Not As Much Goes Into A J Mascis Guitar Solo As You Might Think

It’s the dichotomy in sound between volume and nuance which has, and seemingly always will, defined the solo career of J Mascis since he dropped his first acoustic statement Martin & Me back in 1996 (that album a re-imagining of some of his existing songs plus some well-chosen covers, the titular Martin being his trusty acoustic guitar).

Usually found dwarfed by a huge Marshall stack in his day job fronting Dinosaur Jr, his most recent run of solo albums – Several Shades Of Why (2011), Tied To A Star (2014) and, most recently, last year’s Elastic Days – have found Mascis embracing space, subtlety and restraint to great effect, adding a whole new dimension to the canon of this already revered guitarist.

Elastic Days finds the veteran rocker melding acoustic and electric guitars into a perfect union, the resultant tracks still rocking at times but stripped back to magnify the already prevalent emotions, proving in the process that Mascis can fingerpick as well as he shreds.

“It’s just playing acoustic guitar and trying to write songs, although it’s definitely a different mindset and a different theme,” he shrugs of these recent solo forays. “It’s all fine when I’m making the records, and I like playing live, but playing acoustic live is harder because I’ve got to do everything myself and it feels like it takes more energy just to keep everything going to try to entertain people with less noise. It’s a weird feeling being up there by yourself.”

Mascis played basically every instrument himself on Elastic Days, and admits that not having to explain the music he concocts to bandmates is a major advantage of going it alone.

“Yeah, it’s definitely easier not to have to deal with that aspect of it,” he continues. “It’s more difficult touring and playing on your own, but I guess it’s easier when you’re actually in the process of making the record.”

One aspect of the process he relished was getting back behind the drumkit, having started his life as a drummer before gradually moving forward into the spotlight.

“Yeah, I don’t have to think about what [Dinosaur Jr drummer] Murph could or couldn’t play and tailor anything to his style,” Mascis says of drumming on his own songs. “I’m usually writing for the specific album that I’m doing at the time, so I’m thinking about the different things that I need for those songs.

“Plus it all kinda depends on what I’ve been listening to in the lead up to an album – I’m sure there’s always something I’ve been into for every album. I was into this [UK rocker] Terry Reid video on YouTube where it’s like acoustic and then there’s this drummer and a bass player and the drummer’s doing a lot of rimshots – I kinda liked that sound, so I was thinking a bit about that sometimes; acoustic and drums with rimshots.”

"It’s a cool feeling when you channel a good one though, it’s a great way to express myself.”

Obviously different instruments are tracked at different times in the studio, but Mascis claims not to have any trouble flitting back and forth between instruments as is required when doing it all yourself.

“It’s not that hard,” he offers. “I just find myself with the drums taking things out – I tend to play a lot more fills and stuff and then I listen back to it and feel like it’s all too much for this song, so I’m always taking out things and making it a little more simpler than I would play it initially. It’s all to suit the music.”

Despite it’s inherently quieter nature there are still guitar solos sprinkled liberally throughout Elastic Days, although they have a more contemplative feel than their rowdier Dinosaur Jr counterparts.

“They’re all just kind of captured completely in the moment,” he reflects on what drives a given solo. “I don’t practice any solos, so it’s just whatever I play at that time. It’s a cool feeling when you channel a good one though, it’s a great way to express myself.”

Another way Mascis expresses himself throughout Elastic Days is via his increasingly focussed vocals, his singing far less mumbled than often heard in Dinosaur Jr. This, in turn, allows more emphasis to be placed on his lyrics, although the man himself attests that writing the words isn’t his favourite part of the creative process.

“I don’t not enjoy it, I just would never do it unless I had to sing something,” he admits of his attitude towards lyrics. “I don’t sit around writing poetry or anything so in that way it’s quite strange – I just do it when I need the lyrics.

“The words usually come pretty easily to me, but I have a time limit where I’ll do the best I can in a night or something. Then I’ll just keep rewriting it even when I’m singing in the studio – some things just don’t sound great when you’re singing them, even if they sound fine when you wrote them – so I’m just constantly rewriting it until the recording is finished.

“It’s fine, it’s just part of being a songwriter, just part of the territory as far as I’m concerned.”