FEATURE > DUFF McKAGAN
We didn’t set out to make a
concept record, and we weren’t
even cognizant at the time that
we were writing songs about the
relationship dissolving. But after
we wrote 11 or 12 tunes, we
saw that our observations ended
up in most of the songs—all the
heartbreak, the deceit, and the
anger. In other words, it wasn’t
necessarily a cool and carefully
thought-out concept record like
the one Mastodon did based on
Moby-Dick [2004’s Leviathan],
but one that came after the fact.
What was the writing process
like?
It was mostly done on the road,
which is one of the best places
to write: You’re not in a room
somewhere alone—you’re with
your bandmates in a bus, fueled
by caffeine, testosterone, and
adrenaline. It’s kind of chaotic
being in such close quarters
with other dudes, and with us
there’s a sort of rub—sometimes
I don’t get along with Mike,
because we’re both kind of
hardheaded. Not that I go out
of my way to create friction,
but the energy and tension can
translate to some killer songs.
You worked with Terry Date on
the record. How did that come
about and what was it like?
Terry and I are both from
I have some really great older guitars that I
don’t want to talk about because I don’t want
people to know I’ve got them—they’re just
too valuable. Let’s just say that I have some
solidbody Gibsons that are older than me.
bones of the song to present to
everyone else for input. In the
end, everything seemed to come
together magically.
Did you write your songs on
guitar or bass?
I write on guitar and always
have—since even the days
Seattle, and although we
have many mutual friends
and sometimes see each other
at the Sea Tac airport, we’d
never even been to a barbecue
together before The Taking. In
preparation for the album, we
recorded a bunch of complete
demos in Isaac’s studio. Terry
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