Casey interviews Adam Granduciel from The War On Drugs.
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00:00Casey Boyd from the Preston and Steve Show here.
00:03Studio, I forget what this is, Studio R or whatever.
00:06And I'm so excited and jazzed to be talking to this gentleman right now.
00:12Been a fan for a few years now and we'll get into that.
00:14But we have the lead guitarist, lead singer, the creator of the band The War on Drugs.
00:18This is Adam Grandesil.
00:20Did I say your last name right?
00:22Yeah, you did.
00:22Yeah, thank you.
00:23All right.
00:23So we add a couple of syllables to a name.
00:26I mean, you know, it gets like a little bit dicey for people who don't say it all that much.
00:31But I have a three-syllable last name myself.
00:35So thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today.
00:40And, you know, I want to cover a lot of things.
00:43Obviously, first things first, the album, I Don't Live Here Anymore.
00:47You released that back in November.
00:51And you did the same thing with this album that you did with Deeper Understanding,
00:55which is you released a few tracks first and then the album came out as a whole a little bit later on.
01:02You're just kind of giving us like a little bit of a taste, like a drug dealer.
01:05Yeah.
01:06You know, because that's not when you first started out as a professional musician.
01:10That's not how you did things.
01:12You guys created an album and then it would go out and then you would wait to hear back.
01:15And now you're actually able to give some taste.
01:18Yeah, I feel like even six, seven years ago, it was like maybe one song, like two maximum before release.
01:26And now I feel like, you know, you're letting people hear six, seven songs sometimes before something comes out, which is fine.
01:36You know, it's just a different way.
01:38I think it's like people are excited now to I mean, people are excited to get the full record, you know, to hear the whole thing.
01:47But people are also excited to just add new songs to their daily routine.
01:53You know, I think people as much as like maybe like full album consumption is being processed differently now.
02:01It's like I think music is in the daily lives of people is way more is like totally different than it was.
02:09People are just always consuming music, have playlists for every little thing they do.
02:14So I think that's just a way that you can like put your music into people's lives quicker than than releasing a record, you know.
02:21So, yeah.
02:22And if you have the songs to do it, then God bless you, you know.
02:25Well, so Deeper Understanding was I love that album.
02:29I love it so much, you know, for a lot of different reasons.
02:31And I could tell you a couple of stories about, you know, some of the songs on that album for me personally.
02:36But when I heard rumblings of another album coming out, I was like, all right, like, let's get to it.
02:41Right. So the the first track that you guys released was Living Proof and the first track on the album.
02:47But, you know, so why did that one get released first?
02:50Is it just the first song that was finished, like all the, you know, the production behind it, the post stuff?
02:57It was the first song that was done, but it was released first because the label, like the people at the label who are in charge of, you know, who are smart and know this kind of stuff are like, we should put Living Proof out first.
03:11And I was always like, I don't know. I mean, that's kind of like a slower.
03:15Yeah, I'm always like, oh, we should put a rocker. But they were like, no, this is different from the other stuff you've done.
03:21Yeah. And you should. I was like, OK. And that's why if you're on Atlantic Records, you trust them to they know, you know what I mean?
03:31Like they're music fans and they get it. And so we put it out and, you know, people were excited to do new music.
03:38And when I have a song like that come out first, I was like, oh, it makes it feel good when people responded to it.
03:43So I listen, I was excited. You know, you don't know what to expect.
03:48You know, totally. I think you you haven't, you know, strayed from, you know, what you want to put out there.
03:55But, you know, when it first came out and then you hear that first drum, like banging on a drum.
03:59Yeah. You know, yeah. Oh, cool. Yeah. It's far away. And you're just you're like, OK, here we go.
04:04And I just want to I want to talk about the guitar solo at the end of the song.
04:09Oh, cool. It's just it's gorgeous. And it reminds me of the guitar solo at the end of Strangest Thing.
04:16Oh, yeah. And and that guitar solo in particular, like it just it it like make it brings emotion up.
04:24Like it makes me want to cry, but like not a sad cry. Do you know what I mean?
04:27I think I do. Yeah. I think you hear a lot of guitar players like and they'll say,
04:33especially people that are like really proficient, they'll say that they basically have been playing the same solo their whole life.
04:39Just like, you know, it's like, you know, the guy from Wee and Mickey, he was like, he basically plays the Blue Sky from Allman Brothers.
04:49It's like that's a solo that he played as a kid. And he's basically still playing that just in a million different ways.
04:55You know, I mean, I feel like you find like a little pocket as a guitar player and you just kind of like always exist basically within.
05:03This little comfort zone. And when you would you call it like you're like you're true north, you're like it's your compass.
05:11Right. And kind of. Yeah, it is kind of like that.
05:13It's like you can you know, like a sequence of formations that kind of evokes the thing that I think is kind of runs through all the tunes or something.
05:23And for me, like, I'm you know, I'm not like a fast, you know, shredding fast guitar.
05:28So it's like I kind of rely on like simplicity, I think.
05:32And and the Living Proof solo was kind of unexpected because it had only been it had been like a couple of days that I had incorporated guitar into that song.
05:42And then mostly me on the piano. And then when I when we were kind of in the room playing it, Robbie picked up the piano and I had kind of figured out this guitar thing.
05:53So it was all kind of very quick. And the solo was kind of like very like surprising me in real time, too, as it happened.
06:01And so really one of those things that without having tried to capture it live, it would never have existed like that.
06:09So you mentioned Robbie. That's Robbie Bennett. And Robbie Bennett. Yeah.
06:13So I feel like I'm friends with you because I work with Robbie's brother, Chris.
06:17Oh, really? Yeah. Chris. Yeah. Yeah. Chris was when we were at a different radio station doesn't exist here anymore.
06:22But you spent some time in Philadelphia. I don't know if you remember why 100 or not.
06:26Oh, yeah. Sure. Yeah. Chris was like our webmaster and, you know, I.T. guy like fresh out of high school.
06:32So I knew Chris and then I, you know, I've never met Robbie, you know, but Jim Jim was at Y100, right?
06:38Jim McGuinn. Yeah. That was when I moved to Philly in oh three.
06:42That was maybe through 2009 or something. Why 100? I forget when.
06:47But I remember I met Jim. It was like a whole thing. I remember that. Yeah.
06:50Yeah. So but yeah, I want to ask about like, you know, when Robbie joined the band.
06:56He ended up joining the band, I guess, you know, have a little bit of a I think he joined the band right before Deeper Understanding.
07:04No, no, no. Right around Slave Ambient. Right. Yeah.
07:06He joined the band around. It was like 2010. OK. Yeah.
07:11Yeah. He. So Dave has been in the band forever.
07:16What's that? You had a couple of things going on with like, you know, you definitely had a direction that you wanted to take the band.
07:21This is this is this is your band. And and I know it's a collaboration, so I don't want to say it like that.
07:28But it took a little while for you to get the right members. And Robbie was that guy.
07:33Oh, my God. Robbie was like because Robbie and Dave, Dave has been in the band since the beginning.
07:37And Robbie and Dave were in a band called Pepper's Ghost. Yeah.
07:42Early 2000s, Philly, whatever. And like so I knew Robbie just from the scene because I knew Dave and I knew Robbie peripherally.
07:50And it was one day and we had hung out a bunch and and I saw him.
07:55I saw Robbie playing a show. I saw him playing acoustic guitar with a band.
08:00And I just saw the way I remember watching it. Johnny Brenda's. I saw how he was strumming the guitar.
08:04And I was like, man, that guy is like on to something. It's just like he looked.
08:08He was just one of those guys were like, I want to play with a guy like that who really knows how to like play the guitar like that.
08:15And and since he was so such good friends with Dave, he I was like, you should ask Robbie if he wants to play.
08:21He came over to my house with his 88 key digital piano and like a singing saw.
08:29And, you know, it's just one of those things that over time, like, you know, I think as we made albums,
08:37the sounds of the albums kind of informed Robbie's direction on the keyboards, you know.
08:43Right.
08:43And he just such an amazing player, but also minds that he just built his sound around basically the sound of the band, you know.
08:53So now it's like he's basically the center of the band.
08:57Like he it's not so much that he does so many things, but he just inhabits so much of the sonic space of this band.
09:05It's like, yeah, I mean, he's like on another operates on a totally different level.
09:09So I think usually sometimes I can't tell if I'm listening to the keyboards or the guitar at times.
09:15I'm like, wait a second. Is that a synthesizer or what am I listening to?
09:18Yeah, there's a lot of cross processing.
09:21And we have a lot of fun with making stuff sound, you know, maybe a little different than you'd expect.
09:28Can you talk about your time spent here in Philly?
09:30Because you're from Massachusetts, but you went to Dickinson, by the way.
09:33I went to where Sinus College, like words, I'd be like, yo, you know,
09:37but I play sport, but like we were in the Centennial Conference.
09:41So I feel like there's a kinship there.
09:42But so after Dickinson, you left and then you ended up coming back and finding your musical roots here in Philly.
09:48I met some guys in Boston through like a mutual friend that had like a basement studio.
09:54And I had been recording a lot on an eight track on my own.
10:01But then when I saw these guys working like in a more like budget, but it was like way more interactive.
10:07There were recording bands and they had like a Mackie mixer and a space echo.
10:11And that's all you're really in a couple of ADAT machines.
10:13And I was just like caught up in this excitement of these guys being a studio.
10:23You know what I mean?
10:23It was like a basically a recording studio, a closet filled with foam as the ISO room, you know.
10:29So and I moved basically my friend Julian was living on third and south and right next to O'Neill's sports bar where I eventually ended up becoming a bouncer.
10:42And he was like, why don't you come to Philly?
10:45I was like, yeah, all right.
10:46I was like, you know, I got nothing going on.
10:48So a friend of mine drove me to Philly on basically January 2nd, 2003.
10:54And I was living at third and south.
10:58And that's kind of where, you know, it ended up being between 2003 and like, you know, when I basically left in 2016.
11:07Um, it was like the most important time of my life.
11:13I mean, it was just, I immediately met people just through basically my friend.
11:19Um, I just met all these guys who played in bands and were into stuff that I was into, but had never really like had a chance to, you know, be a part of or something and just like a musical community.
11:34And, and, um, it was like such an exciting time.
11:37It was like, um, and then I ended up moving up to Fishtown, uh, in 2004, um, actually no halfway through 2003, um, before it was kind of a thing and basically remained, lived on the same street for 13 years.
11:53So it's a cool thing about music is, you know, if you want to pursue it professionally, uh, it's not like acting where you need to be in New York or LA, right.
12:01You know, as far as music is concerned, you can find, you can find, um, your groove or your people or wherever, uh, or whatever, wherever, right.
12:12You can do it in Philadelphia.
12:13Obviously like when we were coming up, like Seattle had that huge scene and, you know, hotbed.
12:19So you, you had these hotbeds, like, um, you're in, you're in Austin right now, but ready to kick off the tour.
12:23Or, you know, Austin is another one of those cool little hotbeds.
12:26And, but like, you know, you don't have to necessarily go away far somewhere, you know, you don't have to go to New York or LA to, um, to start your musical career.
12:38No.
12:38And Philly is like at that time too, it was like, you could live in Fishtown for not much money at all.
12:47You know, a, a, a, a big row house for 900 bucks a month, have four roommates, you know what I mean?
12:53And we would, you know, we would, my house was our rehearsal place.
12:57It was our studio.
12:58I mean, we had the physical space to stretch out.
13:03And we also, it was just such a small kind of community, but people were into like, were like very into things they were into.
13:10And so, um, you know, you could see the same people at six, seven different shows a week, you know, different bands coming through your friends, bands playing.
13:21Um, and there was, but there was all these little scenes of all these different kinds of music.
13:25I mean, you know, you could be at Johnny Brenda's one night and then you could walk two blocks to the fire and see a totally different crew of people, totally different kind of scene.
13:35But it was still like, obviously inclusive and great music and people were just doing their thing.
13:41And, and, um, you know, it was just one of those times where I think like, you know, I think everyone who's doing something creatively probably feels like their moment and their scene is, is that time.
13:54But I just have such fond memories of like that part, that time in Philly, like 04 through whatever, 2012, like just so much amazing music happening.
14:06And people were just so into what they were doing and, and, you know, venues were popping up, like Brenda's was opening and, and new venues were happening.
14:16And it was just like a really special thing to be a part of.
14:20Yeah. I mean, that's, it's where you're coming up and I think it's, you know, it's, it's interesting that like, uh, you know, you're selling out, um, arenas now and you're, you're winning Grammys and, and all that, but like, and listen, I'm sure you're very happy with where you are, but like, I, you know, I understand, you know, having that affinity and that fondness for, you know, a simpler time.
14:39Cause you know, uh, with, uh, with great power comes great responsibility as they say.
14:44Um, so at what point do you, um, if you can recall, did you, um, did music become your job and you didn't have to bounce at O'Neill's or any, anymore, and you could actually pay your bills, uh, with your musical career?
14:58I think it was somewhere, I think it was like around lost in the dream, you know, when that came out and I was kind of prepared, um, for that.
15:09And that was like the last record I had to do for secretly Canadian.
15:12And, and I was, you know, by that point I was 34, 35 and, um,
15:19I mean, do you, do you recall like any sort of like, wow, man, you know, because listen, I'm just a couple of years older than you, but I remember like looking at people, my contemporaries and going, man, that guy's driving a nice car.
15:30And like, what, what am I doing?
15:31You know, like, and at a certain point, you know, like 30 is not old.
15:35Right.
15:36But when you are 30, you're like, shit, um, I got, I got to start doing something here.
15:41Do you know what I mean?
15:42Yeah.
15:43I think I was kind of thinking about, you know, I was, it was like, I didn't, didn't, did not know what to expect from that, that chapter of life, you know, like the record was going to come out and it might've just been one more U S tour, one more European tour, maybe some festivals.
16:03And then who knows, you know, I wasn't sure if I was going to make more records with that label or if they wanted me to, or if I wanted to pursue something else, I wasn't sure, you know, I definitely wasn't getting caught up in the idea of like, when is it going to happen for me?
16:20Cause I never really, that wasn't something that I ever expected from music, like every, like, uh, step that this band has kind of like climbed, I've always been surprised and kind of humbled by it.
16:35You know, it was never like, I never felt like I needed to be heard.
16:39And that if I didn't catch a big, if I catch a big break, that it would have been all for nothing.
16:45Like it's always kind of, you know,
16:47I hear that in your lyrics, I hear it in, in your music.
16:50There's, there's nothing, uh, pretentious or fake or anything about it.
16:54Like, you know, every single note that I've ever listened to, you put out just, it just screams authenticity to me that like, you know, like, like you're not trying to be an artist, you're an artist, you know?
17:05Um, and so the, the first song I ever heard from you, uh, was off of that album, Lost in a Dream, it was Red Eyes.
17:12Uh, and I had come to find out that, uh, Patrick, uh, Berkery was a drummer on that, on that particular track.
17:18Yeah.
17:18So I work with Elise Brown and again, I was like, oh my God, like I'm best friends with the war on drugs.
17:26Um, but so, so the album came out in 2014 and I probably didn't hear that song until 2017.
17:31I don't know how it ended up, um, coming into like my ear holes, but it did.
17:39And I'm so grateful that it did because it led me on to this, this path to the rest of your musical catalog.
17:46And then, so I wanted to tell you about a deeper understanding and in particular thinking of a place.
17:53It's a beautiful song, just an amazing song.
17:56And in August of 2017, I did the most amazing trip of my life.
18:02I, I, I took a raft through the Grand Canyon down the Colorado river.
18:06So for the, you know, I have my phone here, right.
18:09Uh, for the first time since ever owning a phone or anything like that, I wasn't able to like send a text, make a phone call or anything.
18:17And so, but what I was able to do was I was able to take music with me and every single morning when I woke up on the riverside, I put on two songs, thinking of a place and then Petrichor from fish.
18:29But like, yeah.
18:30And, and so I want to talk to you about fish as well.
18:32Um, but like, yeah, I mean that, that song was essentially the soundtrack for, for that entire week.
18:38And it was just, uh, you know, it was an experience that I'll, I'll never, ever forget.
18:42And it's an experience that you were, uh, you were along with me for the ride.
18:46That's amazing.
18:47That sounds like it's, that's a trip.
18:49I'm that, that is a literal trip.
18:50That's awesome.
18:51Yeah.
18:52So it's a beautiful song.
18:53And then, uh, I also want to talk about my favorite song on that album, which is nothing to find.
18:58Oh, wow.
18:58Cool.
18:59That is, uh, and so I, I actually play that song on our show, um, as much as I can.
19:05And I, you know, I don't know if you're going to be, uh, happy or, uh, flattered or whatever,
19:10but like, so when I find music that I like that, you know, our station doesn't play or
19:15our show doesn't play, like I sneak it into places where I can.
19:18And every day we do, there's a segment called the lesson learned.
19:21And we ask a question from something earlier in the show.
19:24And then when the, uh, when the answer gets revealed, we play like, you know, the sirens
19:29and the sounds and winning music.
19:31And I always play that guitar solo from nothing to find.
19:35Oh, wow.
19:35Cool.
19:35I have to tell you, it's like, every time I play it, somebody sends me an email saying,
19:40what is the name of that song?
19:42Oh, wow.
19:42Cool.
19:43And so, uh, because it's just great.
19:45And I'm not sure, like, why wasn't that the single that was, uh, because I think, well,
19:50first it was thinking of a place and then, um, holding on maybe.
19:55Um, but pain was single, right?
19:58I think so.
19:59Yeah.
20:00We made a video for nothing to find, but we made it.
20:04Yeah.
20:04Yeah.
20:04We were on tour and someone made it and it wasn't the kind of video where we were around
20:09for it or did like a performance thing.
20:11That song, I think I need to like revisit that song because, um, it does have some great moments
20:17as a band and it was the, the, the, that was the kind of thing that was kind of written
20:22over the course of so many months in the studio.
20:25And it's, it's by the end, it was just like happy.
20:29It was completed.
20:30So it's sometimes hard to, to see past that.
20:34It's like, you kind of see a song as like a task instead of like a song that needs to
20:40be performed.
20:40And so by the end of the last touring cycle, I was a little burned out on that song because
20:45I think as you have more songs, you're kind of like, what am I, what am I singing in this?
20:50What am I singing in this song?
20:52You know, in a way that other songs maybe don't affect you like that.
20:57But, um, yeah, there's a lot of people's, uh, people love hearing that.
21:01So we need to, we need to dust it off.
21:03So it's interesting.
21:03So, um, I, I don't know if you're a fish head.
21:06I am.
21:06That's, that's my band.
21:07Um, that's, I had a lot of friends growing up in Massachusetts.
21:10It was a big, I was never like into it too much, but I knew so many people, um, that
21:18have, you know, they've been to literal thousands of them shows now over the years.
21:23So it's like been a big part of my life.
21:25And, and also the guy that builds, makes my pedal board.
21:29It's like this guitar legend, Bob Bradshaw.
21:31He built like Eddie Van Halen's pedal board.
21:34He like invented all this technology and worked with Eddie and all these Steve Lukas are all
21:39these legends.
21:40And, and, um, he built my board and he does trays.
21:43And so it was kind of this amazing thing where I was like, Oh my God, like 25 years
21:49later, cause I went to one fish show, which was new year's Eve at Boston garden in 1997.
21:55Oh man.
21:56I've never, I think is like a famous show, but they did so many new year's Eve shows, but
22:00I went with, you know, 10 kids from my class and I'd never been to anything like that.
22:05I mean, it was like, so I was kind of an introvert.
22:09So Trey has a, he has a, he has a sound, his, his guitar and, and I wanted to ask you
22:14about your tone that it's, it's Adam's tone.
22:17And, um, when did you find it and, and how did you find it?
22:22And do you know what I mean?
22:24Like, cause you had mentioned Eddie Van Halen, you know, like you can listen to it and you're
22:27like, yep, that's Eddie's guitar.
22:29Yeah.
22:30I don't, you know, I think it's just like over time and just always playing and playing,
22:37you know, when I played guitar and Kurt Biles band for years and years and, and you kind
22:42of, you know, whenever you have a guitar player that you're reacting against is when I think
22:49you really develop a sense of style, if you will, because when I played guitar with Kurt
22:56for so long, there was like this amazing player that I was playing against, you know, we have
23:02these songs, we're weaving guitars together.
23:04So you kind of have to pay attention to how your guitar sounds.
23:07And, and then in my band and Warren drugs with Anthony Lamarca being the other guitar
23:13and he's just such an amazing player.
23:15It's like, and he has a very specific sound too.
23:17Like we play very different guitars and different amps.
23:21So it's like his sound is very real to him.
23:25And then I kind of have to find a way to work off that.
23:28And I think just when you have guys like that, that you're playing against, it really helps
23:32inform a sound that, that works, you know?
23:36And, and it's just like this thing that I've found with my instruments in my, in my pedals
23:44and amps or whatever.
23:44That's just the sound that works in with the keyboards and Anthony and everything, you know,
23:50it kind of like has that little zone.
23:52Okay.
23:53Cause, uh, so can I go through a couple of the, uh, I didn't want to do like a track
23:57by track, uh, a critique of your album.
23:59It's not a critique at all, but I wanted to ask about, um, so, uh, I don't want to wait.
24:05Uh, it starts off.
24:07It's got like these, uh, into, uh, in the air tonight sort of vibes and then, yeah.
24:13The same drum machine.
24:13Yeah.
24:14Yeah.
24:14So about halfway through, it just completely picks up and turns into a different song altogether.
24:20And, and like, how did you guys end up coming to that crescendo?
24:25Well, that's funny actually, because we wrote the song, I wrote, I had like an idea for that
24:29song, myself, Dave and Anthony went on this recording trip.
24:34We basically recorded the first half of the song.
24:37We put it together and we had a whole other second half, but I was like, I took it home
24:43and I was like, this song can be better.
24:44I was like, I just know it can be better.
24:46And I started, I basically spent like five months.
24:50Like I had the studio rented when I was living in Brooklyn and I was always working on that
24:56song and I ended up like recording it in a different key.
25:00And then I just wrote that bridge.
25:01It took me like two weeks to write that bridge, but it has like a key change.
25:06And it was just one of those things where I was like, I know that this song can be way
25:09more interesting because it's really good.
25:11And then it kind of just petered out and I was like, I need, I was like, I need, this
25:15song needs something that's really, that takes it into like a whole other territory.
25:20I mean, and, um, that bridge just kind of, we just kept at, you know, it just kept coming
25:26together.
25:27Yeah.
25:27I mean, listen, your sound has like a thousand different layers.
25:31And so I also wanted to talk about the song change.
25:33It's just this really ethereal sounding song.
25:35It's like, I was saying it was like sonically sensual, uh, just as a beautiful meshing of
25:41all these instruments.
25:42And so you have what, seven members in the band, you have two sets of keys, a couple of
25:48guitars, bass, drum.
25:50Um, you know, so like you want to talk about sonically, like how you guys all come together
25:56and like how you were able to, to layer all of those sounds together.
25:59And, you know, like how many, how many sounds is, is too many and how many is just enough?
26:05Because like that song in particular changed.
26:07It's just like, um, it just enveloped my whole head and, uh, and just like, it just takes
26:14over in a good way.
26:15Yeah.
26:15Sometimes it's, it's the, it's like the classic less is more.
26:19Like, I feel like that song, um, for so long, we had so much on it.
26:25And then when, at the end, when we were mixing, it just, we kind of muted, I mean, it probably
26:32doesn't sound like we muted a bunch of stuff, but it's pretty bare bones.
26:35Like it's basically a bass drum, my electric guitar, a very subtle keyboard, which you can
26:42barely hear.
26:43And then the outro is the piano, you know, but it feels everything is just working together
26:48to make like one sound, you know, it's like, instead of it being like piano guitar, it's
26:54like all these things, they just make like one big sound.
26:58And, um, I think there's definitely like a situation where there's too much happening
27:04because sometimes you have all these ideas on a song and you just keep putting stuff down
27:09and you want to have this melody line.
27:11And that's not really how music is.
27:13I mean, it's, it's a way to create music, but it's not really a way to like present it.
27:16You know, it's like, you kind of have to have one thought, you know, and, and, um, so that
27:24song just benefited from less is more.
27:26It's actually kind of just a few things like all kind of, um, working on the same, off the
27:34same little melody.
27:35And, um, you know, Sean, our, our engineer, producer, mixer, he, um, that was kind of
27:41his white whale.
27:42He was like really determined to make that song, his like sonic, um, you know, footprint
27:49on the record.
27:50I did it really.
27:51He did.
27:52No, he definitely did.
27:53And sometimes I was like, dude, it sounds great.
27:54What are you doing?
27:55And he just was like in some wormhole with the drums, but you know, he, I, I appreciate
28:01that sort of that level of ownership on a, on a song.
28:03So, um, musically, uh, is one thing, um, but then lyrics are a whole different animal.
28:10And I wanted to ask about like, um, how your life experience over the past decade plus is,
28:16has changed and affected your lyrics and your writing and your approach to, to writing lyrics.
28:21I think it's a constant, um, journey.
28:25And it's like, sometimes you just start with, um, a little idea of a song.
28:31Like I do a lot of free association when I have a song idea, like, I'll be like, I'm
28:35going to go down to my music room tonight and it's going to turn the mic on and play
28:40these chords that I've been playing and see what comes out.
28:42And sometimes in that moment, um, you, you just in the, you're very inspired by like
28:49this idea that's very new and you just start singing and some stuff happens.
28:54And like, that's what happens with, I don't live here anymore.
28:57I had those chords and I was just like, we had just had a baby.
29:01And so it was a couple of months later and I finally had some time and I went down to
29:06my music room and I just started singing.
29:09And the kind of that, that line came out.
29:11I don't live here anymore.
29:12And I hadn't written it down.
29:14I hadn't been singing that it just happened.
29:16And, and, you know, I sing like eight or nine different verses, different affects, different
29:23kind of timing things.
29:24And then I just spend like weeks listening to these demos and being like, oh yeah, and
29:28finding these little bits of inspiration that happened that you can't really explain where
29:34it comes from.
29:34And then you start piecing songs together and then you kind of maybe get an idea from those
29:39moments, what the song is not making you feel, but what, what it's about or where you want
29:45to take it.
29:47Yeah.
29:47And, and then for me, it's like, I just spend, you know, as the song changes sonically and
29:53gets bigger and bigger, I just keep refining the lyrics until I feel like I'm somewhere
29:57that feels like a song, you know, or it feels like when I write it on paper, it looks, it
30:01looks like a song, you know, like when you're looking through liner notes and you read, you
30:07read lyrics without the music and you're just reading them and you're like, oh, that's, it looks
30:11like a song the way it just feels on the page.
30:14And I think that's kind of what I try to get at as a, you know, just an admirer and
30:20a lover of music and not a creator of music.
30:22It's, it's really interesting to sort of take a peek into how these things are created.
30:26And I don't know if you watched the Get Back documentary.
30:29Oh my God.
30:30It's all I watch.
30:31Yeah.
30:32And, and also I watched a nice documentary about one of the Ava brothers last albums.
30:38And it's just, you know, it was interesting to see how these songs are created and, and
30:42Oh, cool.
30:43I love to watch that.
30:44And how, you know, intentional the lyrics can be or how, like, you know, with, with like
30:49Get Back, you know, when they're writing that song, Get Back, it's, you know, just sort of
30:54making it up as they're going along.
30:55Like, ah, I don't know if that name works.
30:57We need a different name or, you know, and, you know, I still appreciate it just as, you
31:03know, as much, you know, before, you know, the mystery was unfolded in front of my eyes,
31:07I still.
31:08Yeah.
31:08So when I ask about the lyrics for victim, uh, honey, I'm a victim of my own desire.
31:15What is that?
31:16I don't know.
31:17It is just, um, certain things, they come out and you're like, Oh, that's good.
31:24Okay.
31:25And you're like, I'm going to keep that.
31:26Or I'm going to tweak that.
31:27I'm going to like refine that.
31:29Okay.
31:30Or it's like, um, you know.
31:33That makes sense to me right now.
31:34Before we go, I want to talk about your shows coming up at the Met.
31:38I've seen you guys at the tower.
31:39I love what you guys do live.
31:41And, uh, this is, I think the first time you guys have been back maybe since the tower
31:46shows.
31:48I can't remember.
31:48Yeah.
31:48We did our drug Cember to remember show in December of 2019.
31:53Yeah.
31:53Um, at the Fillmore, which was cool, but, um, yeah, that was the, then the power was the
32:00year of the December before it was four years ago.
32:02It was crazy.
32:03You haven't been at the Met yet.
32:04Have you?
32:05I've not.
32:05No, I have not.
32:06All right.
32:06As a, as a, um, a fan, you know, just a patron that goes, it's just an amazing venue to go
32:13see a live show.
32:13But I've heard, uh, reviews from artists that have performed there that just, they can't
32:19say enough great things about the venue.
32:21So, oh man, I can't wait.
32:22I've heard.
32:22It's like, I mean, I've had friends that have played there and it's just like, dude, this
32:26place is in Philly.
32:26I mean, Philly's like the king of venues now.
32:29It's amazing.
32:30Yeah.
32:30I mean, there's a lot, a lot of great choices.
32:33I mean, yeah.
32:34Uh, and this one is, is another one.
32:36So, um, the, the shows are January 27th, 28th.
32:40It's a Thursday and Friday night show.
32:42Um, I think if you want tickets, there might be some available, go to livenation.com and
32:48try and get your tickets there.
32:49But Adam, thank you so much.
32:51Thank you so much.
32:52Yeah, no, it's a pleasure.
32:54I can't wait to, uh, can't wait to come home.
32:56Oh man.
32:57Can't wait to have you home.
32:58Yeah, no doubt.
32:59All right.
32:59See you later.
33:00See you later.
33:00All right.
33:01Bye.
33:01Bye.
33:01Bye.
33:01Bye.
33:01Bye.
33:01Bye.
33:02Bye.
33:02Bye.
33:03Bye.