As Greg Dulli was parked outside of a grocery store, mxdwn had the absolute pleasure of interviewing the earthy Afghan Whigs musician about the band’s newest album: How Do You Burn?. Although Dulli has lost some good friends and band members, he is still thankful for the talented roster of friends he can bring in on his work, with many being featured on the new album. It felt like talking to an old friend throughout the interview, which speaks volumes about his character. He praises everyone around him in this interview and How Do You Burn? is a blessing for all music fans.
mxdwn: I understand COVID played a role in canceling your solo tour, but were there any other factors that helped push that decision and move towards focusing on Afghans?
Greg Dulli: Well honestly—and I’ve said this before—making a solo album wasn’t some burning desire for me. I write all the songs in my bands, but the rest of the Afghan Whigs were all busy doing other things and were going to be busy for the foreseeable future. And I was like, well, I want something to do, so I made a solo album and was gonna go on tour. That said, once my solo tour was canceled and it became obvious that it wasn’t going to be rescheduled in any kind of quick fashion, I immediately turned my attention to making a new Afghan Whigs record.
mxdwn: That’s understandable. This is Afghan Whig’s first album since Dave Rosser passed. Was it difficult completing this album without him present?
GD: It’s difficult in life to not have him around. He was one of my best friends, one of our best friends. So just the friendship angle alone is like, you miss it. But the show must go on and he would be the first one to tell you that. We went on. When we made that record with him he was too sick to tour it. We had to tour it without him, that’s just life.
mxdwn: How was the process of making this record different than previous ones?
GD: Well, we had never made one during a viral pandemic, so that was the first way it was different. I had, in the past, sent tracks to people in other states but never to the scale of this particular situation. But it was cool because three of us were in California, so we were able to build a foundation. From there, we sent it off to the three other states, in the case of backing singers living in the other states. It was honestly cool because we were making the foundation live back in California and then they were just adding to it and then we were able to mix. So, honestly, it wasn’t any kind of hardship or chore. It was just different and you adapt or you get left behind, and I never get left behind {laughs}.
mxdwn: I love it. Great mentality. What elements has new member Christopher Thorn added to Afghan Whigs?
GD: I mean he’s been my friend for years, and I’ve been a fan of his guitar playing since he was in Blind Melon. Everybody’s different, like I use the example of The Rolling Stones. They have had three lead guitar players and each one brought their own unique sound to the band and it helped change it up. So Christopher is just an incredible guitar player, an even better person, just such a cool hang, it’s been seamless.
mxdwn: I’m happy to hear that. On this record you collaborated with Mark Lanegan, who’s no stranger to you. How was that?
GD: Well, I didn’t know that I was collaborating with him for the last time. So, looking back now, it’s bittersweet. Mark passed away in February, so I won’t get to record with him again. I played in his band, he played in the Twilight Singers with me. We formed The Gutter Twins together. I have a long rich history with him, and he was like a brother to me. Also with Dave Rosser: a Gutter Twin and Twilight singer. So having those two guys not around it’s—you know—I’ll miss them both forever. But all of the guests we had were old friends who came back: Van Hunt, Susan Marshall, Marcy Mays, Ed Harcourt, Mark Lanegan. These are all my friends, all people I’ve recorded and performed with, so just an extended family. Eric Gorfain who plays violin on “The Getaway,” I had recorded with him, I don’t know, 15 years ago. So I just brought in my talented friends and people that I’ve collaborated with before in the past. So again, a seamless situation when you know someone and they know you, it’s an easy working situation. We wanted to get this done in a reasonable fashion so we could be ready for the moment that we could tour again. That’s what everybody brought to that, the ease of the situation.
mxdwn: I’m so sorry about those losses, but like you said, life is life.
GD: The same end awaits us all. It’s what you do with it while you’re still upright and I’ll go on until I see them again.
mxdwn: Like you said, he was a friend and a collaborator, but not many people knew him personally. Do you have anything to say about Mark as a person and working with him in that respect?
GD: Mark was one of the funniest people I ever met, one of the sweetest and kindest and most thoughtful people I ever met. Mark had a persona. He had squinty eyes, Clint Eastwood, kind of like he was intimidating to people. He was a fucking pussycat, one of the nicest people I ever knew. So funny, goofy even, easily one of the greatest singers who has ever lived. And people are like, oh he is one of the great voices of his generation, and I’m like- that motherfucker is one of the greatest voices of any generation. Every night I got to sing with him on stage there was always like a little bit of awe because he had perfect pitch. It was effortless. He just sang like some people drink water. Just one of the best friends that I’ll ever have.
mxdwn: Between your collaborations, Twilight Singers and The Gutter Twins, how does it feel now to look back on all the memories and music created with Mark Lanegan?
GD: I went around the world with them, you know, I don’t know six times we played around probably 400 shows together. You double that with days off and stuff like that, so I spent from 2006 to 2010 with him almost every day for four years. We had a 22-year friendship, but that four-year period where we were together all the time, I’ll never forget that. We had movies, basketball games, dinners, just going to the beach. He was like the brother I never had. I had some of the greatest times of my life with Mark and am just grateful to have known him. He made my life so much better by knowing him and I’ll think about him forever.
mxdwn: I love hearing that. Susan Marshall sang on the album 1965. What led you to bring her on for “Catch a Colt?”
GD: I needed that wail. I needed the thing she does. I was listening to the song and I’m like- I need Susan, I know exactly what I need and I called her and I played it for her and she said, oh yeah, no problem. Then she did it. Susan, Marcy, Van, Ed, Mark, I know all of these great singers and to be able to hear it in my head and know that all I have to do is call or text that person and I’ll have it probably within five hours, I’m a very lucky fella.
mxdwn: That’s extremely special. Did you know when you wrote “Domino + Jimmy” that you wanted Marcy Mays featured on it?
GD: I wrote it for Marcy to sing with me. I literally wrote it for her. So, yes. {laughs} The simple answer to that is yes, I did.
mxdwn: You worked with Van Hunt for the songs “Jyja” and “Take Me There.” What did he add to those songs?
GD: I’ll tell you the best way I could tell you that is if you took him off the songs, they would be completely different songs. He made them both better. There’s no one like him. He’s one of those people I call a stacker: you ask him to do a backing vocal on it and he’ll send you like 40 tracks back and you go through and you decide to just use all 40 instead of one, because it’s almost operatic. He turned “Take Me There” into a gospel song. I did not know it was going to be a gospel song, but once he sent it to me, I was like—good Lord—I have to use all of these. There’s nobody like Van, you listen to his music and you can kind of say, oh he sounds a little like this, he sounds a little like that, but no one sounds like Van Hunt and no one does what Van Hunt does. He is an original, he has a singular talent, and I’m lucky to know him and I’m lucky to be able to call him up and have him make my songs better.
mxdwn: Do you plan on making more music for The Twilight Singers?
GD: I don’t know about that. I’m not gonna say that I won’t. We are in the process of doing a box set and I’m hastening the production of that right now. In these supply chain days that we’re in, vinyl is a hot commodity and you have to kind of get in line. So, I want it to be out by next year, I think it will be. As far as new music from The Twilight Singers, I never say never. I said I’d never put The Afghan Whigs back together {laughs} and look, I’m talking to you right now about the new Afghan Whigs record, so I’m just gonna shut the fuck up as far as that stuff goes.
mxdwn: Well, I’m looking forward to that box set. Is there anything else you want to add about this record?
GD: It was enormously fun to make. We have 50 shows left on the tour this year and I can’t wait to see how the new material begins to—I mean, we’ve already done 15 shows so I already know how it goes—but we’re gonna begin to introduce more of the new material into the show. I’m just excited to be playing live again, you know what I mean? We were all kind of stuck in home prison for two years and it’s cool to get out and play music for people again, for them and for me and going to shows too. It’s great to go out and watch live music again. It’s fantastic. So you don’t know what you got until it’s gone.
Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna, Raymond Flotat
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