Tonight, the bassist from The War on Drugs and now mastermind of Nightlands will perform tonight at Ace of Cups with a full band. I briefly spoke with David Hartley, before his dinner date with his parents and hometown performance, about his future with The War on Drugs, sex, and the unfortunate cancellation of his European tour.
Briana Henry: I recently read in an article that you said “performing is like sex”, what do you mean by that? Do you have certain moves you do during or is it all improvisational?
David Hartley: It’s because ya’ know, you have to be focused, but in the moment. It’s not an analytical thing, and I consider myself to be quite analytical.
BH: Where did the concept/idea for “I Fell in Love with a Feeling” come from?
DH: It’s funny. I wrote that song about flossing my cat’s teeth and just wrote it as a joke, and it got the song was stuck in my head. I changed the lyrics, of course, but it comes from the perspective of a casual coke user. It’s about the drug and party scene in Philly that’s sort of a DJ stereotype.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsYWxIVwmTs
BH: I saw that you are going on tour in Europe, what are your plans after? Anything with The War on Drugs?
DH: Oh, I cancelled the European tour. I fell in love with my band and I don’t was to half-ass it. And we (The War on Drugs) are working on an album. It’s like a masterpiece. Seriously, a masterpiece. I can’t wait.
Catch Nightlands tonight at Ace of Cups tonight for $8, with mighty support from Bummers and Tin Armor.