“I START A SONG FROM A SPACE THAT FEELS CALM”
Total Guitar|November 2021
The War On Drugs leader Adam Granduciel reveals how he wrote their brilliant new album - and why he loves to record with one “magical guitar”.
Ellie Rogers
“I START A SONG FROM A SPACE THAT FEELS CALM”
Adam Granduciel has come a long way since forming The War On Drugs in Philadelphia in 2005 - a journey that has taken his band from the margins of indie rock to mainstream success. The first breakthrough came in 2014 with album number three, Lost In The Dream, but it was the follow-up, 2017’s A Deeper Understanding, that gave The War On Drugs a worldwide hit - top 10 hit in the US, the UK and beyond - and confirmed Granduciel as one of the most gifted songwriters in modern rock.

Now comes a new album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, which ranges from heartland rock to ambient psychedelia, well-considered sparsity to mammoth intensity. “The songs come out of different guitars,” Adam says, as he discusses his approach to writing and gear, his experiments in sound, and his evolution as a player...

Who did you love listening to when you were learning to play guitar and write songs, and who do you think really left their mark on you?

When I was really young, I loved Pearl Jam. I loved Mike Bloomfield when I got a little older. Then Neil Young, Hendrix and also R.E.M. I got a guitar right around the time of [R.E.M.’s 1994 album] Monster, and the whole sound of that record is the AC30 with the tremolo. It was just so cool that basically every song had the exact same guitar sound. I think that’s when I learned what an AC30 was, so I remember that being a big record when learning to play guitar. From there it’s been a constant evolution of learning about whoever is blowing my mind!

The Vox AC30 and the tremolo are quite familiar sounds in your work. Would you say those were the things that stuck on a practical level?

Esta historia es de la edición November 2021 de Total Guitar.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición November 2021 de Total Guitar.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE TOTAL GUITARVer todo
POSITIVE GRID SPARK 2
Total Guitar

POSITIVE GRID SPARK 2

The sequel to the world's most popular smart guitar amp is here

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 2024
JACKSON PRO PLUS XT SOLOIST SLAT HT6 BARITONE
Total Guitar

JACKSON PRO PLUS XT SOLOIST SLAT HT6 BARITONE

We get low with this fast-playing, all-black modern metal machine

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 2024
GUILD POLARA DELUXE
Total Guitar

GUILD POLARA DELUXE

A’70s staple gets a bit of are-jig, o4 years after it was introduced

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 2024
NEURAL DSP NANO CORTEX
Total Guitar

NEURAL DSP NANO CORTEX

Neural DSP's second pedal might be the ultimate compact all-in-one rig

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 2024
EPIPHONE JIMI HENDRIX LOVE DROPS FLYING V
Total Guitar

EPIPHONE JIMI HENDRIX LOVE DROPS FLYING V

Prepare to kiss the sky with Epiphone's latest 'Inspired By...' model

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 2024
JIMMY PAGE
Total Guitar

JIMMY PAGE

\"I was using what was really meaty!\"

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 2024
EDDIE VAN HALEN
Total Guitar

EDDIE VAN HALEN

“You either capture the vibe or you don't!”

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 2024
MYTH BUSTERS: THE CABLE DESTRUCTION TEST
Total Guitar

MYTH BUSTERS: THE CABLE DESTRUCTION TEST

Need to know whether gear is worth your cash? Who you gonna call...

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 2024
JOHN FRUSCIANTE'S LETTER FROM AMERICA
Total Guitar

JOHN FRUSCIANTE'S LETTER FROM AMERICA

Our July 2006 issue featured none other than John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the cover, with a line of text promising discussion of meditation, drugs, Hendrix and some chat about the band’s then-latest album, Stadium Arcadium.

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 2024
CHALLENGE CHARLIE
Total Guitar

CHALLENGE CHARLIE

Ata time when TC's staff were getting, frankly, rather silly, one man stood up to take on the daftest of all our challenges...

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024