The War on Drugs comes to Milwaukee this weekend. But , don't worry, you don't have to flush anything. The War on Drugs that arrives on Saturday, Aug. 27 is a Philly band that plays at Club Garibaldi on the tour for its latest disc, "Slave Ambient," issued by Secretly Canadian Records.
Adam Granduciel formed the band with Kurt Vile a couple years after landing in Philly from his native Oakland. Bassist Dave Hartley was there from the early days, too.
The band turned heads with its first full-length, "Wagonwheel Blues" in 2008 and the 2010 "Future Weather" EP.
But "Slave Ambient" straddles the old and the new, and often layers a melodic roots rock sound with an ethereal sound that gives it a grand, sometimes distant, feel.
But all that space doesn't obscure Granduciel's classic rock and roll voice and the quality of the band's songs. And the band slithers around genres to prevent being pigeonholed. "Your Love is Calling My Name" is a frenetic post-punk number and "The Animator" and "Come For It" are instrumental pieces with a cinematic air.
I got a chance to ask the Adam and Dave a few questions via e-mail and they responded while riding in their van up to a couple New York gigs. Here is what they had to say about the band, the new record and Milwaukee (I've learned it ALWAYS pays to ask about Milwaukee):
OnMilwaukee.com: Although there was the EP in between, it's been three years since "Wagonwheel Blues." Did the change in personnel contribute to the amount of time between the records? Was there a period of kind of re-grouping?
David Hartley: I don't think it was regrouping, so much as grouping. The band was a pretty loose thing in the early stages but through years of touring things started to take shape.
Adam Granduciel: Not really. Everyone was touring in their own way, either with The Drugs, or Kurt or Nightlands. Obviously the album is really intense and making it was an intense process. I was constantly working and tweaking and I didn't feel there was any rush to finish it – so it took a while.
OMC: Although you wrote the bulk of "Wagonwheel Blues," Kurt did contribute to a handful of songs. Did his departure change the way you write?
AG: Its like anything, friends contribute to recordings and ideas. Kurt did some beautiful stuff on the first album and played some sweet guitar licks on the new one, but they've always been my tunes either way. Now Robbie (Bennett) and Steve (Urgo) and Dave are super involved and putting their own spin on things, which is awesome and irreplaceable in it's own way.
OMC: I love the mood, the ethereal quality that "Slave Ambient" has. Was that a sound you heard in your head and wanted to capture as you were prepping and then tracking or was it born more during the mix
AG: A little of both, I guess. I tend to fiddle endlessly, waiting to get the right feeling or vibe from the songs. I guess I know what I want the spirit to be, or not be, but sometimes I don't know how I'm going to get there or what it will specifically sound like. I also like to honor the accidents that happen with analog recording and layering.
OMC: Have you tried to capture that same sound and vibe when you play the songs onstage or do you just plug in and rock and roll and not worry much about that?
AG: We try to definitely have fun and rock out, of course, but not worry too much about recreating the exact layers and sounds while honoring the albums. We don't want to be held captive by a laptop; everybody can play their instrument, so we just dig in and explore the tunes.
OMC: What can we expect when you guys play at Club Garibaldi – a focus on the new record or maybe more of a "career retrospective"?
AG: We'll do most of the new record and some classics from "Wagonwheel" and "Future Weather" ... maybe a Roxy Music or "Evening Star" (Robert Fripp and Brian Eno) cover.
OMC: Has the band ever been to Milwaukee before? Any thoughts on the city?
DH: I have played Milwaukee a couple of times but never with The Drugs. The first time my old, old band was terribly miss-booked at this massive, gothy Rock Fest. We were ruthlessly heckled and basically got chased out of there. That being said, it's a beautiful city and I've subsequently had some great musical experiences there.
AG: I've never been to Milwaukee but my sister lives there and I'm excited for her to show me around.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
