Artist Interview: Albert Hammond Jr.
LMF: With the July release of Momentary Masters, you’re three LPs into a solo career. Does it feel like you are hitting your stride and achieving what you’d like to with this endeavor?
Albert Hammond Jr.: It feels like I’m just starting, but then again things are forever changing so who knows.
LMF: How was making Momentary Masters different than making your preceding two full-lengths?
AHJ: Having a band in the studio.
LMF: You helped define the Strokes’ sound, so it makes sense that those sensibilities would be present in your solo work, but beyond that, can you give us some examples of musical points of reference that differentiate your new album?
AHJ: Bowie, Talking Heads, the Beatles, Guided by Voices.
LMF: I’m drawn to that lyric: “Exits, you’re just another entry.” Thinking about an “exit” from a building as an “entrance” to the outside world. How important do you think the language we use is when we conceive the world around us?
AHJ: Language is very important. That what I’m trying to say in “Touché.” “I write to you/with the words of few/they have mastered the use/of the language we use.” That’s my biggest worry when I’m trying to express myself. That I haven’t found the right words.
LMF: That’s a pretty rad jumpsuit you’re wearing in the video for “Losing Touch.” First, where’d you get that? Second, if I need to write a high school English class essay about the jumpsuit, can you give me some pointers on its symbolism?
AHJ: Workmans store online. Hahaha it’s symbolically one.
LMF: In general, is Momentary Masters about maintaining perspective?
AHJ: I say many things in the album. Perspective is definitely something I try to hold on to. You are what you perceive.
