Ryan Adams |
 |
|
Thu. October 30.2003 2:46 PM EST |
||
Ryan Adams: Spouting Off About Rock 'n' RollHis new disc is a guitar-a-thon recorded in the basement of a bar. He discusses his Morrissey side, Carson Daly's beer intake, and Britney's video breasts. by Brian Ives & C. Bottomley |
||||
|
||||
 |
Ryan Adams |
|
||
Ryan Adams had brought his entire band to his VH1 interview, but he needn't have bothered. The highly-charged singer claims center stage wherever he goes, offering ideas, theories and rants. Today's menu includes why writing love songs is like
That energy is reflected in his artistic activity as well. Since his second solo album Gold hit in 2001, the North Carolina-turned-New York rocker has been working at a prodigious rate. As well as becoming Elton John's new best friend, the 29-year-old has released an album of demos, had a public spat with the White Stripes' Jack White, appeared on albums by Beth Orton and the Counting Crows, produced his pal Jesse Malin's debut, formed and split bands with names like The Finger and Werewolph, and allegedly re-recorded the Strokes' Is This It in its entirety. He's even got around to delivering a new album - Love is Hell. Like Adams' 2000 debut Heartbreaker, Love is Hell was inspired by romantic misadventure. But the record's Gothic gloom failed to impress his record label, who called it "dark" and "depressing." They sent him back into the studio to try again. Holed up in the basement of a New York bar with his partner Johnny T., the singer rediscovered the oomph. Old squeeze Melissa Auf der Maur and current beau Parker Posey are both on Rock N Roll, but the real affair is between Adams and his trusty six-string, which evokes every form of guitar heroics from T.Rex's glam crunch to the Smiths' jangle and the Strokes' groove. So the loud and messy Rock N Roll has become his third album, preceded by the sweet pleading of "So Alive" and containing snarky pop gems like "Boys," an alleged retort to Britney Spears' song of the same name. As for Love is Hell, the fractured album has appropriately been broken into two EPs. If that ain't enough, there's a box set of even more Adams songs on the way, too. For now, though, let's see if he'll sit still long enough to answer some questions about Rock N Roll, shall we? VH1: How long has this record been in the works? Ryan Adams: Well, I made this uncommercial record - actually, uncommercial is an understatement. The label got it and they were confused. It's pretty desperate, strange compositions, like a slow, bummer record. I started feeling more like that because I made that record, and went to bed for about two or three months. Then my friend Johnny T. called and said, 'Maybe we should play some music.' So we started rehearsing in the basement of this bar, and the next thing I know, we have a [new] record. [Watch Clip] VH1: It sounds like you rediscovered how fun it is to play music. RA: Totally fun. All the songs were written on an electric guitar, in a basement of a working bar, with a submarine hatch made out of wood. You open it up, crawl out from the rehearsal space, and you can order anything you'd like to drink - if you're 21. So we'd have a couple of pops and go down into the basement, and it gets funnier and funnier. Actually, the stuff that's really good is all the sh*t you can't release. Some of it is a little chemically informed. We did stuff that sounded like Yes if they got the real drugs. [Watch Clip] VH1: The album reminds me of the Replacements, because you could tell they were having a good time. RA: We started having fun playing music and making music, but in the real studio, nobody does anything. We don't even have a drink there. If you're gonna make a record that sounds good if you're high or drunk - you need to do that sober. VH1: Can you be a great songwriter without being heartbroken? RA: Absolutely. Having your balls kicked in by the experience of being in love is an interesting place to be. But to write from that [position] is like writing for a right wing newspaper like the New York Post. You can get some information, but most of it is tainted by this hatred for the French. You're just being reactionary 'cause you can't see the truth, 'cause you're a f*ckhead. I wrote a record like that called Heartbreaker. Everyone loves that record, but when I hear that I want to punch myself in the mouth, because I sound like I'm a f*ckhead blaming everyone for my problems. It's more important to write songs where you can get some kind of perspective and be honest. If you feel victimized romantically, like I have, the best thing is to try and find out where the other person is coming from. When I was able to finally do that, I saw that there was a good chance of me being the asshole! [Watch Clip] VH1: "So Alive" is the first single from Rock N Roll? RA: There's a really good chance of that, yeah. It was the last song to have lyrics. It was the last day of making the record. I got up, communicated with the other side [makes sound of hitting a bong], walked down to Stuyvesant City Cove and watched the boats go by, because [there] you can drink coffee, smoke and be as high as you want, and have all of your water-ski fantasies. I wanted to write a song about how romantic I was feeling. "So Alive" has a super big falsetto. I don't know where the hell that came from. VH1: It starts out sounding almost like Morrissey, but ends up more like Jeff Buckley. RA: I think that's because I was fantastically meaning it. Nowadays it's un-cool to really believe [what you're singing]. I really believe the track when I sing it, and really get behind it. When I cut that track and listened to it back, I was like "Oh my god, I am sooooo gonna get some Morrissey sh*t outta this." I wasn't thinking that when I did the vocal, but after I was like "Let's just keep it." [Watch Clip] VH1: What will the video be like? RA: If we make a video, I don't want to make something that's an advertisement for how nice an ass I have, or [something that says] "Look at my tits - don't look at my tits." All the new videos are like [singing], "Look at my tits - don't look at my tits! How dare you! I'm saving it for my wedding day!" or, "Look how cool we are ..." No, I want 15-foot goblins with mirror faces, like in Maya Deren films, with everything going in fast motion, flying saucer attacks, and Godzilla uniforms. And everybody should be totally 160 percent dork ass. Burn "total loser" to my forehead. Y'know, if they weren't going to sleep with you before, they aren't going to sleep with you now. I'm not going to spend 600,000 dollars to make that an option. [Watch Clip] VH1: Is "Boys" really a response to the Britney Spears' song? RA: I just made sh*t up about that song to get people to talk. It's really just a dumb song about how terrible guys are because we want to have sex and make out with girls, and do keg stands and have sex. We're entirely unromantic, and these 18- to 19-year-old virgins, they know. They've never slept with any of us, but they know. VH1: So it has nothing to do with Britney. RA: I guess I wanted to write a song that addressed being emasculated by pop culture. At the same time, there are too many misogynistic f*ck heads about the place, too. But where are all the James Dean guys? Y'know, he's not misogynistic, but yes, he wants to get in your pants and make you come. That's OK! Isn't that OK? I think that's OK? Am I a redneck? [Watch Clip] VH1: I'm with you. RA: Oh, and I want to have a beer too. Is that OK? Am I a redneck? Carson Daly has beers. I think so. I've seen him swell up a couple of times on his show like he has had a couple of beers. Is that OK? I want to have sex with my girlfriend, and for somebody to come. Is that OK? I think it's OK. VH1: So you are saying you can be hetero without being... RA: [interrupting] Last night I was at a party for a book about emo. There were a lot of boys and girls there, and they wouldn't look at anybody, because that would be really weird. The girls were talking about George Washington Carver, I think, and all the different things you could get out of the peanut. It was like, "Hey, somebody have a beer!" Look, without f*cking, there would be no Cheers, there would be no real good romance on Friends - Chandler and Monica would never had done it, and that was good for the show! So I guess "Boys" was about, "You don't have to drink or have sex, but if you do, it is OK." It's also me questioning myself: "Am I a redneck ape?" And if I am wrong, and this is a career ender - which is totally OK with me 'cause I just want to go home - then truly these songs are just cave drawings, and I have found my coal, gone back to my cave and drawn the buffalo. If not, then we are in the money, woo-hoo! VH1: You told Entertainment Weekly, "The only thing cooler then the Grateful Dead is Black Flag, and the only thing cooler then Black Flag is the Grateful Dead." RA: That sounds about right to me. And the only thing cooler than both of them is [Los Angeles death rock band] 45 Grave - on drugs. VH1: I imagine your record collection goes way across the board. RA: Yeah, but I love Black Flag and the Grateful Dead immensely. I had the [Black Flag] bars on my arm since I was 14. Black Flag were really influenced by the Grateful Dead. They carried around their own sound system. Greg Ginn loved the Dead. Black Flag and the Grateful Dead created subgenres by not being a part of any of it. Black Flag records pissed off the whole punk rock community, like My War, that was like subsonic slower stuff. Black Flag to me made post-punk available to anybody, cause they were just the most legit un-f*ckable-with punk band, who totally f*cked with their own formula. The Grateful Dead was another great thing, because no matter how much sh*t someone wants to give the Grateful Dead, here was a band that toured for 30-something years, played these fantastic shows, and had these great fans that followed them around everywhere. At their concerts, everyone from preachers to teachers to cops to porn stars to skydivers, all probably smoked weed and listened to them. I think that's really good for people. If I had to be arrested, I would hope it was by the cop that smoked weed and listened to the Dead. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
 |
Weezer Team Up With Ryan Adams For 'Stirring' New Song |
|
Mandy Moore Says Husband Ryan Adams Can Audition For Her Band |
|
Jessica Simpson Is 'In Control'; Plus Jennifer Lopez, Pharrell, Kanye West, 50 Cent, G-Unit, Mariah Carey & More, In For The Record |
|
Kelly Clarkson Loses Billboard #1 To Hannah Montana |
 |
 |
 |
|
Receive Free Music News Daily Via Email |
|
Receive Free Artist Updates Via Email for Ryan Adams |
|
All news for Ryan Adams |
|
Breaking Music News |
 |
Add VH1 News to My Yahoo |
|
