The War On Drugs – Hangin’ Out For Harvest

Here’s some wicked news if you are a guitarist and love Philadelphia psych-rockers The War On Drugs: frontman Adam Granduciel wants you to own the band’s sound.

In the midst of a discussion on all things merchandise, Granduciel tells me the ultimate item he would love to put on the band’s merch desk would be a special effects box containing the band’s distinctive sounds.

“I reckon it would be cool if we could make four great pedals – and then you could buy The War On Drugs sound,” he said.

“Either that or I’d love to have our own basketball singlet.”

Basketball already has somewhat of a presence in the band’s merch stocks – a T-shirt containing a new take on the NBA logo has proven to be a popular buy.

“Someone made it for us as a joke – it’s got the logo of the NBA but with my silhouette instead of the real logo,” Granduciel said.

“And then my dad made some hats for us eight months ago, but we don’t really sell them any more cause they are hilariously ugly.

“But the fact he made them and went out of his way for us was good.”

And depending on how well the items sell at Lollapalooza in Chicago this weekend, fans should be able to get their hands on The War On Drugs’ unique T-shirts and other merch when they come to Australia in November for Harvest Festival.

It’s the band’s first visit to our shores, and Granduciel can’t contain his excitement.

“I have never been more excited for a trip than I am for October/November – because we have Japan first and then Australia,” he said.

“Our bass player Dave lived in Brisbane about eight or nine years ago, so he can’t wait to see his friends and he’s told me heaps of great places.”

“It’s going to be really awesome and it’s an honour to be asked to come all the way down there.”

Granduciel said the band’s set will be “stretched-out” as much as possible and will feature plenty of material from their acclaimed new album Slave Ambient.

“Hopefully we can stretch it out, in the club shows we will play for 2 hours sometimes, whereas with festivals we’ve been changing up our sets,” he said.

“It’s just the four of us but we get really into it, we’ve grown so much as players over the last few years… we’ve taken recorded versions of stuff to another level.”

And if you’re lucky, you might just find Granduciel and his bandmates standing next to you in the mosh pit watching other bands on the bill such as Beck, Sigur Ros and Ben Folds Five.

“I’ll definitely be hanging out at the festival, walking through the crowd and watching through the bands,” he said.

“It’s not every day you get to come to Australia so you don’t want to spend time hanging in the trailer.”

The War On Drugs play at the Harvest Festival in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in November. For tickets, dates and more information, click here.

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