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The English audio for this interview has been posted!

INTERVIEW: WARP Presenta: Entrevista con Albert Hammond Jr, la cinematografía detrás de Melodies in Hiatus

By Rob Anaya | 08/09/2023

This interview is solely in Spanish. For an English-translated version of the website: click here Please note, the translation may not be not entirely accurate.

For archival purposes, full text is stored below.

Cuando se trata de Albert Hammond Jr. no hay mucho que decir más de lo que no se haya dicho como el guitarrista de The Strokes es una banda mundialmente popular con millones de discos venidos, con presentaciones en festivales por todo el mundo y programados en muchas estaciones de radio y con miles de reproducciones en streaming, así que, por esa parte, sí, no hay mucho que revelar, pero en cuanto a su carrera solista vaya que hay un mundo por explorar y en eso nos enfocamos.

Platicamos con él de su nuevo álbum en solitario, Melodies on Hiatus, uno de los más desafiantes e innovadores en su carrera solista la cual no es cosa menor, con este es ya su quinto disco de estudio, lo cual la convierta automáticamente en una carrera bastante sólida y que no le pide nada a nadie.

Alber Hammond Jr. sin duda ha crecido mucho como artista, aunque no le guste revelarlo, tiene una modestia marcada pero agradable, y en este disco nos deja claro que su nivel de experimentación ha alcanzado una nueva etapa, se ha rodeado de grandes colaboradores como Matt Helders de Arctic Monkeys y una de las voces más increíbles, aunque poco conocidas de la actualidad como Rainsford.

Acompáñenos juntos hasta Hiatus para descubrir estas melodías en donde Albert trabajó muy fuerte para seguir despuntando en el panorama musical, y meternos a fondo a su proceso creativo como artista, a sus recuerdos y claro, el cariño que le tiene a México.

Melodies in Hiatus es tu primer disco nuevo en tres años, ¿cómo te sentiste en el proceso de grabación desde componer la primera canción hasta terminarlo?

Seré honesto, casi nunca recuerdo mucho ese tipo de momentos, pero en general las veces que me tocó estar en el estudio tuve altibajos, y hay días en donde todo te parece aburrido y sientes que necesitas dar un extra, pero definitivamente me encontraba entusiasmado y de repente te das cuenta de que tienes un montón de trabajo por hacer y que esto va a llegar demasiado lejos, yo creo que esa fue la parte especial en esta ocasión.

Que bien, de hecho, este disco se siente muy fresco ¿sabes? Una de las grandes canciones que me gustaron mucho fue tu colaboración con GoldLInk en “100-99”, tiene muchos tintes melódicos que quizás antes no habías explorado tanto lo cual la vuelve un sencillo único, ¿así que, ¿cómo se dio esta colaboración?

Esa pues, puede ser que todo lo que hago es muy orgánico y esa canción simplemente la terminé y a mí siempre me ha interesado el hip hop y sus artistas, y ya sea en canciones de The Strokes o en canciones mías, siempre hay algo de ello, por ejemplo “en “Automatic Stop” pensé que podía grabar ese loop y rapear sobre él. No sé, ideas así, me gusta, crecí en Los Ángeles y amaba a Dr. Dre cuando yo tenía diez u once años de edad, y particularmente en este sencillo cuando tenía mi parte terminada simplemente pensé que sería genial rapear en ella, y tuve la suerte de que GoldLink quisiera colaborar, ni siquiera nunca nos reunimos, no sabía cómo iba a terminar la canción, todo se dio así y me pareció bien. De hecho, fue una de las últimas canciones que se agregaron.

Genial, no sabía que en tu juventud fuiste muy fan de Dr. Dre, es algo bueno descubrir…

Claro, ¿qué no nos gustaba a todos? Jajaja. Ya sabes vivir en Los Ángeles, en la adolescencia, en esa época era enorme, Dr. Dre fue enorme, todo el rap de los 90 lo fue, y algunas canciones eran muy melódicas, había grandes temas como “It Was A Good Day” de Ice Cube, esa sigue siendo una de mis canciones favoritas por siempre, siempre la incluyó en todas mis playlist, es genial.

También tienes otras colaboraciones muy importantes en el resto del disco, como “Thoughtful Distress” con Matt Helders de los Arctic Monkeys, y también con el gran Steve Stevens, lo cual es increíble, ¿cómo se concretó esto?

Sí, en general fue muy natural, Matt vive aquí en Los Ángeles y siempre me ha gustado su estilo como baterista, y siempre hablábamos de hacer algo juntos, así que lo llamé, y la canción correcta se dio y luego Steve Stevens vino a moldear la parte final de la canción con su sello y también en el bajo tenemos a Nicole, es una gran bajista, se armó una buena banda para esto y todos estaban muy entusiasmados de estar trabajando conmigo en la canción, de hecho tratamos de llevarla igual a un terreno más de rap pero conforme fuimos avanzando tomó otra dirección, así que estar con gente así y músicos así solo quieres pasarla bien y también quieres crear algo que te guste y simplemente los dejas hacer lo que quieran sabes, no los voy a presionar, jajaa, y al final todo funcionó, me siento muy afortunado con esa canción.

Otra colaboración que captó mi atención fue con Rainsford en “Remember” y también en “Alrigh Tomorrow”, la última canción del disco, que personalmente fue mi favorita por que personalmente no te había escuchado algo similar, ¿sabes? Creo que llevaste tu nivel de composición a otro lado que no habías explorado así de esa forma, y encima con esa poderosa voz de Rainsford, ¿cómo te sentiste al componer esa canción?

Para ser honesto, se sintió como yo, siempre he sido yo el que ha estado tratando de hacer esa música que me gusta, tratando de buscar esos sonidos, esa forma de componer, y cuanto estaba escribiendo esta canción lo supe al instante que esta no era una canción para que yo la cantará, pensé en una gran voz, siempre he tratado de componer canciones y colaborar con artistas femeninas, el disco tiene muchas canciones y está bien que no en todas escuchen mi voz, y la voz de Rainsford es irreal, pero irreal en serio, pensé que si quería cantar en mi canción sería grandioso, y al final esa canción se siente como si estuvieras en una película.

Absolutamente así la sentí y es uno de los puntos más altos en Melodies in Hiatus, precisamente por el poder de esa canción y el poder de la voz, y de hecho me parece muy poético que justo sea la última canción en el disco…

Sí, fue a propósito, jajaja, es una linda manera de decir adiós. Y si vuelves a escuchar el disco de nuevo, lo vas a sentir totalmente diferente a como la primera vez, ¿sabes? Vas a sentir un reseteo y pensaras, “¿wau ¿esta es la primera canción?”. Me tomó mucho tiempo colocar las canciones en el orden correcto, fue una locura, a veces piensas que a lo mejor solo nueve canciones van a ser buenas y las otras muy raras, pero luego vas más allá, y lo vuelves a escuchar para tener un buen orden y me lleve muchísimo tiempo en ello.

Otro gran concepto de este nuevo álbum es la serie de videos que has sacado y que preparaste, tienen una escuela muy cinematográfica, se siente como una pequeña película, ��sabes? Y también sé que te gusta mucho actuar, es algo que disfrutas. ¿Cómo fue tu experiencia en las filmaciones?

Sin duda, tuve mucha suerte de que Angela Ricciardi y Silken Weinberg los grabara, y bueno, hay mucho que responder a tu pregunta…

Yo estudié en una escuela de cine, siempre quise hacer algo relacionado a la escritura, a la producción o a la dirección, o hacer soundtracks, todo siempre impulsado por como las películas fueron algo tan importante en mi juventud, y el cine siempre ha estado en mi sangre igual que la música.

Y con este disco estaba intentando hacer una película, en donde el personaje principal es muy exitoso en Las Vegas, pero fuera de ella no lo es, e intenta escapar de esa vida fácil pero no puede, y ya tenía eso en mente y así conocí a Angela, le conté todo eso, y ella me ayudo a materializarlo, ¿sabes? También con su toque y de repente ese espacio vacío se fue llenando con otro espacio de ideas, un espacio en donde esta personaje principal ha vivido toda su vida, como se muestra en la serie, y en estos lugares como el bar a donde bebe, y otro lugar importante es una cocina en donde juega juegos de póker o lo que sea que se le de la gana hacer, y recibe palizas, y en uno de los últimos ya me toca interpretar una canción en el escenario como lo hago cada noche o como lo hace este personaje que creamos para la serie.

Angela y yo hablamos sobre la ejecución y teníamos gustos similares en cuanto a directores y estéticas y estilos, simplemente tratamos de llegar juntos a esta creación única, sí, hicimos cinco videos extraordinarios, y ojalá pudiéramos haber grabado más, fue algo muy divertido, de verdad me puso a prueba a mi mismo, y a todos en el grupo de trabajo, digo, grabar cinco videos en dos días no es nada fácil, y si vuelves a ver los videos con atención notaras muchas imperfecciones, por que simplemente no teníamos tiempo, digo, no me importa mucho, encajaron bien, pero sin duda fue difícil.

Justo el último que vi fue el de “One Chance” y me encantó la pelea que plantean

Sí, fue muy divertido y en verdad tenía muchas ganas de hacer más, peor teníamos en promedio dos horas para grabar un video, y yo siempre hago el mismo roll porque aprenderme la coreografía en dos horas es casi imposible que pase. Si quizás tuvimos tres descansos fue mucho, fue como “estás bromeando”. Ni siquiera tuvimos el tiempo como para entender los movimientos de las cámaras pro lo que hacíamos o lo mismo con los actores, coordinar todo eso te lleva semanas, o al menos un día completo, lo aprendes en un día de pre grabación y al otro se filma como se debe.

Y justo hablando de cine, ¿tienes algunos directores favoritos en tu vida?

Sí, ya sabes, nada que sea completamente desconocido, aunque siempre trato de descubrir algo así. Los directores clásicos son maravillosos, Francis Ford Coppolla, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorcece, David Lynch, Spielberg, son los que me vienen a la mente. Su más reciente película me pareció increíble. Hay un director francés que se llama Luc Besson, que es simplemente increíble.

Regresando al nuevo disco Melodies In Hiatus, estuvo producido por Gus Oberg , un viejo conocido y muy amigo tuyo, y también en el pasado pues has trabajando con gente como Rick Rubin, ¿cuál crees que sea la diferencia entre trabajar con uno y otro?

Son más bien diferentes settings o perspectivas, con Gus he trabajado siempre en mis discos solistas y con el otro he trabajado con The Strokes, nunca he trabajado yo con él uno a uno, peor los dos son personales muy inteligentes y entienden la música como pocos, los dos me han ayudado a sacar lo mejor de mí y de la banda, ayudan a aliviar ese peso que tienes cuando estas componiendo un disco, que incluye presión o ideas que no sabes a donde dirigirlas, y ellos son grandes personas que siempre me han terminado ayudando muchísimo, pero en realidad creo que son muy similares.

Rick con el paso del tiempo sigue creando éxitos y tiene una presencia fuerte. Es bueno rodearte de personas así.

La siguiente sección la titule “Discos en tu vida”, que son:

-Yours to Keep

-¿Cómo te Llama?

-Momentary Masters

-Francis Trouble

-Melodies on Hiatus

Así que, con ello, me gustaría saber, ¿cómo te sientes de tener ya cinco discos en tu carrera? Cada uno tiene algo especial y si es que sigues sintiendo esa misma adrenalina o emoción cuando terminas de grabar un álbum nuevo…

¿Te refieres a que sí es que sigo sintiendo la misma emoción? Bueno, el otro día estaba pensando en eso, justo no puedo creer que en realidad haya hecho tanta música, ya.

SÍ, justo a eso me refiero, cinco discos ya es una carrera sólida, tomando en cuenta que también formas parte de una banda como The Strokes con la cual has estado activo desde hace muchos años

Puedo perderme muy fácil en el proceso de trabajar y hacer música, es de las cosas que más me gustan, y aun así algún día podrías preguntarme como me siento y quizás ese día odie todo por el proceso de emociones que te envuelve como si fuera una ruleta rusa, pero es algo muy puro, incluso cuando sientes que estas perdido siempre hay una posibilidad de salir adelante.

Siempre es emocionante, te diviertes y no puedes esperar a que la gente lo escuche, eso sí, el proceso de grabarlos es algo bastante largo, por ejemplo en este nuevo disco cuando ya estaba listo me tarde un año en sacarlo por el simple hecho de que hacer los vinilos te toma nueve meses, y me encanta pero ya cuando sale y la gente lo escucha para mi se siente como “el pasado” peor la gente no lo sabe y ahora me siento como una persona diferente, es algo interesante que los fans descubran lo que eras en ese momento, no sé, me siento como si fuera el 2019 cuando lo estaba componiendo, ya ni se quien era en ese entonces jajajajaj.

Pero sí, sigue siendo emocionante, me siento muy agradecido de tener una gran disquera, en donde me siento parte del sistema, y no puedes olvidar eso, y estoy en esta posición en donde soy un artista longevo y que aún haya gente interesada en escucharme, que invierta su tiempo para hacerlo en mí como artistas es genial, luego pienso en que ya he hecho todo lo que he querido y no sé que tengo que hacer después, pero la experimentación siempre aparece y me siento motivado de nuevo, y me quiero ir de tour, creo que para existir siempre tienes que seguir encontrando nuevas direcciones en la música, son caminos cruzados interesantes.

Personalmente creo que con estos con estos discos en tu carrera ya has probado mucho, y has destacado como cantante, como compositor y como guitarrista. ¿Cómo te sientes en este momento de tu vida como artista? ¿Qué tanto crees que has evolucionado, te sientes más cómodo o más maduro?

No, me siento como que he vuelto a comenzar, tengo un gran maestro de guitarra y eso siempre me da una nueva perspectiva de a en donde me gustaría estar, o al menos tratar de entender que pasa, y eso me emociona. Y por otro lado es raro tener un ego al respecto y tener una postura, y a veces eso me pasa, no sé, seguro que les ha sucedido a muchos artistas que les va muy bien pero que se sienten inseguros con la música que están haciendo, así como he conocido gente que no ha hecho nada y son muy arrogantes, jajaja. Mi meta es solo vivir el proceso y lo demás esta fuera de mi control, así que si no disfrutará de eso creo que estaría viviendo en un miedo constante.

Estoy seguro de que has vivido momentos geniales en tu carrera solista y también con The Strokes, que ya tienen más de 20 años de carrera, que han tocado junto con los Red Hot Chilli Pepeprs recientemente, en el pasado Eddie Vedder de Pearl Jam cantó en una de sus canciones, aún siguen siendo headliners en los festivales más grandes del mundo, y aquí en México llenaron un estadio, ¿alguna vez te imaginaste que pasaría todo eso?

Yo creo que eso es lo más raro de la vida, no importa, y la respuesta es que sí, si lo imaginé, en cierta escala. Porque cuando conocí a The Strokes, estos chicos y nos juntamos lo que sucedió fue magia, me sentía con una energía diferente cuando estábamos juntos, y cuando todo el éxito llego claro que fue una locura y fue sorpresivo, como es una sorpresa que veinte años después sigamos haciendo música, de hecho, sentí que seriamos importantes en algún momento, por que estaba en una banda grande, pero ¿sabía yo todo eso? Claro que no, pero incluso si nada de eso hubiera pasado me quedaría con ese sentimiento único que me provocaba el estar juntos en un cuarto de ensayos, todo se sentía diferente. Y algunas cosas son difíciles de predecir, como hacer canciones que van a pasar la prueba del paso del tiempo.

Y ya para terminar no quiero pasar la oportunidad de preguntarte sobre el último concierto que dieron The Strokes aquí en México en el Foro Sol, el cual se convirtió en el show mas grande de sus carreras, ¿qué memorias tienes de esa noche?

Solo tengo buenos recuerdos de esa noche, jajajaja. El momento más alto de nuestra carrera, espero que sea una buena premonición de lo que vendrá en los próximos años, porque sigue siendo emocionante rodearte de gente talentosa para hacer música, y con las cuales tienes mucho que compartir, así que eso hace que la banda se sienta poderosa y viva. Y tocar ese show nos abrió el panorama para pensar en cómo podría ser nuestro próximo disco, y creo que esa noche en ese show pudimos haber basado el espectáculo en un solo álbum y aun así todos lo hubiéramos disfrutado, peor en general se sintió como un nuevo comienzo dar ese show, fue mas que especial, tuve amigos que estuvieron presentes en esa noche y la multitud estuvo inolvidable, fue algo super eléctrico tocar en un concierto así de grande para tanta gente.

#albert hammond jr #interview: podcast #melodies on hiatus #warp magazine

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ahjdaily · 1 year ago

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alberthammondjr: "I wish I had better news but due to scheduling conflicts, I need to cancel the tour. Refunds are available at your original point of purchase, if not automatically issued. You can check your venue’s website for more info. Thanks to everyone who bought tickets and I’m sorry it’s ended like this. Hopefully see you soon. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, the bar well, he eats you."

#albert hammond jr #melodies on hiatus #tour #ahjdaily says: we regret to inform

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Albert shares a photo of himself (aged 12) captioned "1992" via Instagram Stories

#albert hammond jr #8.13.23 #90s #instagram

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ahjdaily · 1 year ago

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#albert hammond jr #far away truths #gif: music video #ahjdaily says: just another give away!#francis trouble

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Albert Hammond Jr & his resplendent hair, in ‘Meet Me in the Bathroom (2022)’.

#albert hammond jr #meet me in the bathroom #the strokes #gifset #00s

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Earlier this week, Albert commented on the status of Jetway and it sounds like its over.

"alberthammondjr: "sadly it failed. But it’s very delicious and super proud I took an idea and got so far with it."

For context, the drink's official instagram account has not posted since December 2022. Join us in a moment of silence for Jetway.

#albert hammond jr #drinkjetway #ahjdaily says: yes this sad news delivered in a meme format

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ahjdaily · 1 year ago

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INTERVIEW: WARP Presenta: Entrevista con Albert Hammond Jr, la cinematografía detrás de Melodies in Hiatus

By Rob Anaya | 08/09/2023

This interview is solely in Spanish. For an English-translated version of the website: click here Please note, the translation may not be not entirely accurate.

For archival purposes, full text is stored below.

Melodies in Hiatus es tu primer disco nuevo en tres años, ¿cómo te sentiste en el proceso de grabación desde componer la primera canción hasta terminarlo?

Genial, no sabía que en tu juventud fuiste muy fan de Dr. Dre, es algo bueno descubrir…

Otro gran concepto de este nuevo álbum es la serie de videos que has sacado y que preparaste, tienen una escuela muy cinematográfica, se siente como una pequeña película, ¿sabes? Y también sé que te gusta mucho actuar, es algo que disfrutas. ¿Cómo fue tu experiencia en las filmaciones?

Sin duda, tuve mucha suerte de que Angela Ricciardi y Silken Weinberg los grabara, y bueno, hay mucho que responder a tu pregunta…

Justo el último que vi fue el de “One Chance” y me encantó la pelea que plantean

Y justo hablando de cine, ¿tienes algunos directores favoritos en tu vida?

Rick con el paso del tiempo sigue creando éxitos y tiene una presencia fuerte. Es bueno rodearte de personas así.

La siguiente sección la titule “Discos en tu vida”, que son:

-Yours to Keep

-¿Cómo te Llama?

-Momentary Masters

-Francis Trouble

-Melodies on Hiatus

¿Te refieres a que sí es que sigo sintiendo la misma emoción? Bueno, el otro día estaba pensando en eso, justo no puedo creer que en realidad haya hecho tanta música, ya.

SÍ, justo a eso me refiero, cinco discos ya es una carrera sólida, tomando en cuenta que también formas parte de una banda como The Strokes con la cual has estado activo desde hace muchos años

#albert hammond jr #interview: web #melodies on hiatus #WARP

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ahjdaily · 1 year ago

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@/alberthammondjr Really proud of this smokeshow vinyl collection. Design and art dir. by Liz Hirsch, the mastermind who reinvented the album artwork to create these 5 unique pieces. All available now for purchase (excluding clear splatter, which has sold out). Pick your favorite.

#albert hammond jr #instagram #twitter #melodies on hiatus

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Audio Transcription Below:

Albert Hammond Jr first rose to prominence as the lead guitarist of The Strokes, a band at the forefront of New York City's indie rock renaissance and the early aughts. The Strokes released their debut album Is This It in 2001, to huge commercial success. Two decades, five albums and a Grammy later, the Strokes have become a modern successor to the bands that influenced them, The Cars, The Stooges, The Velvet Underground. In 2007, Albert Hammond Jr launched his solo career, putting his songwriting and abilities as a frontman to the test. He's now released five albums of his own, including his latest Melodies on Hiatus, which came out just a couple of months ago. It's a double album that he co-wrote with Canadian singer Simon Wilcox and features collaborations with Goldlink and Matt Helders from The Arctic Monkeys.

On today's episode, Albert Hammond Jr and I discussed his parents' recent divorce and how despite the fact that he's in his early forties, he was still dramatically impacted by it. Albert also reminisces about his past life as a champion roller skater who was once scouted by Kristi Yamaguchi’s Olympic ice skating coach, and he also explains why he's never been a fan of everyone else's favorite bands Radiohead and Led Zeppelin. This is Broken Record liner notes for the digital age. I'm Justin Richmond. Here's my conversation with Albert Hammond Jr.

When did you record the new solo record Melodies on Hiatus? Man, I thought it was gonna come out a lot sooner. I started in 2019, right at the end of touring my last record, Francis Trouble. I had no idea of making a double album. It wasn't like "I want to make two records." And all I thought was, "I can start now." And because I knew I wanted to deconstruct the band and I wanted to keep it, meaning like the record before that was a live band in a room. In a studio like this, a studio I had Upstate. It was very like "studio live takes" band-

Upstate New York? Upstate New York, yeah, sorry, if you live in New York long enough you just call it Upstate. So I wanted to just like, I usually, I love plugging my guitar in direct. Even if it's just to like an Apollo. I mean, I would plug it into a board. I love that too, or just like a Neve like that over there. But I was like, "let's just do it all like we do the demos." Drum machines, kind of play all the different parts with instruments, and we're just trying to create a vibe for each song to then play for people to be like, "this is where I wanted to go. Help me get it there." Yeah, So I started in 2019. My parents were getting divorced, and my mom was in this rental right by the Beverly Center, very cool rental. Yeah, just started there with my laptop.

But your parents just got divorced? When we were recording in 2017 here, they just started.

Wow. But it was still happening in 2019. I think it ended... I think it took like four or five years. It was kind of ridiculous.

Wow, I was gonna ask you because I guess, you know, Old Man seemed like an obvious jumping off point. It's so funny because some songs come, you know, they just kind of like lay themselves out. I remember I was at my- this whole time 2016, 2017, 2018, I was staying a lot in my parents' apartment here. They weren't here, and I- my life was a lot here. The Strokes were doing stuff. I had my solo manager and my label here working with people, so it was just easy to come here. And I was just playing the guitar and it kind of just like, it kind of came. I said, "my old man blah blah blah," and I kind of just had it. It wasn't intended to be a dig at him or anything. And then by the time I got to doing lyrics, and Simon actually, Simon Wilcox did lyrics because by the time I got to twenty songs, I looked at all twenty and I was like, "there's no way I'm going to finish these. This is too much work." I'd rather start from scratch.

But you knew you liked all twenty. Yeah, yeah, I knew. Well. By then it was like the album's a double album, but like song titles, little lines here and there, lyrics from me are last. So I'll do- I sang all the songs parts I knew I had melodies for and ones I was searching, or if I wanted to change it a little bit, you know, they'd still punch me in and I'd be like, "oh, that's fine for them to be similar," or "this one should be a little different." Let me just kind of find it. You're just making shit up and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What was cool was that Simon kept phrasing of mine that had I written lyrics, I wouldn't even have kept because these were just like little rambling things I did. Like I was making stuff up, but on the spot, maybe it's a mistake or you don't fit the words you want, but she was able to keep them in. So there's something really magical in that. But yeah, Old Man is not about- It's not like a dig, going back to that. It's not a dig my dad. It was quite the opposite. It's kind of like you just realize in life how your perspective changes over time. Yeah, you know, and like so you you see your parents and you're like a kid, and you have all these feelings and thoughts and you know, a teenager or twenty, and all of a sudden you end up being their age that you remember looking up at them and then you're kind of like, "oh, this is so strange." (Laughs) "How did I get here" and how you're viewing stuff. But now they're older so you can't see. So it's just this cycle of, you know, maybe we just have to be more gentle with everyone, just because we're all, you know, human beings and we make mistakes. And like I feel like the more you judge, the more you end up doing the same things later on. Yeah, and so it was that kind of idea in there. And that's the other thing I would do at Simon’s, that when I was doing it, she would be like, “you want to keep the world old man?” Or maybe she even said “like I really like it, let's let's keep it,” And I was like, no, I wanted to keep it. It was very natural the first thing that I sang when I was trying to find the melody. So it's kind of hard to change those words.

So how much of that did she write? Versus- I would say she wrote the lyrics just because I said old man, or like if she kept a line or two of mine that I said that worked, everything is there, by her hand, you know. Like I wouldn't take that away from her. But the conversations that we had dictated, sometimes, where songs would go. And it was definite point where I was like, it's not about “fuck you.”

Fuck you dad! No, it's not. It's not like that at all. If anything, it's like, oh man, like all the times I said that, and now I'm in your shoes when I would say that to you. And I'm like, I kind of, I kind of get it. And you know, you did a lot, like you know, I appreciate it.

Were your parents getting divorced at that time? Yeah, they were still yeah, but it wasn't a dig at the-

But it must have spurred it, right, I mean, I just imagine. Sure. It was definitely not you know, divorces. It's funny divorce is not- I was 36 when they started. It wasn't any easier. It wasn't like I'm 36, like I didn't feel it! Felt it just as hard. Very weird. It's always weird when it's the idea like "never call the cops," never get- as soon as you get other people involved in your stuff, you can't just talk it out. Yeah you can't. You can never go back. Yeah, it's you know, and that's what it was. I would get a lot of the weirdest things I got is just- we were like a tripod of a family. My mom's from Argentina and my dad's from Gibraltar.

Which is the craziest place to be from. I know people don't even know, they’re like "Gibraltar? Where the hell is that?"

The rock? Yeah, Living Daylights James Bond, the opening scene is in Gibraltar. If you want to know what it what it looks like. It's just a giant rock off the coast of Spain. Though it's British and they're angry about that. But yes, so so far away. And they met in Argentina and they moved to LA and I grew up here, so I didn't grow up with, like, I saw family every couple of years when they'd come visit for three months, not like cousins or aunts who live in the same city. So we're like a tripod. So that interaction still existed even in the divorce. So that was like the hard part was like, even though I was not getting involved or I was just trying to help out where I could, it's going to affect me. Yeah, and anger will come out from different people and it's gonna you know, I'm in the middle, regardless of if they notice or not. I imagine some things came from it. But that's like it a- god writing songs are so so funny. There's so many different spots, and you might even have one line that means something to someone, but the whole song it's a different meaning.

A meaning like it's not- It’s just not so like “I'm going to write about how much I like or dislike this person.” Even if you do that, you might venture off and have a whole story or a line works. I mean, it's a combination of music and words. Sometimes stuff that's really simple is more powerful. The music, to me is what I want to have move you. And then though the words on top are like a cherry. But these conversations I had with Simon were like amazing. We would have hour long conversations about what I felt, where I wanted to go, or what she thought, or we would disagree or agree or like it would be amazing, but like remember in Old Man, the second verse just wasn't right. And then she came up with the "bullet wounds and self defense" even like in Never Stop she had this story. It didn't feel like that to me, but she had this story about this older person who just like never- this character who like never stops even though you know he hasn't made it, he doesn't care. I was like, "sure, I guess try writing that." It didn't connect with me. And then she sent me the lyrics, and I was just like, "this is so great, but this is not what I would have thought it would have been."

Did it ever connect with you at any point? I mean, the lyrics connected with me when I sang them. For sure, I wouldn't have sang them. This is the first time I wrote with someone else. I didn't do anything that didn't fully connect with me.

Feel authentic. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't like I just mean sometimes the way someone tells a story about where they're gonna go, you're kind of like, "yeah, okay, I don't know what's in your head," but it's funny to not get it and then get something back and being like, "well, whatever was in your head it was, it's not what I thought it was going to be, and this is amazing." But yeah, no, it wasn't like just write lyrics I had thought I was gonna like try to get a bunch of friends to help me write lyrics. But it's a lot harder to get people to help you out than you might think.

What kind of trouble did you come across with that? (Laughs) No? Nothing, just people-

Not trouble, per say. Yeah, “What kind of trouble? Oh, I got in a lot of trouble!” I get in a lot of trouble. But it's not from asking people to write songs. (Laughs) Such a troublemaker. Um, I don't know. I just it was just like an idea. I thought, like I would ask certain bands that I'm friends with if they and people who I like they write lyrics, if they wanted to give it a go, But it's hard. People-

Did you ask? You did ask. I did. I did. Everyone was really nice, but I think they were all like in the middle of records or sometimes people wanted to do it, but they I think maybe they wanted to change the melody of it, which I wouldn't have minded. But I'd been like, "Okay, well now we're working on the song very differently," you know what I mean. I think it was just the timing of it because I was just recording, right, recording. I could have- I could still be recording. I was in such a finding voice memos and just like creating songs. It was, I was in such a little heaven.

And you were sort of doing The Strokes with The New Abnormal was just like- Yeah, we'd done a little bit and then we started the promo tour, and then the pandemic happened. And then Gus would just fly over. Gus Oberg, he's my best friend. He does front house with The Strokes. I was pretty loose during the pandemic, I'll be honest.

No, no precautions. Well no, I always just thought, no, no, I mean there was precautions. I mean, he flew on the plane and I guess you have to wear a mask, but he just came over because he just came over here. And then we just started working and my wife was pregnant. I don't know, we would still exercise and stuff like. I always feel like I find it hard to believe what happened there, was they tell you what's happening, but no one ever tells you how to build your own immune system.

It was a weird thing to navigate. It was. It was very weird.

Did working on music though, I mean, your wife was pregnant, so it was at I mean- Well, she got pregnant in June, and this was we started in March, right?

And first kid right? First. First and only kid.

First kid, no more kids. Parents are divorcing. (Laughs) No more kids. One is- I'm grateful for her, she changed my life. I love her dearly, but I don't have the capacity for it.

It's a lot. It requires a lot of bandwidth. I have two. You have two.

Yeah, my oldest really liked your solo record, added it to her playlist. Is it? How old are they?

Seven and four. Just turned seven and four. Mine is just a little over two. We’re in a different, different spot. It was terrifying at first, though. My god. You know, some people they come out and they're like “I was born to be a parent.” I was like PTSD, like I was like, "what happened? My life's completely changed!" (Laughs) "I love you, but it's just everything's really different."

Do you feel like it's balanced out? It's balancing out for sure. I mean anything, it makes sense. Any creation in the universe is through destruction, you know what I mean, like even how we're here, it was through things banging into each other and blowing up. So it makes sense that to create something like new life, I mean, it's amazing to have seen it, and you know it must be something that it you know, just just an extreme thing.

Your kid destroys your life. Yeah, I mean not- it just needs to- it destroys it in the sense that it's meant to and you're meant to build up deeper and better and your heart's richer for it. And it's like, so you can't be the same person, it would be ridiculous. And just to see life take shape. I started to think that maybe personality traits and little things you do are just are all in there. It's got nothing to do with what I was saying or doing, just from generations passed on and who knows which part she has from different people, but it's-

And that's- sometimes that's scary. Sure.

When I think about like, “damn, does she have some of my uncle in there?” I mean, I'm sure she's just like, I'm sure they have different… "wow are you even ancestors you didn't even meet?" Yeah, like have your friends or friends' brothers, and you're like, "yeah, it doesn't even seem like part of the family" or like their personality was just so different than the rest of the family.

Friends, who were twins, and you just couldn't believe- Dude, I was a twin! It passed away at five months, but I was so curious- not to bring it down! (Laughs) You're like, oh, but yeah, I always feel like there was something. I'm always so curious about what that would have been like what my life would have been like had I had a twin.

Were you able to glean from your parents, how similar not you were in the five months? Well no it was five months in- like my mom didn't know she had twins, and it was five months, but it still looked like a little human. Supposedly when it came out my dad. This might be a little graphic, but my dad took it out of the toilet and they brought it to the hospital and they said it looked like a little kid. I always questioned this, but the doctor was like, "yeah, you lost the baby." Those are just phantom feelings. And like a few weeks later, she found out she was still pregnant with me. And I remember knowing that as a kid, but as a kid, you don't like really think what that must feel like for your parents. It wasn't until I was 36 and I was like, man, that must have been weird. To have. I think, is it called stillborn to like have a kid come out like that? And like that's heavy, that's not a light thing. And then I didn't realize how close we were so much so that the nail and part of the other placenta was on mine when it came out, like one of the things, and so like it made me like it actually it made me cry because I was just like imagining just being that close to someone. There must be some kind of energy in there, you know, when you're like being made.

Yeah, I know at the time you were thinking about how your parents felt, but it's probably because it was super overwhelming for you too, Or did you really not- Like when I was a kid?

When you were a kid. I mean, it's hard to remember. Yeah, maybe it was it was too much. I was just I always thought it was just like a it was just a story. I heard it so much when I was since I was little, so it just became like it's part of my story, and then wasn't till I was older, I was just like, "man, this story is like a superhero story." And that's what I did on the record before I was like, "what a cool way to create an alter egos through that story," and then this album is like the deconstruction of accepting. I made a record where I accepted being the front person, because all the records beforehand were just like, "I really just want to be in a band. I just like writing songs." Yeah, they're just exercises, so I could try to write more songs in the band, or would just be a better songwriter in general. And on the fourth one, I was like, "Okay, I just have to accept that it's just my name."

So before you thought about it as exercise for The Strokes. Yeah, the first album was just like when I made my first album, Yours to Keep. I was like, "if I don't finish something and it's just done," like I didn't think I was a tour it or anything. If I don't like finish it, I'll never grow because I'll always be like, "well, it's just kind of a demo. I can change it, you know." Everyone always like, "you know, that's just a rough mix." Yeah, I'm changing everything. So-

It felt good to commit to- I just felt like I needed it. I felt like I had stuff that I'd been nurturing since my late teenage years mixed with stuff that I'd done after I'd joined a band, so I needed to get rid of it to move on. And I wouldn't I wouldn't be the songwriter I am today unless I had done that. But I just mean I didn't want to be like I didn't want to release a solo record and be like “I'm Albert Hammond Jr! Look at me like!” I just always wanted to be in a band. That's all.

We're gonna take a quick break and then we'll be back with more from Albert Hammond Junior. We're back with more from Albert Hammond Jr.

So you feel like a guitar player like that feels like your- I just like writing songs. I didn't even feel like I feel like I’m a guitar player now because that's where the role like. When I fell in love with music and guitar, I never thought it wasn't like, oh, I like Jimmy Hendricks, I want to play lead. I was just like I like Buddy Holly, I like Roy Orbison. I just wanted to sing and write songs. It wasn't until I was in a band that I don't know why I didn't click with me like guitar parts it should have. Maybe I didn't understand it. I just I guess I fell in love more with the song than like the instrument. And it wasn't until like I felt like I had to. When I was in a band, I was like, Okay, I'm gonna have to. Even when I was first playing some leads at early strokes stuff, I was like, I was like, I'm doing this, like wow, Like it was so it was so strange. When I first started writing songs, it wasn't to like make an album. It was just to like be a contribute or in what we were doing. You know, It's always been a struggle. I love performing. I've been I used to roller skate when I was a kid, so I feel like I've been performing since before. In nine, ten, eleven, twelve, I would, you know, skate in front of a lot of people.

Skating’s back! Are you diving back in? Well no, I did like the skating that I did was you know, like figure skating and ice skating? Yeah, I did that alone with a partner on roller skates. They wanted me to do. It's so funny. The what's her name, Kristi Yamaguchi, the coach, wanted to coach me for the Olympics because his thing was like. He was like, I can teach how you can do everything you need to do to learn skates and stuff like that. What I can't teach is like what you have. I had like posture or like grace, and I could like move. I think my dad wanted me to ice skate too, because there's money and ice skating there's no money in roller skating. (Laughs)

Incredible. I was like, what, I don't love ice skating like I love roller skating. I mean it was fun, It's very competitive. I liked winning. I just remember that. I remember not being nervous and I liked winning. I was practicing every day, three four hours a day, seven days a week, and then one day at twelve, I had like the hairline fracture on my ankle and then I was like, “yeah, I'm not doing that anymore.”

Was it like your parents being like you have to go to practice? Definitely not. You can't. I don't think you could push someone into wanting to do that. If the person didn't want to do it, you might, you know, every day falling down, getting up, falling down like you just hours and hours. It's the same thing with an instrument, right, I mean people ask for advice on guitar, and it's just like you're gonna have many moments where you're gonna want to quit, and it's the people that push through those moments that get better. That's all. That's all it is.

Do you still have those moments where you want to quit guitar? Oh my god? Are you kidding? Like I love tennis and I was watching tennis and I was I was, I was angry. I was like, the number one tennis player has a coach teaching him more stuff, even though he's number one. I would love a guitar teacher to get me over hurdles. I have weaknesses on guitar. I'm very slow musician. I'm not a studio musician. My ear is slow picking stuff up. I get like stage fright in playing music with the band or other people, and like stuff I won't know or just not doing stuff well. I'll rehearse the shit out of something so that I can perform it on stage where it looks like you can't imagine the person not belonging there, and I love that. I love that part of entertaining, But the unknown like scares me so like I'd love to strengthen that ability. I mean to come up with stuff for me, even like guitar parts I do on this album. I mean, I have to play so much bad stuff to find the good stuff, like embarrassingly, so you know, like for like hours and then sometimes it's quicker and sometimes it's not. But it's like it's hard for me to have that confidence to do it in other settings.

Do you have days then where it's like really working, like it almost comes scarily easy, Like ever? Nothing ever feels easy. But I definitely have days where I get enough confidence where I feel like maybe I'm not a mediocre piece of shit (laughs) like maybe I actually am. I remember turning I think it's to my wife and I was like after recording this and I was like, maybe I maybe I can. I know how to I know how to write a song or something like that. I kept saying, like I've done it this many times, like I got it. There's got to be something there, right? Yeah, it's hard to the creative world can be hard. You set your own boundaries and disciplines, and there's a lot of time to be just destructive, and it's a lot of times for my my that inner voice I've been working on for a long time. It's just we all everyone has their inner voice. Yeah, it's um it's a rough voice.

Your inter voice is rough? Yeah, yeah, so it's it can be hard sometimes sometimes. I mean, honestly, I do want to find someone to like help me get over some some hurdles. I'm not. I'm really good at being told what to do and I'll go do it, yeah, and do it. But if I have to like figure out, like it's like reading the instructions and like you tell me, if I do A B and C, I'll get to D. Then I'll do A B and C. But if I have to guess that A, B and C gets to D and two months have gone by and I haven't gone to D, yeah, am I doing it wrong? I don't. It's the same thing with food and working out. When someone told me what I had to do to achieve certain things that I wanted to and why it works, it's great. Yeah, I'll just follow what you're saying and I'll get to. But if I had did like guess, I'd probably give up because I wouldn't see the results. I would feel like I was doing it wrong.

Well, how did you early when you first picked up guitar, Like, how did you get through that? I don't know, that's a good question. Maybe early on was different because you're, well it's different and the same, so there was I was still pretty private about it. I wasn't like I had friends or people in my school who were like I play music or write songs and they'd play you their songs like I never did that. I wouldn't sit down and like play someone a bunch of my songs.

You weren't at like lunch playing- There’s people who were like, all right, I wrote this, and they’d do it like the what's it called? Let me remember… You'd have like…

The quad whatever. Yeah, school meetings and someone would be like-

Or the assembly! Yeah assembly! And this guy wants to play the song. Like that was not me, Like, not that I didn't want to be like that. It wasn't like I was like but I just like, yeah, I didn't feel confident like that. I was just like ugh.

And then you and then when you're not confident, the part of you was like fuck that kid. Yeah, of course. Well you kind of gauge. You're like does everyone. It's like it's good too because you're just like, what don't people like about it because he has confidence and able to do it. So what is rubbing the wrong way? And so you learned something from that? I don't know. I started playing it takes a while to get bar chords. I stuck with it. I really learned a lot. When I joined the band, I became like, I feel like I've discovered myself amongst the other four. They're all very talented and quick and intense. I really like discovered what I liked and who I was in playing with them and even in whatever songs that Julian write or parts that people had, or you know, learning to how you fit in. You know, you can play an A bar chord and there's like, you know, three or four other solid positions to play it in that are more exciting than that A bar chord. A bar chord works really well for a certain thing a riff is happening. But then I found like different inversions and I realized, like inversions change everything. Yeah, just opens up a whole new door. At first, it was just like a third over, like you know, like three to five one, and then piano inversions started coming in and then that's like where I am now. I feel like those different inversions allow me to they all come from being a little lazy that you don't have to move so much. Oh look this minor here, and then there's the progressions of guitar are all are all right there. So it's like I mean, not always, but it just it can lean itself to new new sounds and stuff like that. So like I think when I started, I didn't know what I was doing, not that anyone else in the band knew what we all kind of like discovered knowing that together. I remember early on though in LA and first hearing Guided By Voices and I was sixteen, and maybe it was like hearing that band that was like that, you said, how did you keep going? So I probably, you know, thirteen fourteen, maybe as young as twelve, learning stuff, but like not really committed. Fourteen fifteen you're more committed. You know, it's like ninth grade, you know, first getting stoned and life just changes and you hear music and you become a different person. Feels like overnight. You watch movies and you're like, these people are incredible the movie What am I doing? And I went to like a private school and just like everyone's so boring at no offense to people in my school. It was just like they're all so nice. I just mean, like, and the conversation was always just like college, married, make money, and so it just felt like there had to be more to it than that. And it all felt like so planned out. I just remember, like I at sixteen and then I Guided By Voices were like some a band where I heard and I know everyone talks about their low fidelity. I didn't listen to them like, oh this is low fidelity. I just heard amazing melodies and songs and like words and it hit me. It hit It was like visceral music that hit my gut, that made me feel different as a person, like I walked down the street with a different attitude. Yeah. And I think it's when you find stuff like that, you've feel like they're just game changers. You're like I was just like, “I will find a way. It doesn't matter, I don't need to be the kid at the assembly. I don't need to I'll find my way.”

Once you found Guided By Voices, did similar sounds continue to excite you or did you sort of go like you know, some people have an evolution where they discover something they're like, like Guided By voices, and then it's like, oh, like, well they liked you know, I don't know, Siouxsie and the Banshees or whatever, they will just keep going forward- No no I definitely found people like that. I had a close friend named Matt Rivetto who was like my slightly older and he was like my style and music like icon as you know. He was like eighteen, I was sixteen, and I just like looked up to him, like the coolest hair, dressed like these weird thrift suits, and I was just like, this guy's amazing, and yeah, he would show me stuff and like it was amazing to see like like The Modern Lovers. That band had the guitarist and keyboard in Talking Heads and the drummer in The Cars, you know, and so it's like and you just start you start going to that. You see Elvis Costello and then like Nick Lowe because he produced it, and you hear his songs and you're just like, oh wow, he was like such an interesting songwriter. And then those songs are similar to like Squeeze, but those early time with like Guided by Voices was probably like in that same world would be like Built to Spill, they were very moving for me. They covered Someday at Irving Plaza in like 2001 or 2002. We came to see them and they scribbled it from the set list. I mean, we didn't see it, and we're like, oh, it's so weird that they were scribbling. I know they get stoned and maybe they got weird. But but and then they covered it and it was like the best. You know, normally when someone covers a song, you're just like, thanks for ruining it. They did such an amazing job. It was like- I was like- Julian and I were like crying at the show. It was so good. But yeah, just an amazing band right with like songs. Yeah, who else was in there? I mean so many people, you know, The Cure, The Cars, The Beatles, The Stones. But I also grew up with like Phil Collins and Elton John when I was like nine ten. I loved I love those songs. So I bet part of me still has those like big eighties songs deep inside me. Like I don't find it cheesy. I think they're just like really good songs. Whitney Houston, like I just I'm just like man-

Are you Whitney fan? Yeah!

I love Whitney Houston man. Yeah, amazing voice, I mean, my god.

Amazing voice. And also like could go really big and like do like the I have an incredible voice thing. It could also just be sing a song straight and just fuck, you're so good you know? Yeah, no, just incredible. What else was around that time? I mean, you slowly build. I have like an encyclopedia of music. What's what's funny is that I got into music at different stages, right, Like I remember being like my early thirties and I got into the Misfits, and I feel like that's a band you find when you're like fifteen. Yeah, but like I feel like my fifteen was like thirty one. Like I was like late to the- honestly, I was late to the game. Like in my early thirties, I was like, oh, I need something like this in my set list when I play, I need some like aggression like that. And I spent like a whole record trying to find my own versions of it. It's so I didn't want to sound like the Misfits, but I just I liked the vibe that it was. It was coming off right, and I so I mean, it's it's funny to have that delay, because I did feel like that's something when you have like a teenage angst usually, and yeah, I had like an angst in my early thirties.

Sometimes I rediscover my teenage angst. I don't know why I was. I mean, I was listening to a lot of your solo records and a lot of Strokes stuff in the last few days, and then for some reason on the way here, I don't know if it was because of listening to you guys, your music or what? But I just was compelled to put on Black Sabbath, which you know. Oftentimes it just comes on and it's like cool, but actually put it on this time, and I was like fuck, I feel like yeah, I feel like fuck, fuck the world, you know, like? They’re such a cool, interesting band. I feel like sometimes their like logo or what people think they are because time has passed and people have been inspired by them. But they're a very melodic band. Yeah, and like this stuff is like not that distorted or dirty. It's like a very it's very straightforward. It's not theatrical. Maybe that's why it lasted. The test of time a little more because it's like and he has a very he discovered early on his voice right away, so as soon as you hear it, you're just like, it's a hook in itself. You know, even on a solo stuff, was Crazy Train?

Crazy train, Yeah, solo. Yeah, was that Randy Rhodes? My god, such a guitar player.

Such a good guitar player. I don't forget the leads so because sometimes when it's like so much fire, it's like cool, I know you play very fast, but just like the verse licks that he's doing in there, or like I mean like I could just listen to that and that would be enough. You'd be like, yeah, you have an amazing song. You don't need to play anything else. But yeah, I know he really got it. He knows his vocal sound.

It's funny, no one tried a lot of people copy Black Sabbath. Doesn't seem like anyone really tried to copy Ozzy’s thing. They did not, no.

Like that heavy guitar stuff with like Ozzy's… Ozzie sometimes sounds like you could be-I know but if you took away the head. Yeah exactly. Yeah, it doesn't like- That's where I feel like people got influenced by it, but then they took a part of it that I don't hear when I listen, when I listened to it.

Yeah, and even the drums. Like the drums are really loose, like they're cool, they're there's a lot of parts, but like it feels also loose and I don't know, like Jazzy, I guess, you know? Very cool, They're a very cool band I also got into later in life. Yeah, just that happens. Like I also like this, never a fan of Led Zeppelin.

To this day? Just doesn't move me.

Wow, no part of it? I mean, they're all amazing musicians. I'm not crazy, Yeah I'm not. It's just not something that I put on and I'm just like, yeah, it doesn't give meaning to me. I know, people away they're like, wow, really, I'm like, I know, I've tried. I almost feel-

Is there a part of it that you don't like? There's like when you hear it, you're like, oh fuck that annoys me or this- I'm not a huge fan of the vocals. I mean I think that all bands, even ones I don't they got some great songs and I listen to parts and like they have it, but as a whole, like I don't like put it. There's a few bands are like that. People are like blown away. I never really got into Pink Floyd. I love some of the guitar playing. Those are the solos. I would totally the bends, the literal bends that sounded like the Radiohead album, but like the way they would band or do something like, I would like, oh I like that, you know what I mean? Like, because I'm definitely one that just because I don't like something wouldn't mean I wouldn't reference a drum pattern from Led Zeppelin and be like, oh that's cool, let's do something like that. Yeah, I just they're just what I mean is don't like is like I never they never moved me like I was describing Guided By Voices where I was like it gave me attitude to walk around. I didn't. I never felt that I'm waiting. I'm still waiting for the day. The Smiths never got into them. Everyone's like, “wow, really?” Who's another one that everyone's kind of shocked by? Radiohead?

(Laughs) Fuck man! I love these takes. This is great! I know! Radiohead has amazing songs that I would listen to for sure, but I've never like put on one of their records and like-

Luxuriated in the sound? Yeah, Yeah, there's definitely songs where I'm like-

Is it the feeling? I honestly have no, I have no clue. You think I want to be outside? I want to be on the inside! It's to be super clear, I don't dislike all these bands are incredible.

It's just your takes! I would be honored to be in any of these bands or even come close as a musician. Nothing to do with that.

You don’t think you’re better than… I like parts and songs of theirs, all of it. It's just these are just it's funny that they're bands that have created something for other people that I didn't get that didn't happen to me yet. That's all. That's the only thing I'm saying. Like…

Did you hate the Misfits until you heard them? I didn't hate… wait. I didn't say I hated anyone! (Laughs)

Excuse me, excuse me I’m putting words- I hadn't heard of the Misfits. No, when I was a teenager, I didn't know them. I literally discovered them, “Like who is this band? This is amazing!”

What song? Do you remember what song it was? Uh Last Caress. And I was just like, how did I not know this? And then I proceeded to write like three or four demos that was like trying to be, I even covered that song live for a little bit. But no, I don't hate any of those bands that I said. I think they're all amazing.

Take that back, I don't- yeah yeah yeah it doesn't resonate. Yeah, And that doesn't like mean there's probably even other bands. There's bands I like, uh song from songs from them are amazing that I might have had moments with them. You can't have a moment with everything. And sometimes it's just like how, that's why reviewing a record is kind of funny, because you know, like how many times have you listened to your favorite songs And some days you're kind of like “huh”, and other days you're like you could be crying or like it's connected. You're in the matrix and you're like stopping the bullets.

Yeah. Yeah. And then there's there's there's there's groups that I dislike and songs that I songs at least that I intensely hate. But then almost while I hear that song coming through the window or something random, and I'm like, “fuck, that sounds really good.” It happened recently and I can't remember. I wish I could remember what song I was. And I was like “fuck do I like maybe I kind of like this?” “Do I like this now?” That's what I'm waiting for! That's what I'm, it's definitely come close on some of uh on some of those, they've all turned around a little bit, except for Led Zeppelin. (Laughs)

Are people tempted to try to turn you? Like play stuff, like “let me play you-” Like they're always so blown away. That's the last thing they would think that I would, I would say, And then some people are like, “you know what, I get it, I get it.” But still I want to make it super clear that I think they're amazing musicians. I feel like I'm going to get I'm just waiting for the hate I'm going to get on this. They're amazing musicians. Some amazing songs, I just mean, like the three hour show, some of the long jams, some of like the vibe they went for. Just it's not like what I'd want to play, you know what I mean? Like I'd rather like, I mean, look at my top songs over here.

Yeah what do you got, top songs? Like I'd rather put on Philip Glass String Quartet Number Three. Like I'd rather hear that!

We have to pause for another quick break and then we'll come back with the rest of my conversation with Albert Hammond Jr. We're back with Albert Hammond Jr.

Do you think your critical voice makes you better, like if you were being honest with yourself? I don't. It's the same way. I don't think, so people I think… I mean, it's fun to do drugs, but people do drugs in creating because it's like “I need to be like dark,” right? I think you do need your shadow and your dark side to create, but you don't need to do drugs or be angry or have that stuff to enter the shadow. I mean the shadow’s there all the time. (Laughs)

Yeah. You know what I mean? I think it's just embracing the shadow and like nurturing it and like sucking that creative. That's where, like, creation really is, in there. You know? Sometimes I actually feel I can- I feel like two different people, like how I live my life and then how I am when I create. It takes a second to get in. Like the guy who pays the bills or drives or you know, I like put stuff in my calendar, I'm organized. That guy is not the guy creating. You know. The guy creating is like more of a more of a mess.

Does one feel more like you? They both feel like me. But in fact I used always tell my therapist like I want to be like Indiana Jones, but part of me feels like Indiana Jones who's in the plastic box and the toy store. Like I'm doing it, but I'm not actually living it. That makes sense, Like I used to be worse and now I'm a little looser. But like I was like, like I need to somehow enjoy the process more than the end result. I notice it in like getting something ready in my house from moving. It's like you just want to get it done, but then when it's done, something else you have to do. You know what I mean. If you don't enjoy getting there, that's all you have is the getting there.

That's all we're all doing, always. And so when you think about the creative, like there's these two people. The person who pays bills and drives and puts stuff in your calendar, and then there's the creative person. The creative person or the person who's creating. Is that the same person that goes like on tour when you tour? No, No, the person on- maybe sometimes on stage you can get lost in it. But being on stage isn't like you know people like, “oh, I just got flow and I got caught into it.” At least for me, stage is like the way someone describes playing a tennis match, fucking nailing it, gonna beat this guy too. Just breathe. Just because you didn't do something right, you don't fall apart while looking like you belong there, never ever showing that. But so it's like this inner thing that's just like the amount of times I've had an amazing show has gone from like starts strong, I feel like I'm falling apart and I come back, and then something happens and you get lost, and then where you want to push the crowd away, they go, and then you're able to bring them back, and at the end you have more of them then when you started. So you feel like you did something right in there. That's usually like it's a whole show. It's like a whole experience. That's why you're so trained afterwards. It's like it's never just like “I went out there and did my thing.” I wish that sounds amazing. If doing your thing is a 90 minute movie, then yes, that's what happens with ups and downs and curveballs and like your show is like your whole mix and so like, and sometimes you're not this is more of what I'm doing solo stuff, but you're not at one hundred percent because you can't be. You're on tour. You're never going to be. It's about learning how to be at like seventy percent, but doing the show like you were at one hundred. And that's kind of like the secret to playing live music because it's never like you're at home. I meditated for three weeks, took the perfect shower and my hair is sitting just right. Let's just go do a show! It's like that, except the next day you have to do another one.

And you have to somehow get to the next one. You're just like yeah, especially on the solo stuff. You're just, you're tired. Nothing that you wanted to do has come out totally right.

Has your relationship with touring changed over time, like has it evolved? Is it like at first it was really fun and then it became a drag, and then it's fun again. It’s always fun! It’s never, I'm not jaded enough to not enjoy my life. I felt like I was built to be a part of a traveling circus. Like I do love it in many ways, you are going to not like things that you love at some point, inevitable. Still has been moments where like, I love music and I would write songs and record them even if I didn't play music anymore, because I just can't. It's just I just do it. I don't like “I'm gonna sit and write”, they just like come out, right? I don't think I could stop that. But I've been moments where I've been like, man, imagine if I like what, didn't play music or something like that. So but I don't like dislike tour, and I've learned that the longer you do it- it's different solo and The Strokes. The luxury is that we have a big fan base, and so like it's more comfortable to tour. It's cool to reach new areas you haven't even though you've been doing it for twenty years, and also when you've been doing it that much. The high isn't so much from playing a new song and having no one know it. The high is like watching how people are absorbing stuff that you know well and that they know, and then feeding off of that energy. Playing a song that is clearly making a crowd all feel nostalgic. How could that, if that's jading you, then I don't know, you gotta go do something. Because that's like, that's a magical thing. I feel lucky. I wanted to be part of that fabric when I was a teenager and I fell in love with music, and now to even have glimpses of being part of that fabric is um. Yeah, it's unreal.

It's really cool that you can have that perspective on it while doing- it's like you still maintain the fan perspective in a way. I feel like you have to, though. I was saying that it's like your innocence from it is going to get beaten out pretty fast, just by the game you have to play. All business is a game, right, and then when you fall in love with music, you have no idea what that game is. But it's not what you think it is, and it's not for the love of it. You know this, you know this stuff that you have to this stuff you have to do. But that's that's okay if you get to like create and do other things. I use to think everything has a price. At some point, small, big, very rarely is that I create something so magical that there isn't- there's still even when you do that, there's still some price somewhere. You know? Maybe you get tired of doing it, so you have to rediscover how to not feel tired from it.

Yeah. How much input do you have on planning a tour? Like you get to like say, like “I don't really want to go there,” or do like a festival? Like in my solo stuff or The Strokes stuff?

I guess both? Yeah, I mean, touring wise, I would say Julian has the most say. I would say most singers have the most say about it. Unfortunately that's kind of like or fortunately whatever that's like, that's that's part of it. I mean, I like festivals as like a cherry, you know. To me, they're like they're fun when you're doing your own thing, and then you get to do them because they're like this crazy thing. When you just do them, it can get dark because it's how you have to look at it. Like a festival crowd. You're going to play a certain kind of setlist. You get 75 minutes. You're gonna play a setlist that appeals more to a mass. You're not really gonna take them too far. It's too big. That's not the point of it. Yeah, that's not the vibe of the party. Yeah, but it's not like a Andy Warhol party and there's a bunch of weird people invited. It's like a very you know, it's it just it is what it is. Yeah. And then at your own show, you could have a little run of two or three songs that you're almost purposely pushing people away to then bring them back, or like this is where it's going to dip down, and then we can wrap it back up at the end and you can do something that you can play some weirder songs for you or do something and go, you can do a jam. You can just have more fun with it. So I think when you're doing that, eventually, like I said, with anything becomes boring. And so playing the straight ahead thing for the giant audience, you're like, “wow, I just played for sixty thousand people. What a rush!” So that variety it's helpful. So I always just trying to say, you're touring, I always try to like want to have that balanced. But between management and you know, they figure it out well. My stuff is different. It's like I'd like to tour places, but it's unfortunately. This is what I try to do on this record. It was to have less of a band and have more stuff on tracks and create. Since I'm not a band, I can create a weird world of like a three piece band with tracks and just have it be like weird or weirder than less straightforward than just having like I've always had just players play everything. I was just trying to be able to afford to go on tour. It's very hard. And sometimes people are like “why don't you come here or come there?” It's like I always debate how to talk about this because it's not it's not like it's not a complaint. It's more just like realities of like the band never feels stable enough to just sit there and enjoy. Like I never feel like “ah,” I never sigh. It's always like “hold your breath.” That's not negative, positive. It's just like my personality's reaction to this thing I exist in. The business, right? You can't- like you realize that touring in some ways is a luxury. Which is great. You're a band that has an audience, like you'd be grateful. Yeah, because that's like, and you can if you can then make money from that, that's an amazing gift. There’s bands that would want to do that, and it's just like can't.

I mean, I'd imagine people could understand because even if you work a regular job, you have to take a business trip, you know, if the money's not right. It's like it's always someone else paying. Musicians, like actors, have businesses like we are the business. Yeah, even at the highest level, like who's the biggest… they gross crazy amounts. The Stones, right? They're still paying themselves. They might get in advance from a big company and stuff like that to advance it, but they're still at a loss for like 6-8 months of that touring, even though like they're like the biggest band. There's no like, but when they make a movie, the actors, the directors, they're not at a loss. It's just the big company paying for it. So it feels a little a little different than that in that way. I mean, maybe that's what makes musicians a little cooler than actors. Sorry, guys (laughs) Just gonna get outside here and just have a line of actors, “I heard what you said, and I'm mildly offended.” Mildly Offended: The Albert Hammond Jr Story.

A lot of people mad at you. Thanks For Nothing: The Albert Hammond Jr story. (Laughs) That was fun, man. I appreciate it.

I appreciate you. Thank you for the years of music. Thanks!

And the new solo record, can't wait to hear the second half. Oh man, I can't wait to just have it out!

Thanks to Albert Hammond Jr for chatting about his new double album Melodies on Hiatus. You can hear it along with all of our favorite songs from him and Strokes on a playlist at BrokenRecordPodcast.com

Interview: Albert Hammond Jr (Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond)

Albert Hammond Jr. first rose to prominence as the lead guitarist of The Strokes—a band at the forefront of New York City’s indie rock renaissance in the early aughts. In 2007 Albert Hammond Jr. launched his solo career, putting his songwriting and abilities as a frontman to the test. He’s now released five albums, including, Melodies On Hiatus, which came out just a couple months ago. It’s a double album that he co-wrote with Canadian singer Simon Wilcox, and features collaborations with GoldLink and Matt Helders from the Arctic Monkeys.

On today’s episode, Albert Hammond Jr. and Justin Richmond talk about how he was dramatically impacted by his parents’ recent divorce, despite the fact that he’s in his early 40’s. Albert also reminisces about his past life as a champion roller skater who was once scouted by Kristi Yamaguchi’s Olympic ice skating coach. And he explains why he’d never been a fan of Radiohead or Led Zeppelin.

#albert hammond jr #melodies on hiatus #interview: podcast #audio transcription #ahjdaily says: Sorry for any errors. He talks very much like a person from California.

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