J Mascis: "I don't have that harmony mind"

“I felt it would sound different. If I wanted to put drums on it, I'd probably want to put more guitars and it would end up sounding the same as all the other stuff.” J Mascis is discussing the implications of his decision to record his first studio solo album in the absence of any percussive accompaniment. The record, Several Shades Of Why, is a predominately acoustic affair which is a world away from the feedback and distortion heavy output he is renowned for as the lynchpin of legendary alt-rockers Dinosaur Jr. (and a variety of other bands).

Mascis claims the reason behind this stylistic volte-face is down to encouragement from his record label, Sub Pop, and the desire within himself “to do something that doesn't sound exactly the same as all the other stuff. I put a lot of limitations on myself to make sure that it sounded different. Along with the no drums policy, I only played acoustic guitars. Sometimes through fuzz, but it was still an acoustic.”

Despite the stripped down premise, Mascis still approached the project with a few tricks up his sleeve – namely the involvement of several high-profile and accomplished collaborators. Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell, A Silver Mt. Zion’s Sophie Trudeau and troubadour du jour Kurt Vile all make appearances along the way, even if those contributions, as with the album itself, are subtly understated.

"I didn't really tell them much what to do, just whatever they wanted and I just picked parts of it that I wanted to use," he says, using typical brevity to explain the whole choreographical process. Despite the seemingly minimalist interventions of this roster of stars, Mascis is adament that the record would not be what it is without their interventions. "Having other people's perspectives, adding things, gave it another dimension. These guys brought their personalities and their atmospheres. It wouldn't sound the way it does if I had done it by myself."

Pressed on what precisely he couldn't have done if he had adopted a more solitary approach, Mascis leaps on to one specific example. "I'm not very good at harmonies, I prefer to leave it to other people. Ben and Kevin Drew did a lot of that on the album. For some reason I can't seem to grasp the concept; I just end up singing the same thing. The same note, maybe a different octave. I don't have that harmony mind, whatever that is."