The Super High Quality Podcast

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of The War On Drugs' Lost In The Dream, we've put together a special long-form episode of The Super High Quality Podcast to tell the behind-the-scenes story of how the record was made.   Between sessions in Hoboken and North Carolina, Adam Granduciel worked regularly with engineer Jeff Zeigler in Philly adding "paint" to a collection of songs that would be widely hailed as the band's first masterpiece on its release in March 2014.  As the band struggled against the repetition and inevitable distractions of working close to home with local friends and collaborators, as the recordings took shape, Adam  was simultaneously struggling with the unpredictability of his own mental health.  In candid conversations with the key players, and using previously unheard early mixes and demos, we'll follow the work in progress from the first sessions in early 2013 through the late summer and early fall when the songs  took their final form during mixing.  We'll also ride shotgun with Adam on his  journey home from the mastering studio to the shoulder of I-95 in a fitting conclusion to the making of Lost In The Dream."One of 2014's Truly great records.  The perfect American road trip"  - NME"The War On Drugs make archetypal road trip music.  Shimmering, steady, gritty as pavement and open as the sky." - Rolling StoneHost: Dominic EastGuests: Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Dusdin Condren

To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of The War On Drugs' 2014 album, Lost In The Dream, we've put together a special episode of the SHQ Podcast to tell the behind the scenes story of what it took to make the album.   The full episode will be available on March 25th.

After a handful of North American festival dates in August, The War On Drugs headed out for their final run of shows in September and October 2022.   As the band continued to refine their performances, the tour moved east to west, north to south across the US and Canada, and finally back to Austin TX where the tour had started in early January.  An extraordinary and unbelievably rewarding year of touring finally concluded with a final show on Mt Tamalpais just north of San Francisco in late October.  Having weathered the Covid storm as well as a city-closing blizzard in January and a show-cancelling hurricane in September, and with 23 more shows in the bag, in this final episode, the band and crew take a last look at a year on the road like no other.Host: Dominic EastGuests: Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Anthony LaMarca, Jon Natchez, Eliza Hardy-JonesCameos: Josh Goldsmith, Ben Silverstein, Matthew Walsh, Jimmy Russo

After returning to the US in late April 2022, The War On Drugs took a short break berore heading back out on an intense 7-week tour that took the band to Mexico, across the US, and back to Europe.  After a massive show with The Strokes in Mexico City, the band returned to the US for a tour that concluded at Bonnaroo in June.  They made a quick turnaround, and headed back to Europe for a show opening for The Rolling Stones in London, as well as run of mostly festival dates across Europe.  Despite a Covid outbreak that took down 3 members of the tour party simultaneously, the band and crew rallied to support each other once more, and by the time they returned to the States in early July, they'd successfully crushed another 28 shows.Host: Dominic EastGuests: Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Anthony LaMarca, Jon Natchez, Eliza Hardy-Jones, Craig McQuiston

Following their 6-week run of shows across the US in January and February, The War On Drugs headed to Finland in mid-March 2022 to begin 6 weeks of shows across Europe.   As one of the first international bands to tour overseas as pandemic-restrictions lifted, the band performed their epic full-production shows to enthusiastic audiences in 11 countries between March and April.   The band recorded more Covid cases, but each time a band member went down, as had happened on their US tour earlier in the year, someone else stepped in to keep the show on the road.  After 19 shows, the band played 2 final sold-out arena shows in the Netherlands and Belgium to cap-off an amazing and eventful run. Host: Dominic EastGuests: Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Anthony LaMarca, Jon Natchez, Eliza Hardy-Jones, Craig McQuiston

In January 2022, The War On Drugs kicked off a world tour in support of their latest album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore.  At a time when there weren’t a lot of bands on the road as pandemic restrictions eased, TWOD packed multiple road cases with PPE and Covid tests, and headed to Austin TX to begin a six week tour of the US.  After the 4th show, singer/guitarist Adam Granduciel tested positive for Covid, shows were cancelled, and the band and crew found themselves quarantined in North Little Rock AR, uncertain of the tour's fate.  However, with Adam back to full health, the tour resumed, and in spite of additional sicknesses and some very unforgiving winter weather, the band completed the first leg of the tour in Phoenix AZ 28 shows later.Host: Dominic EastGuests: Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Anthony LaMarca, Jon Natchez, Eliza Hardy-Jones, Craig McQuiston.Cameos: Josh Goldsmith, Jimmy Russo

The War On Drugs have just announced a series of sold-out “Drugcember” benefit shows to take place on December 19, 20, and 21st at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia.  Proceeds from the shows will benefit The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, a nonprofit that coordinates investment into the Philadelphia public schools.  Adam and Dominic talk about the upcoming Drugcember shows, the band’s deep connection to Johnny Brenda’s, and their plans for a new season of the podcast to be released in 2023 chronicling the events of their 2022 tour.

After 18 months apart, The War On Drugs were finally able to reconvene in person in the summer of 2021 ahead of their first scheduled live performances of the songs from their new album I Don’t Live Here Anymore.  How does a band articulate the uniquely abstract collage of a studio album crafted partially in isolation during the pandemic?  How will it feel to finally play music together in the same room?   Who will play the cowbell l at the end of “I Don’t Wanna Wait”?  We look for answers in the final installment of our deep dive inside the making of IDLHA.Host: Dominic EastGuests: Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Anthony LaMarca, Jon Natchez

No one has been as instrumental in crafting the sound of The War On Drugs’ last two albums as Shawn Everett, the multi-Grammy-winner who has formed a remarkable studio partnership with band leader Adam Granduciel.  Perfectly suited to handle all manner of explorations, detours, and deadline elasticity, Shawn and the band talk about their collective dedication to the process of making records, and the many ways their process informs the decisions and revisions it took to craft the final versions of the songs on I Don’t Live Here Anymore.  Host: Dominic EastGuests: Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Anthony LaMarca, Jon Natchez, Shawn Everett

Over the course of recording I Don’t Live Here Anymore, The War On Drugs continued their obsessive exploration of the recording process in sessions at some of NY and LA’s most prestigious studios.  One standout session was the three weeks the band and an extended circle of collaborators and friends, spent at Hollywood’s Electro Vox in the spring of 2019.  A favorite of the band because it provides access to an outrageous palette of gear that playfully challenged the group’s experimental side, the Vox session was the center point of the IDLHA recordings.  In this episode, the band revisits the keeper takes, wrong turns and discoveries that helped inch the songs closer toward completion.  In addition to the 6 band members, guitarist Michael Bloch joins the conversation as the guys re-live the highlights of those memorable weeks at Vox.  Host: Dominic EastGuests: Adam Granduciel, Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Anthony LaMarca, Jon Natchez, Michael Bloch