Ryan Adams has a new self-titled
album coming out on September 9th. I am sure that it will be
amazing, as most of the records he has released are fantastic. Below is a
condensed version of an interview he did with The New York Times Magazine.
The singer-songwriter on making
amends with his record label, getting clean and bridging the gap between punk
and metal.
You’re known for being a prolific
songwriter, yet your new album, “Ryan Adams,” is your first in three years.
What took so long?
Some of that time was life, like yardwork, walking the dogs. I made a record with Glyn Johns, and we spent a bunch of money on it too. Then I had to go sit at a dinner table with my manager and the head of Capitol Records and say, “Hey, man, you can’t put this out.” It was about losing my grandmother. It was too sad.
Some of that time was life, like yardwork, walking the dogs. I made a record with Glyn Johns, and we spent a bunch of money on it too. Then I had to go sit at a dinner table with my manager and the head of Capitol Records and say, “Hey, man, you can’t put this out.” It was about losing my grandmother. It was too sad.
How did they react to this?
They thought I was being emotional at first, which is fair. When you make a heavy record, there should be a point where you say you don’t want to share it, but then maybe you come around.
They thought I was being emotional at first, which is fair. When you make a heavy record, there should be a point where you say you don’t want to share it, but then maybe you come around.
Did you have to make it up to them?
I said it will probably take me a couple of months, but I’m going to go to my studio, Monday through Friday, 4 p.m. to midnight, and I’m going to write and experiment, and that actually led to one of the most beautiful journeys ever. In the three years that nobody heard music from me, I made more music than I’ve ever made.
I said it will probably take me a couple of months, but I’m going to go to my studio, Monday through Friday, 4 p.m. to midnight, and I’m going to write and experiment, and that actually led to one of the most beautiful journeys ever. In the three years that nobody heard music from me, I made more music than I’ve ever made.
Do you think your approach to music
is different from other performers’? You’re sometimes called a savant.
I might be a little bit of one. I cannot say that I know a lot about scales, but I can write songs. I can play a solo up to a point, and then I look at it like: “All right, it was really fun to steal this plane. I have no idea how to get the landing gear down, but it looks like there’s some soft trees over there.”
I might be a little bit of one. I cannot say that I know a lot about scales, but I can write songs. I can play a solo up to a point, and then I look at it like: “All right, it was really fun to steal this plane. I have no idea how to get the landing gear down, but it looks like there’s some soft trees over there.”
Do you think, at age 39, you’ve
outgrown your reputation as a troublemaker onstage?
I don’t think I knew what people were looking for from me onstage. Sometimes I wouldn’t say anything, and it would be, like, “He played, and he didn’t say a word!” I don’t want to be, like, “Hey, Pittsburgh, what’s goin’ on?” I didn’t have that in me.
I don’t think I knew what people were looking for from me onstage. Sometimes I wouldn’t say anything, and it would be, like, “He played, and he didn’t say a word!” I don’t want to be, like, “Hey, Pittsburgh, what’s goin’ on?” I didn’t have that in me.
You’ve been living a pretty clean
life for a while now. Does that get easier over time?
It was never hard for me to stop. My days of experimenting with drugs and boozing, they were so done when they were done. I’m allergic to alcohol, it made my eyes itch, but a speedball always made that feel better. I’d be having a perfectly normal conversation, holding a drink, and I would think to myself, This person has no idea how high I am right now, and it was funny to me. It’s like I was a golf cart, and I was messing with the governor to get more speed, which was unnecessary because you couldn’t go faster in the area that I was in.
It was never hard for me to stop. My days of experimenting with drugs and boozing, they were so done when they were done. I’m allergic to alcohol, it made my eyes itch, but a speedball always made that feel better. I’d be having a perfectly normal conversation, holding a drink, and I would think to myself, This person has no idea how high I am right now, and it was funny to me. It’s like I was a golf cart, and I was messing with the governor to get more speed, which was unnecessary because you couldn’t go faster in the area that I was in.
What do you do with all the hours
you got back in your life?
I just went back into the nerdy stuff that I was already into: arcade games, pinball, vintage comic books, drawing bad comics I never would release, writing poetry.
I just went back into the nerdy stuff that I was already into: arcade games, pinball, vintage comic books, drawing bad comics I never would release, writing poetry.
You almost quit the business when
you were diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, which affects your hearing and
balance. Is that still a risk?
Yeah, I had it a day ago. I was on a dock doing an interview, and the dock was kind of moving, and I got super squirrelly. But I eat clean, I run every day at home and weed helps a lot. The idea is to keep your blood pressure cool, to keep your stress level low, to exercise and be healthy.
Yeah, I had it a day ago. I was on a dock doing an interview, and the dock was kind of moving, and I got super squirrelly. But I eat clean, I run every day at home and weed helps a lot. The idea is to keep your blood pressure cool, to keep your stress level low, to exercise and be healthy.
You’re steeped in classic rock and
country music, but you also have your punk-rock and heavy-metal side. Do these
influences ever seem incompatible?
When I was in high school, I remember, on my Converse sneakers, on one side I had written “Social Distortion,” and on the other side I had written “Guns N’ Roses.” Somebody said, “Hey man, you can’t have both those bands on there; that’s punk and that’s metal.” I was like, “Check this out: My pen just totally worked when I wrote them on either side of my shoe, and the cassettes are totally in my backpack right now, so it’s probably O.K.”
When I was in high school, I remember, on my Converse sneakers, on one side I had written “Social Distortion,” and on the other side I had written “Guns N’ Roses.” Somebody said, “Hey man, you can’t have both those bands on there; that’s punk and that’s metal.” I was like, “Check this out: My pen just totally worked when I wrote them on either side of my shoe, and the cassettes are totally in my backpack right now, so it’s probably O.K.”
Is there a part of you that yearns
to write something like “Let It Go,” to have a song that everybody hears?
What is “Let It Go”?
What is “Let It Go”?
From “Frozen,” the Disney movie.
I haven’t even heard that.
Here’s the link to the
original article if you want to check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/magazine/ryan-adams-weed-helps-a-lot.html?ref=magazineI haven’t even heard that.
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