The band plays "Change," "Old Skin," "Occasional Rain," and "I Don't Live Here Anymore"
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.
Listen Via:
The War on Drugs Discuss I Don't Live Here Anymore, Perform Four Songs
We have dates.
Bonnaroo 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.
I haven't though. Okay.
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.
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.
I know it comes as a startle to you.
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 can wear anything and that's what you pick.
Exactly.
How are you guys?
I got no point to prove them.
Just, you know, look, there's a, there's a very important football game on tonight.
I'll be wearing my Washington football hat.
So I might as well just be wearing a hat all day.
Just 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?
Yeah. I joined the winning team.
Switching sides.
No, I'm good.
That's why Barry's so upset about this. He doesn't want to be left out of the hat.
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.
Better be something special though.
Oh, you could wear a hat with me wearing a hat.
I'm just glad it's not turned around backwards.
I'm not going to be a hat guy if I, if I did this kind of thing.
I like that guy.
You know, like this doesn't work.
Oh no, that's great.
That's great.
Taco, thanks so much for looking out for me.
Yeah.
Sure.
You nailed it.
Yeah. You're going to get an honest answer from us.
What can we do to make him look stupider?
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.
I don't know.
I, 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 Bonnarooo 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 it.
Well, the pre-sale tickets.
Absolutely on.
What day after Thanksgiving for Bonnarooo.
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 closed down certain tiers,
that gives you an idea as to how tickets are moving.
But you know,
then we figured out that 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.
Yeah. Plus VIP platinum platinum is $3,500 by the way.
GA shuttle VIP.
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?
Vin, let me a dollar. We'll talk.
Wow. One dollar.
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 Centeroo.
I mean all kinds of different changes. So interesting to see.
You know, I, 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.
I started 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
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, 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.
Washed the car.
My grandmother 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 a whoopsie or noopsie daisies. No.
So it is essentially roll like a rock star, 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 some 500 of them?
I have no idea. Let's see.
You get the new exclusive campground tree shaded area behind
Brewer's 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.
There's not much of this that we can't match.
You know,
we could cut this price in half, you know, we could save you a lot of money.
You get to sleep.
Our concierge Bryan Stone. Who doesn't like to see his, you know,
Jerry Nick's our bloody 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 with you?
Well, 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 got to 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,
to live nation and to honor. And this is, you know, the,
the fear was something like Bonnarooo was like,
you know,
it's 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 the,
when the pandemic started.
It was the first time this was being solved.
This would have been like,
you know,
you and I were beginning to explain like the math of when hangouts
sold out, that, you know, years ago.
And you were pretty, you talked about that for days.
Yeah. I mean, they, if they sold 10,000 or more tickets,
it meant like another million and a half dollars in revenue for them.
To add to your point, I guess, GA is less, pretty much.
Tier 1 is 299, Tier 2, 320.
What do you mean by less?
I want to say GA, three years ago, was like 350, 349.
Are you saying they lowered the price?
Am I wrong?
Taco, is that what you remember?
No, it's cheaper now.
What you don't see is they hit you for the fees.
They're going to get their money.
They'll get you for the fees.
Yeah, you got to have your parking and all that.
$60 as well as $60 just in fees just for the ticket.
What?
Yeah.
And then tax on top of that.
They own the ticket company.
Taxes and fees.
They always do that.
The other thing, is there anything else
in the festival world that happened this week
other than Hangouts happening in the next two weeks?
And then 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 show up.
They'll park you.
And then you walk your stuff into tent camping.
Where did that go?
And you get a souvenir tent, souvenir air mattress,
sleeping bag, lantern.
They're 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.
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.
Boy, what a missed opportunity from the city of Chattanooga.
Your equidistance from Manchester as Nashville is,
but Nashville is getting all of this revenue.
They're getting all of this because nobody decided
to wave their arm and say, hey, what about us?
What about us?
Well, they made a push into Nashville.
So I mean, that's where it started.
So wrong.
So today is to get into the meat of the show today.
We know we've got some lulls before the car starts moving.
But I had a chat with Adam from War on Drugs
the day that 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.
Damn.
Oh, guest.
Oh, guest.
Guest.
Yes.
Thought I heard another word.
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.
It's something we've never done before on the show.
Yeah, it's very cool.
Very exciting.
How are you going to do it?
How are we going to do it?
You're going to one at a time, just four at the end.
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 yeah, yeah.
You guys are nice.
It's good.
It's good.
Look next.
But is that a guitar?
Now I've seen them.
That's really cool.
It's very cool of them to do that.
Yeah.
So 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.
I've I've told it.
I was literally on the phone with their manager
when we got word that Bonnarooo was not happening this year.
We were setting up.
We were the three of us were going to do an on site
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 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 hope so.
And anything in Lord Tacos world's going on?
What happened?
What's going on, Lord Taco?
Nothing.
Yeah.
Nailed it as always.
I mean, yeah, I always count on him.
Take a break.
If you watch that, if you watch that Beatles documentary yet.
I'm in it.
I'm I am almost finished with.
No, 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.
OK, yeah, true.
After the after the Dune discussion, you kind of went south.
Yeah, I'll just talk to Barry.
Yes.
You know what?
I have to admit, I just talked to him.
I didn't think I was going to want to watch it
after the first 20 minutes, because 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.
It's pretty cool. OK, 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, eight hours.
No, no, no. Total.
Oh, OK.
And it's it's the basically footage that was shot during Let It Be,
which was their final kind of the swan song.
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 because they weren't fighting all the time.
They had issues.
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, it just kind of the song just pops in his head
and he starts playing it. And that's the song.
And it's yeah. Yeah.
And that's what got me wanting to play it.
And he started on it because Lenin was late.
And they they they're the storyline, if there is one, is they have about
what, 13 or 14 days 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, in my opinion, the greatest band in the world.
So this is this is a OK.
So this is 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 it was intentional.
It was intentional footage,
not intentional for an eight hour.
You know, that's where it's different.
So 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 others 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 you?
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. Yeah. Peter Jackson is an odd poll, don't you think?
Yeah, he made it work.
I'll tell you that 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 at spouse.
And yeah.
So, OK, 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 the shit that I'll get for this, but I've never been
that big of a Beatles fan.
And, you know, I thought I thought the latest,
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,
you know, actual drugs.
So, you know, I 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 not.
I'm not going to miss that show. Right. Right. Right.
It's Bruce. Yeah, it's it's 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.
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 so has been, you know, so much more about this than I do.
But I loved Revolver and that's probably the only like Beatles album
that I love. Love. Where in that sort of scope of of this movie is Revolver?
It would have been two two years earlier. Thereabouts.
Revolver, Revolver was was sort of the beginning of the the LSD phase, right?
And it's and it is often
for many people, it is their best album.
Sergeant Pepper gets a lot of the hype and Sergeant 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 it's sort of the reason why we get back to the Dune conversation
from with talk of them a couple of weeks ago when the zeitgeist is so past me
and people are living in a world where I could never catch up
to the love of God, never be 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, dedicate their entire lives
and existence into the Beatles.
You know 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 that's fair.
But what I would 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 mention 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.
And is there not 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 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 right.
I did just about a minute ago.
That's what I mean. Do I doubt them? I don't know.
I do. I will tell you, I had a.
He was 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, because 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 review
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 know not everybody has to like the Beatles.
No, I mean, that's the point.
I mean, like, there's a perspective there.
And 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 90s 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 that.
Sure. 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 want to know why was written by some pretty genius people.
Yeah. But in the early 60s, that that was not the case.
No one was writing their own stuff.
And certainly not singing and playing it.
That was sure.
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 Andre 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.
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 was the part of what the boy was.
What if they got a look?
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.
Remember, he he said that whole shift was because finally kids had their own thing,
their 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 all right.
I mean, I'll get into it.
I've got to finish my I got to finish my repeat of the fourth time watching the OC.
I thought you were going to say, so
no, I've got to finish my fourth watch for through the
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'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,
and eventually you'll see it all.
Eventually I'm going to get to the thing.
Yeah, I will say taco, since we talked about this two weeks ago,
I've heard from a lot of other huge dude fans and they love it as much as you do.
So it gets a lot of praise from the the dude 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 did not 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.
But yeah, I mean, it was OK.
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
was that there are people who hadn't read the book that are like,
OK, they're not like they're not as nerd.
To be. Yeah, 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 mean, he's got his own purpose.
He's got reasons.
I can't explain to you what they are.
But but he was the only one.
Yeah, he's the only like major, you know, dune person to not like it at all.
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.
There that there 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 the thing.
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.
Thanks, man. 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.
And 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 the 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, but yeah, I'm OK 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 were a studio in L.A.
and I basically showed it to them and we're like, OK, 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, there was a part of you that really wanted to go on the hood, though,
doesn't there?
Oh, I did. Yeah, we spent another we spent
another six months like adding stuff to it.
But, you know, the song, the structure and everything,
the base, the heart of it was there.
But I 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 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.
And 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, literally, literally. Yeah, exactly.
So to then be two albums later and almost do a 180, it's got to be a little odd.
I think that's the beauty of time.
And I think, yeah, I mean, you know, I think 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 song 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? Like, well, you know, obviously having a kid halfway
through this record was helpful, you know,
and 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,
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 OK doing this right now.
I mean, yeah, think 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, yeah, 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 change 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.
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 Waylon Jennings in here.
Yeah. I mean, I mean, I wish like a lot of stuff starts.
Yes, as simple as a halftime acoustics pattern that gets turned around in the
studio into something more full throttle.
Yeah. I mean, that's like the beauty of a song is it can be, you know, you can take
a song with 17000 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 sing it. They start in 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, picking up a Coke can and starting to play it in the studio.
I was like, yeah, it'll work.
Did he talk about golf at all?
I you know what? I have not talked to him about golf.
He called. So it was really weird.
Me and Isaac just out of nowhere to 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 wonder if 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, definitely do that.
Definitely.
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 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.
A couple of days ago, he's a fan of the band.
Yeah, he's a fan of like the camaraderie of the band.
He's a fan of the culture of our band, of my bandmates and our crew, you know,
and like the whole thing, like the way that we're just like a tight group of guys.
And he's like a team guy.
You know, it's like, yeah, he's just into that.
That's that aspect of our community.
But he likes his favorite song.
He says is Burning from Lost in the Dream.
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, there'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. Well, I wonder if it's like dad
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 it
in 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 to finish up.
First off, I really appreciate your time.
But secondly, I want to do a really quick War on Drugs lightning round.
OK, so real quick War on Drugs favorite drug store drug store.
Over pharmacy.
OK, the over under five woos on this album over under five woos under.
Oh, wow.
I really had the over on that one.
I am 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 Danza's?
No, I don't. OK.
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.
OK, 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.
Like Jimmy Fallon.
He's a Boston guy. Maybe we're related.
He has Roland.
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 fall.
I've been driving on the west side again and the rain keeps pouring down.
Finally figured out my way.
I've been living on the run because I can't find that thing that holds and binds us tight.
I'm out here dying in the heat.
Oh, what am I to find?
Yeah, when I open the door.
To desperate men.
Easily could run from the storm.
Sheltered and dead.
I hear your call.
Crawling, sighing, waiting for the fall.
Sheltering the doorway for a reason strong.
Caution in the darkness.
May we have fallen.
How can I replace this?
What can be lost?
I don't want to change.
I rise up one.
Yeah.
There's so many ways our life can make it through
It gets damn hard to make that change
Maybe I was born too late
For this lonely freedom fight
Maybe I was born in the wrong way
Maybe born the wrong day
Maybe I was born too late
Maybe I was born too late
Maybe I was born too late
But I think, I think
To be me
To be me
To be me
To be me
To be me
I was born in a pyramid
I ain't old enough to stay
And down at the yard
Walking my whole life
To follow my father's dream
Then once you 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 moonlight fade away
Gone now, in love is leaving
Like a fading dream
Calling out in the darkest
Moments of our love
For the rest of my days
Why let it linger
Come along with the scene
It's suffered through the change
Oh my God, where do I belong
Can I make it day to day
I was all alone at the start of life
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
Doesn't matter just how hard you try
When you feel so far away
I'm talking in the old lights
Feeling it this way
Tired of the old life
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
Oh
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, keeping on
Yeah
Yeah
OK Chili Border Deck
Everybody good?
The
Into the mouth of control take me down with the river streams
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 plane
Come around, don't take it hard Don't limp stone you
When the countdown 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 A stranger and I don't know why
It's killing me baby of your words They brought me out onto steady ground
But I was wounded and shamed
Now that my heart is empty Where should I go?
You've always been constant My northern star Where do I go then?
Living here without you
Feel the storm coming on Feel the darkness at your gate
Live the loneliness of life 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, the broken news is saying It's only some occasional rain
It's only some occasional rain
Oh, the broken news is saying It's only some occasional rain
Rain It's only some occasional rain
Rain It's only some occasional rain
Ready, Codester?
I was lying in my bed A creature born 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, babe 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 Desolation Row
But I don't live here anymore But I got no place to go
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 make it to the place I need to go
Where I'll just walk it through this darkness on our own
Time surrounds me like an ocean My memories like wave
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 recognized 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
Where I'll just walk it through this darkness 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
Where I'll just walk it through this darkness on our own
Oh, yeah Where I'll just walk it through this darkness on our own
Oh, yeah Where I'll just walk it through this darkness on our own
Oh, yeah
Great!
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