say they're doing just fine. So you know, these, these things are not going to go away unless they really want it to go away for a reason. I can't even begin to explain like the math of when hangout sold out that, you know, years ago, I remember you, yeah, you were pretty, you were pretty, uh, talked about that for days. Yeah. And they, they sold 10,000 more tickets. It meant like another million and a half dollars in revenue for them, straight revenue that didn't just added revenue that, that they didn't even have to account for. Just came in, just extra money, found money to, to add to your point, I guess, um, GA is, uh, less, uh, pretty much tier one is 299 tier two, three 20. What do you mean by less? I want to say GA three years ago was like three 50, three 49. Are you saying they lowered the price? Am I wrong? Taco? Is that what you remember? No, it's cheaper. Now what they, what you don't see is the, you know, the hitch it for the fees and they can't check out. They're going to get their money. They'll get you for the fees. Yeah. You got to have your parking and all that. Yeah. It's well, it's $60 just in fees, just for the ticket. Yeah. And then they have tax on top of that. They own the ticket companies. The other thing, was there anything else on the festival world that happened this week other than a hangouts happening in the next two weeks? And then, uh, we have dates, we have prices, anything else hanging out there that we haven't gone through? No, I did want to, I was looking at the tent camping option. You can get it. You get a, you can show up, they'll park you and then you walk your stuff into temp camp, tent camping. Where did that go? They've got a souvenir tent, souvenir air mattress, a sleeping bag, lantern, you know, they make it, trying to make it easy. That's the thing we've talked about for the last six, seven years. They're trying to figure out a way for, and there's all kinds of shuttles between Nashville and hotels and all that. So they're really trying to figure out a way to make it easy for just about everybody. Wait, what a, um, what a missed opportunity from the city of Chattanooga. You know, your equal distance from Manchester as Nashville is, but Nashville is getting all of this revenue. They're getting all of this because, you know, nobody decided to, to wave their arm and say, Hey, what about us? What about us? Well, I see made a push into Nashville. So, I mean, that's where it started. So today is a, to get into the meat of the show today. We know we've got, you know, some lulls before, you know, the, the car starts moving, but I had a chat with Adam from war on drugs, the day that the, the album came out and I love war on drugs and how could I take an opportunity to not dweeb out yet again, yet another week where we just play me slobbing all over a guest, just another week. Slobbing all over a what? A guest. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thought I heard another word and, and what they've decided to do, not only did they have a chat with me, but they've given us four exclusive session songs that we can play right here exclusively on the what podcast. They did a session for us and we get to be, you know, basically get to play it on the show, which is so exciting and something we've never done before on the show. Yeah. It's very cool. Very exciting. How are we going to do it? You're going to one at a time, just four at the end. We're going to, well, I was going to just, I'm just going to let them play. I was just going to say, Hey, hit it guys. And then just let them go and let them do their thing because what do I need to involve myself with? Like, what do we need to jump in critique and guys? That's nice. That's good. That's good. What's next? Is that a guitar? No, I've seen them. That's really cool. It's very cool of them to do that. Yeah. And then you'll hear a chat with Adam from war on drugs and then a nice little four song session right here for the, for the what podcast. And that's, that's basically the show for today. And you know, back next week, actually two weeks from now, I was going to say, yeah, with a chat that you had with a Grammy nominated, now Grammy nominated artist, Mastodon. Pretty cool. Huh? That's I, I've told it. I was literally on the phone with their manager when we got word that Bonnaroo was not happening this year who we were setting up. We were the three of us were going to do an onsite with the band and we were on the phone setting it up when you guys texted me and said, yep, there it is. Cancel. Wow. I didn't know that. But yeah, well, they were really cool. And I said, you know, we'd really like to still talk to them and they made it happen. So we'll have that in two weeks and then we're right up on top of Christmas and some other announcements, maybe lineups. Right. So we'd hope so. Anything in Lord tacos world's going on? What happened? What's going on? Lord taco. Nothing. Nailed it as always. I mean, yeah, it's got on him. Take a break. If you watched that, if you watched that Beatles documentary yet, I'm in it. I'm, I am almost finished with the first episode. No, wait a second. Why did you say that? I'm in it. I'm in it. I'm in it. I'm in it. I'm in it. I'm in it. I'm in it. Wait a second. Why did you ask Barry if he's watched it? Not me. You could just assume that I don't, I don't have the patience to sit through 12 and a half hours with Peter Jackson. Definitely not. Okay. Yeah, that's right. After the, uh, after the, uh, Dune discussion kind of went south. Uh, yeah. Uh, I'll just talk to Barry. Yes. You know what? I have to admit, uh, I didn't think I was going to. Want to watch it after the first 20 minutes. Cause it just seemed like it was going to be eight hours of home movies. And then after talking to other people who are every bit the Beatle geek fan that I am, I started back and it's pretty amazing. It's pretty cool. Okay. Explain to me what it is. Is it four episodes, eight episodes? How long is the same thing? It's three episodes, three episodes, three episodes, about eight hours, right? Total each episode is eight hours. No, no, no. Total. Okay. And it's, it's the basically footage that was shot during the let it be, which was their final. Kind of the swan song. Um, and when that, the original came out a year after they broke up, it seemed, it was a real negative. It was, everyone was sort of like, Oh, well they're fighting all the time. That's why this one's significant. Cause they weren't fighting all the time. They had issues. Um, but they're happy and normal and you see them as human beings, but you also see them like there's a, there's a whole scene with McCartney just sitting down with nothing. And a few minutes later had get back. That's what I was, that's what I was going to say is that's what got me interested is this clip that, you know, people have been sharing a film just sitting there strumming and then just out of nowhere, you know, just kind of the song just pops in his head and he starts playing it. And that's the song and it's, yeah. And that's what got me wanting to play it. And he started on it because Lenin was late. They, they, they're the storyline. If there is one is they have about what 13 or 14 days, they, they want to do this live performance, which they don't know what it is yet. And they've given themselves this deadline. So you're watching, you know, arguably, my opinion, the greatest band in the world come up with this. Okay. And this is video captured in a very small sample size. This is not home movies from their entire career. No, no, no, no. Oh, that's much more interesting to me than having to intentional. It was intentional footage, not intentional for an eight hour, you know, that's where it's different. So, and I told you, Brad, you'd have to, I mean, I don't know if you have to be a huge Beatles fan to love it. Probably you at least need to know these songs, which, you know, if you ever turned to radio on most of us are going to know them. But what was your question, Russ? How come it took so long for this footage to come out? Like why did it take? Because they had done it. You know, they did, they did one back in 70, I guess, 69, 70, and they're just very protective of their brand, you know, getting Ringo and Paul and Yoko to agree. I took a while and who was going to do it type of thing. Yeah. Peter Jackson is an odd poll, don't you think? Yeah. He made it work. I'll tell you the real reason that we've started watching it over the holidays when I had family here. And as soon as I saw Yoko sit down next to John, I was like, I'm not sure I can watch eight hours. And she doesn't say a lot, fortunately, but, and I'll be honest, it's not just her. I don't think anybody should bring a spouse into a work environment like that. You know, it's just uncomfortable for everybody. You could have stopped that sentence, spouse. Yeah. So, okay, I know where you're going with this when you started down this path, but I know this is going to be blasphemy. And I know the shit that I'll get for this, but I've never been that big of a Beatles fan. And, you know, I thought the later, especially when it got more, it was really bubblegum. I'll put it that way. The first half of the career was just so bubblegum. I really didn't really care until the LSD phase, you know, when they got into actual drugs. So, you know, I don't think that I need to be a big fan to see something like this. I think I appreciate it for, you know, exactly what it is and who it is. You know, I mean, I don't like Bruce Springsteen, but damn, I'm not going to miss that show. Right. Right. Right. It's Bruce. Yeah, it's pretty incredible to watch. And I've always said this, there are a lot of people who aren't fans and that's fine. But where I have, you know, where I, and I don't even care anymore because most people are just saying it to get a reaction when they say they're overrated and not the biggest and all that. But, you know, my biggest thing is, yeah, but everyone, every artist that you like, that you think is the best is a huge fan of the Beatles and is in has been, you know, so much more about this than I do, but I loved revolver and that's probably the only Beatles album that I love love. Where in that sort of scope of this movie is revolver? It would have been two years earlier, thereabouts. Revolver was sort of the beginning of the LSD phase, right? And it is often, for many people, it is their best album. Sgt. Pepper gets a lot of the hype and Sgt. Pepper was truly groundbreaking and deserves all of the hype, but revolver was pretty doggone significant. There's another thing about this that has never really attached for me and it's sort of the reason why, back to the Dune conversation from a couple weeks ago, when the zeitgeist is so past me and people are living in a world where I could never catch up for the love of God, never be able to, no matter how much time I spend with it, I'll never be able to catch up with you. You know, there are people who are dedicated their entire lives and existence into the Beatles. So what in the world am I going to offer to a conversation when those kind of people exist in this world? Right? Like I can never get into lost because the time has already passed. Yeah, we've already had that dinner conversation. That's fair. But the only thing I would say to that, and it surprises me, is the number of young people. Like if we were to probably ask the bands that we've had on with us, they're always going to mention the Beatles. Doesn't matter if they're 20 years old or 60, they always mentioned the Beatles as an influence. You know, I have no reason to doubt them, but it comes up all the time. And it's just, I don't know, there's so much that they did that impacted so many different things in life. And this is this movie so far is not about that, unless you're a real nerd like me. Is there not a time though when you hear somebody say, you ask the question, it's probably some young kid or something, and they've got a single or they've got an album and you ask them some of their influences and they say the Beatles, is there not a part of you that just rolls your eyes? Yeah, that's what I did just about a minute ago. That's what I mean. Do I doubt them? I don't know. I will tell you, I had a, he wasn't young, young. We had a writer. He was probably 30 at the time to ask if he could write record reviews for us. And I told him, no. And he thought I was kidding. And he said, why? And I said, cause you hate the Beatles. You don't think they're any good at all. So you have no point of reference. Wow. I was, I was half kidding and half not, but his reaction told me I was probably right. Well, would you not let me write album reviews because I'm just not the biggest fan of the Beatles. Well, he was, he was very loud about it, put it that way. That's why I even do. Not everybody has to like the Beatles. No, I mean, that's the point. I mean, like there's a perspective there and I, I hear it. I understand what it is, but you know, there was very little in that, in the first few years of the Beatles, it's any different than boy bands of the nineties and the early aughts. You know, there's just so little difference. And better and there's a little more meat on those bones than, than bubble gum, but sure. But I think, you know, I mean, well, the biggest difference and I could do this all day and it's not what we, maybe you don't want the biggest difference is they were writing their own stuff, writing and singing and playing. And at that time I wanted that way was written by some pretty genius people. Yeah. But in the early sixties that that was not the case. No one was writing their own stuff. And certainly not singing and playing it. That was sure. I, I, I hear that, but I think that, so I come back to that scene from Mad Men all the time where the Beatles are playing Shea Stadium and Don Draper doesn't really want to go. He's just going to sit there while his daughter enjoys the show. There weren't that many parents that were into the Beatles while their kids were losing their mind early on, right? No, not so much. It was, I mean, you were a parent then I was, they were frightened by it. Same with Elvis. You know, they thought it was the devil's music. And that part of was the part of what the, what if they imagine they get a load of Cardi B? They think that's bad. It goes back to when we had Mark on the author, Mark Myers. Where he, he said that whole shift was because finally kids had their own thing, the transistor radios and their own 45 signals. You know, their parents didn't like it. And I mean, I don't care what generation it is. That always makes things more exciting. You know, if your parents tell you it's terrible, then most people, that's where kids are going. And that certainly was happening, but it's interesting. I got to finish my, I got to finish, you know, my repeat of the fourth time watching the OC. I thought you were going to say Dune. No, I've got to finish my fourth watch for through dude. It's be his fourth attempt to get through it. I know I have yet to watch it from front to back in one sitting without something going wrong or falling asleep or, you know, I I'm going to take it like the taco approach of just keeping it on in the background at all times and just grabbing things as I walk by and putting it all together, you know, eventually you'll see it all. Eventually I'm going to get to the whole thing. Yeah. I will say taco, since we talked about this two weeks ago, I've heard from a lot of other huge Dune fans and they love it as much as you do. So it gets a lot of praise from the, the Dune nerds. Yeah. But I've also heard people, not Brad, but I've heard from the people that said they never read the books and didn't know. My opinion doesn't matter whatsoever. I promise you, whatever I think about this has nothing to do with anything. I'm the last guy to start telling people what is good or not good with Dune. Yeah. I mean, it was okay. I'm glad I saw it. I, like I said, it could have been a little shorter, but say that about a lot of the things and so wait, they're like actual Dune heads that didn't like it. Russ, it's not that I think what he was saying is that there are people who hadn't read the book that are not as nerd. I only know one guy and it's Chris Stanley from the Bennington show, my radio and life hero Ron Bennington. His producer is a huge Dune nerd. I mean, he's into this just like you are. And he hated the new movie. He hated it. Yeah. And I, I mean, he's got his own purpose. He's got reasons. I can't explain to you what they are, but he was the only one. Yeah, he's the only like major, you know, Dune person to not like it at all. It kind of goes back to the Beatles thing. Like, you know, everybody sees Thanksgiving. So we had all my family here and my older brothers put it this way that we got a trivial pursuit Beatles edition one year for Christmas. And there was almost a fight because they disagreed with the answers on some of the cards. Wow. They're that they're that big. See, this is why I can't get into the Beatles. There's already this world where you guys are Beatles. Pictionary like how am I going to include myself? You know, I'm really getting into the Beatles these days. Well, how can I really get myself? How can I do that? I'm a huge fan and I can't play the game. I mean, it gets into record labels and dates and that's all right. So we're on drug this week, mastodon in a couple of weeks. And then by then, hopefully we've got some lineups and some major action moving. But what podcasts with the war on drugs? Enjoy. Man, I'm so happy to finally meet you and talk to you. I couldn't be a bigger fan of yours. Your band is incredible. Your albums are damn near perfect every time. It's like there's some sort of like war on drugs button you hit. It just magically all of a sudden sounds perfect. I don't know how that button works, but it's pretty impressive. There is a distinct sound when it comes to war on drugs songs. I'll take it. Yeah. I mean, you know, I'll credit my producer, Sean Everett, on a lot of that. But yeah, we just get in there, you know, and we just work on this stuff for a long time and we'll see that make it make it sound good. I've heard you say that so often about how and I think that the most interesting thing about the band is how long you tinker and tinker and tinker and tinker with a song. What is like the longest amount of time you've spent on a song? What was it? Probably. I mean, it's not like we work on it every day straight, but I mean, certain songs have definitely taken, you know, two years to kind of like get from beginning to end with it making sense or sounding, you know, you could but you could keep tinkering even after that, couldn't you? I guess technically I could, but I'm pretty good about letting it go. Like I feel like I feel like the tinkering is kind of a way to just to find like the heart of a song, you know, like the essential being of it. And then once we kind of uncover that, then it's I'm always cool to be like, cool, like I like when there's some rough edges on things or things feel like, you know, the joke that Sean and I always have is we spend all this time on stuff just to get it to sound like a casual recording of a band in a room, you know? Because it's like they just make you like painting like a great illusion. But yeah, I'm okay to let it go whenever when we find what we're looking for. How about the inverse of that? What's a song that took you no time and it was just right? Almost immediately. There was a song actually on it's a B side on this record that I really like, but I couldn't find a place for it. I basically had like a really quick demo of it at home. And then I showed the guys it was like Dave, Anthony and Robbie, we're a studio in LA. And I basically showed it to them. And we're like, okay, we went into the studio and we did a version of it in like 10 minutes. The band just kicked into it. And it sounded really great. I think we did two takes and it's under three minutes long. And it's like a really sweet little pop rock song that I really love. And it's like, oh, that was easy. They're not always that easy, obviously. But it's nice when they are, you know, but there was a part of you that really wanted to go into the hood though, doesn't that? Oh, I did, yeah, we spent another six months like adding stuff to it. But the song, the structure and everything, the base, the heart of it was there. But that's the fun part. I've never, in 20 some odd years of doing this, I've never asked this question. But because I'm so excited for this album, literally tell me about it. And you know, I understand like the progression of a human being and how writing goes for you, especially. But because I'm a nerd, I actually just want to hear what the album's about. Because I know they all seem to have a centralized theme for you. This one, I would say is kind of about, and these are things I tend to learn a little bit after the fact, you know, I don't really go into it with like some grand vision about what it is that's plaguing me that I need to express. I feel like I love to write music. And so I work a lot and I try to write a lot of stuff. And then the stuff that grabs me, I think it's all centralized on maybe one idea. And I think that these songs and this period is kind of just about growing into a new phase of your life, you know what I mean? Like and not necessarily leaving anything behind, but kind of just learning how to grow and move into a new chapter with a sort of grace, you know, and understanding. I dare say happiness. Right. Or the pursuit of it. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's just such a start. The reason I bring this up is because it's such a stark contrast from like Lost in the Dream, which was by every account that I've been able to pull together, it's pretty depressing moment for you. You know? Yeah, literally. Yeah, exactly. So, so to then be two albums later and almost do a 180, it's got to be a little, little odd. I think, I think that's the beauty of time. And I think, yeah, I mean, you know, I think when musically, I always enjoy music that is fairly uplifting, I think even on Lost in the Dream, the songs, the music of the sound, at least to me, the sound of the songs is big. But I think I was wrestling with a specific, with a moment in time that I felt the need to sing about. But now, yeah, I mean, there's definitely things about now that are way, you know, I find much more comfort in now than I did maybe six, seven years ago. Like what? Well, you know, obviously, having a kid halfway through this record was helpful, you know? That'll change you. And I think also a certain enjoyment of accepting the process of making music and doing it enough now to where I feel like coming into this record, I was confident in myself and the band to a point of knowing that as long as I kind of put in the time of writing, that we were getting better at knowing how to make a record, you know, and I think knowing it takes a little bit of stress out of what you end up putting down. You know, I think having a goal and having like a knowledge of the craft can make it more enjoyable and can make it a more positive record and experience. I mean, I hear you, but that's it's I'll be honest with you. It's a tad awkward hearing someone who, you know, won a Grammy say that, oh, yeah, you know, pretty comfortable with this. I feel okay doing this right now. I mean, yeah, thank you already had it in the pocket there, Adam. I think everything was doing all right. There may have been there may have been. But I don't you know, it's funny. I rarely even listen to that record, but I like this new one for sure. Yeah, I mean, I love I love how much you actually listen to your own stuff. I heard you talk, make us tell a story about how Bruce Springsteen sort of changed your perspective on that. You know, you used a word a second ago that that I always try to use when I describe war on drugs. Big. I mean, you guys make really big sounding, beautiful sonic landscapes. I wonder if like you just sit around sometimes and write metal songs. I wonder if like you just I wish I knew how I wish I knew how. No, I mean, you know, mostly blues licks. You know, the same blues. Yeah, I feel like I write a lot of stuff. I mostly write on the piano, which is cool, because I barely even know how to play it. Okay. So it kind of it kind of limits how it makes you focus basically just on like melody instead of like theatrics, you know, interesting. I feel like I tend to build the song up like melodically so that when I play along to it on the guitar, I can do something interesting instead of just like, you know, that just, you know, is just a root note or something. I think that you could I mean, you do have that kind of sound where it could take off into like even, you know, some old school country stuff. You know, I could hear you, you know, pick up an acoustic guitar and get a little Leland Jennings in here. Yeah, I mean, I mean, I wish like a lot of stuff starts. Yes, as simple as a half time acoustics, you know, pattern that gets turned around in the studio into something more full throttle. Yeah, I mean, that's like the beauty of the song is it can be, you know, you can take a song with 17,000 synthesizers on it and the drum machine and then turn around and play it on a piano or play it on an acoustic guitar and and find a million different ways to to sing it. It's amazing. They start all different ways. Well, it's amazing how simple it can get. I literally just had this conversation with Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse when he was talking about picking up a Coke can and starting to play it in the studio. I was like, yeah, that'll work. Did he talk about golf at all? You know what? I have not talked to him about golf. So it was really weird. Me and Isaac just out of nowhere just like struck up this this very long conversation, and I guess he's a pal. The next morning he called me and he said, hey, Brad, I just want to call. I'm at a magic store. Oh, wow. What are you doing in a magic store? I don't know. I thought I'd just buy some card games. There you go. Thanks for calling, Isaac. But we never we never talked about golf. I saw that photo they put out when they released their record and they were they were in golf gear. I didn't know he plays golf because I was actually in Portland when they I was living in Portland when they released that I wanted to get together and play some golf. You know what? I'm supposed to go to Hawaii with him. So if we play some golf, I'll be sure to send me now. Yeah, yeah, definitely do that. He doesn't seem like a golfer. I'll be honest. That's why I want to play with him. You know what I mean? It's like I just think that he likes the gear. I think he likes the clue. Maybe that's it. Yeah, maybe that's it. So at some point, I read a quote where your dad's a big fan of your band and he's in his 90s. He just turned 89. OK, a couple of days ago. He's a fan of the band. Yeah, he's a fan of like the camaraderie of the band. Like he's a fan of the culture of our band of like of my bandmates and in our crew, you know, and like the whole thing, like the way that, you know, that we're just like a tight group of guys. And, you know, he's like a team guy, you know, it's like, yeah, he's just into that. That's that that aspect of of our community. But he likes his favorite song. He says is burning from Lost in the Dream. Yeah, OK. But he'll be the first to tell me when he doesn't like he'll be like, I don't like that. I'll be like, well, you know, it's a guy like I understand why you wouldn't like it's like, you know, you have to kind of is have a critical mind with music. But well, do you have brothers and sisters? Yeah, older brother, younger sister. OK, my older brother. Yeah. And let me guess you were never into sports. Oh, I definitely was. Yeah. OK. So you had transferring his want of a son to be in a sporting sports team. And now he sees his son in a like an overall team. And that's like really getting him going from the years before. I have a reason to bring this up. The relationship between parental units and really incredible musicians, because I think that there needs to be some sort of struggle to be great. And maybe I'm simplifying it a little bit, but it does feel as though you have to go through you can't just be handed like trust fund stuff. I think with music, it was always something that I loved and like I felt really passionate about when I moved to Philadelphia in 2003, kind of when I moved to California in 2001, but more to fill in 2003 when I kind of decided that I wanted to make like, you know, exist with a creative life of music. I didn't really know what that meant. It didn't mean I wanted to be like some rock and roller who, you know, I just wanted to like make music my life, which is what I already kind of been doing. But I wanted to be a part of it in a different way. I didn't really know what that meant. And I think I spent the next like eight years basically trying to figure that out, which is me like, you know, I mean, learning how to write and record and meeting friends and just getting into the scene in a way that I was never a part of before. Playing shows, learning how to make records and recording and I think, you know, now that I have a kid, I kind of understand like you probably just you're looking at it from, you know, and you're just maybe a little confused about someone's choices. But you just have to, I guess, trust that they're kind of on some sort of path, you know? Yeah. And I think for me, that was kind of the path was just learning how to exist with a creative life, you know? And having a female aspect that's pretty supporting of that is incredible. You know, when I started radio, my mom would call me for the first decade of my career and she would say, Brad, the Home Depot has benefits. Right. Just never thinking this was a real thing. Yeah. Yeah. We've all been there for sure. But you know, I want to do a to finish up. First off, I really appreciate your time. But secondly, I want to do a really quick War on Drugs lightning round. Okay. So real quick. War on Drugs favorite drugstore? Drugstore. The Over Pharmacy. Okay. The Over Under. Five woos on this album. Over or under five woos? Under. Oh, wow. I really had the over on that one. That gave me zero. Really? I think there's zero. I love the woos. I really do love the woos. I'm a sucker for the woos. Do you ever regret not using the name the Rigatoni Danzas? No, I don't. Okay. And finally, does Adam from War on Drugs have a doppelganger? I was told earlier that there's a guy in my hometown who apparently is my doppelganger, but I do not remember his name. Okay. Well, I have somebody to throw into the pot. It's a man by the name of Jimmy Fallon. Oh, yeah. Right. I've heard that. Yeah. Who also looks like our drummer. So it gets confused. Really? It's a very hilarious thing. You're like his hip brother. Yeah. He's a Boston guy. Maybe we're related. You guys rolling? One, two, one, two, three. I've been running from the white light. To try and get to you. Tell me anything that you need. I've been trying so hard. Ain't got no time to lose. Tell me anything that you need. To open the door. To desperate men. Easily could run from the storm. When you're falling. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I've been driving on the west side again. I was born in a pyramid. I know that I stay. And down at the yard, walking my whole life. To follow my father's dream. Then watch it fade away. Wrapped in our old, tired skin. Peeling away. All the flowers we've left. In our window laying disarrayed. Shadows are scattered. Like rings of gold. Watching the warm lights fade away. Gone now, in love is leaving. Like a fading dream. Calling out in the darkest moments of our lives. For the rest of my days, why let it linger? Come along with the sand, it's suffering through the chains. Oh my God, where do I belong? Can I make it day to day? I was all alone at the starting light. When it wants to slip away. Now I'm on the run baby, and I don't know why. But the fear, it gets too much to take. Does it matter just how hard you try? When you feel so far away? I'm talking of the old lives. Feeling dead this way. Tired of the old lives. Feeling dead this way. When you're lost and you're running. And the roads have changed. And the forces surround you. But you lost control. And you think that nobody's walking by your side. When you're lost in some valley, running far behind. And you don't need nobody. Well there's a price for everything. That tries to kill you from the start. So take control of everything that tries to pull you apart. I ain't sure of nothing babe, till I can feel it in my heart. So I keep moving on. Yeah, keep moving on. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody good? Yeah. Into the mouth of control. Take me down where the river streams. Where flows outside the lines. Where it's picked apart and full away. Now I'm fine with feeling free. I'm living down by an old path. You know I'll be a clean. Come around, don't take it hard. Don't damn storm you. When the calm down starts. You've been moving much too fast. Never know just where it ends. What would I find? Living this life without you. I got swept up in a world so strange. One you never even recognize. But I slipped away. I'm a stranger and I don't know why. It's killing me baby, with your words. They brought me out onto steady ground. When I was wounded and shamed. Now that my heart is empty. Where should I go? You've always been constant. Mind over stuff. Where do I go then? Where? Without you. Feel the storm coming on. Feel the darkness at your gate. Live alone in this old land. Keep on moving at your pace. Ain't the sky too shades of grey. I know I've seen it from the other side. Oh, what more can you say? It's always an occasional rain. It's always an occasional rain. It's always an occasional rain. It's always an occasional rain. It's always an occasional rain. It's always an occasional rain. It's always an occasional rain. I was lying in my bed. A creature void of form. Been so afraid of everything. I needed a chance to be reborn. I never wanted anything. That someone had to give. I don't live here anymore. I went along in will. When I think about the old days me. You're always on my mind. I know it ain't like I remember. I guess my memories run wild. And then we went to see Bob Dylan. We danced at the Salish and Roe. I don't live here anymore. But I got no place to go. Beating up your heart. I'm gonna walk through every doorway. I can't stop. I need some time. I need control. I need your love. I wanna find out everything I need to know. I'm gonna say everything that I need to say. Although you've taken everything I need away. I'm gonna make it to the place I need to go. Just walkin' through this dark place on my own. Time surrounds me like an ocean. My memories rack weight. Is life just dying in slow motion? I'm getting stronger every day. I never took our love for granted. You never left me wanting more. But you never recognize me babe. I don't live here anymore. Beating like a heart. I'm gonna walk through every doorway. I can't stop. I need some time. I need control. I need your love. I wanna find out everything I need to know. I'm gonna say everything that I need to say. Although you've taken everything I need away. I'm gonna take this to the place I need to go. We're all just walking through this dark place on our own. Beating like a heart. I'm gonna walk through every doorway. I can't stop. I need some time. I need control. I need your love. I wanna find out everything I need to know. I'm gonna say everything that I need to say. Although you've taken everything I need away. I'm gonna take this to the place I need to go. We're all just walking through this dark place on our own. Oh, oh, oh, yeah. We're all just walking through this dark place on our own. Oh, oh, oh, yeah. We're all just walking through this dark place on our own. Oh, oh, oh, yeah. When all is fucking blue, the sky is full of white When all is fucking blue, the sky is full of white Cool.
Listen Via:
