Photo courtesy of BB Gun Press
Albert Hammond Jr., best known as the stylish guitarist from rock band The Strokes, has been thinking about the creation of life lately.
Over the past few years, he has often listened to Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot speech:
“…Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot…”
And from that, he says, “It was a gut feeling, and I just knew that 'Momentary Masters' was going to be the title of my next album. Listening to the speech gives me great peace, and I just got started thinking about how we have to create our own meaning during the time we have in this life.”
Hammond Jr. describes himself as a late bloomer, saying that Momentary Masters, to be released July 31, is the strongest indication of who he is as an artist. Hammond Jr. says, “I sort of wish this was my debut album at 19 years old, but the thing is, if I had to go through everything I did in order to get to this point, I would do it all again in a heartbeat.”
At 15 years old, while attending the prestigious Swiss boarding school Institut Le Rosey, Hammond Jr. started making demos and creating half-finished songs. Even after he met Julian Casablancas and became part of The Strokes, the goal of completing his songs and creating a final product of his own stuck with him.
Hammond Jr. says, “I was always shy and couldn’t face certain parts of the process. When I finally finished a song, it quickly became an album, and then I had this thing that I was happy with and could be judged on. And once you’re judged on something, you can grow.”
Since that first album, Yours to Keep, Hammond Jr. suffered with drug addiction, during which time, he created his second album, ¿Cómo Te Llama?, which he describes as “thick like syrup.” He plans on rearranging some of the songs from this second album for live shows because “there’s definitely good material there,” he says.
Hammond Jr. created the EP AHJ while in rehab. After he was released and went on tour, he found a new band in what he calls, “a new discipline and a new thought process.”
“I didn’t need to pretend to be other things in order to be okay with myself,” Hammond Jr. says, “and then I got excited to start playing new songs with these guys I’d found on tour. I really wanted this new record to establish myself as an artist.”
Hammond Jr.’s classic pop-synth rock sound runs true in the new album, especially in lead single, “Born Slippy,” but the lyrical focus is at a new level. With inspiration from confessional poet Anne Sexton and philosophical readings on one’s shadow, Hammond Jr. has crafted song lyrics to explore the duality of man.
“Your adult person who understands things like time and money, and the person who creates things just aren’t the same," Hammond Jr. explains. "My wife holds down a strong foundation for me so that I can let go and become childlike.”
It’s been several years since Hammond Jr. has been in St. Louis, and he's looking forward to the opportunity to perform songs off the new album in a festival environment.
“With festivals,” he says, “there's usually less of an up-and-down storyline and more of a slow curve just all the way up. The entertainment has to be a little quicker with such a large mass of people—but I’m hoping that people who have a good time will be interested to hear what I have to say.”
Albert Hammond, Jr. performs Saturday, September 12 at 8 p.m. For more information, visit loufest.com.
