Black Pumas – Adrian Discusses Chronicles Of A Diamond: Interview

Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas chatted at length to The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda about the Grammy-nominated band’s new album, Chronicles Of A Diamond.

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Or, read a transcript of the interview here:

MD: So you’ve got this new album out Chronicles Of A Diamond. And it’s been out for a week or so now. So I’m curious just to kick things off, it’s the second album for Black Pumas, obviously, you’ve been involved in other stuff previously to this, but I’m wondering how different it was doing album number two to album number one for you and Eric (Burton), together. Did you feel pressured…because the first one went over pretty well…and you’ve got expectations associated with that?

AQ: Yeah, absolutely. There was absolutely zero pressure when we made the first one because we weren’t even a band yet, and nor are we did we have much of a plan or intentions to really do what we’re doing now. So, you know, we made it and we made it kind of for fun, and we just wanted something that we liked so there was zero expectations when we made that. Obviously, the main differences that there was huge expectations this time around. I think the pressure in a way, it was kind of good for us, it made us really focus and realize that we had to make something better than the first one, but at the same time, not make it because of any other pressure other than, make something that we really liked, which is what worked on the first one. So, you know, there were days that the pressure felt a little more intense than others. But I think overall, the pressure was a crucial part of what we did here.

MD: Okay, so when you say you realize it needed to be better than the first album, it’s not like you were slightly slacking off on the first album, most people liked it and I don’t think you were thinking at the time that you could have done better, so what do you have to do to mentally get your self prepared to be better on the second album?

AQ: You know, a lot of it was there was a particular concept and kind of sonic palette on the first one and really challenge ourselves to get out of that and, you know, just not repeat that, you know, which is we knew that’s a formula that would work because that’s what worked on the first one, but just wouldn’t have any artistic merit if we just stuck to that same formula. So that was one thing for sure. We also just kind of didn’t know each other in 2017. We had just met and immediately started recording, and this time around, we’ve just been through so much together, we know our strengths and weaknesses. This time around, Eric had a lot of input, a big hand in the co-production of the album, not only has he been our primary songwriter, he really had these really cool sonic ideas with which to build songs off of. In addition to the songwriting that I think made it, and put us in a position right away to be making something different from the first album.

MD: Right, so how did you feel about that being used mostly as the producer on the first album, which Eric was kind of interested in? Did you appreciate the help, or were you kind of thinking oh, he’s honing in on my territory here?

AQ: Honestly, as a producer, my main thing is to make the best album possible so it’s less about myself and my ego, than it is about making just the best piece of music we can make. There was at first just a little bit of getting used to somebody in that lane with me, but as soon as we started to kind of see the music that he was bringing in and the the concepts, like I was very ready to welcome whatever was going to make the best album.

MD: And then you brought in John Congleton to help out on a few tracks. So what was what brought that on?

AQ: So Congleton came on at the end, we were kind of hitting crunch time, we were getting some deadlines. You know, we wanted it to be released this year, we had to kind of meet some deadlines and Eric was still tweaking some lyrics and some vocal stuff so he went out and worked with John Congleton as a vocal producer. So his role was more kind of helping Eric finish the final vocals and lyrics simultaneously. I took our hard drive, and we divided and conquered he went and worked with Congleton on on the final vocal tracks and I went down to Mexico City and really spent a few days just completely immersed finessing just about every sound on the album to kind of make everything unique, but also make it a cohesive piece of music.

MD: Alrighty, I just wanted to touch on some sonic things that I’ve heard since I’m talking to you, and you’re the the chief producer on the tune Hello. There’s kind of this swirly…I don’t know what to call it…thing at the end of the track, what’s going on there? How would you describe it and explain it?

AQ: I remember Eric had had an idea when he was writing those vocals, he called it a super chorus. He’s like, “I hear this super chorus at the end”. Originally, it was just him singing a few vocals and kind of layering them. But we ended up adding our backup singers, Lauen (Cervantes) and  Angela (Randall Miller). Then from there, I just felt like we really had to step that up and we brought in some more voices on that and just kept layering and layering it until it really felt, you know, almost like going to church.

MD: Right. It almost sounded like there was like some phasing going on or something. I’m not sure if that’s right?

AQ: Something that I had wanted to do that I imagined, the song kind of fading out like that. I told our mixing engineer Shawn Everett, my concept for that and that was his take on it. It was a little different from what I had originally heard, but I loved everything Shawn brought to the table.

MD: It’s followed by a tune called Sauvignon, which to me sounds very Curtis Mayfield, kind of a Super Fly vibe going on that one. What can you tell me about how that came together?

AQ: Yeah, Sauvignon was a song that that I liked because it was written on tour. It was kind of a demo I was kicking around and I remember we were in Germany somewhere and I had a little portable recording setup, we all huddled into my hotel room. A lot of what you hear, the initial ideas that we recorded that day made it all the way to the final track. We ended up re-recording some of it just for a better quality recording, but yeah, we were kind of huddled around in my hotel room making that little demo and then we continued the next day into a dressing room. I don’t remember where it was in Germany and yeah, that one made the cut and we ended up kind of bringing it to life. I know Eric wrote those lyrics I believe, while on a, ‘literally’ he says while on the ferry in Europe.

MD: I like the lyric about the Black Puma code. Not sure what that is?

AQ: I don’t know what that is either. That’s, that’s an Eric question.

MD: And is the guitar solo yours in that?

AQ: Yes, yes. That’s me on guitar.

MD: So guitar wise, who do you draw from? Probably some Prince, I’m guessing, but who else?

AQ: You know, I’m a big fan of rhythm guitar. I feel like that’s kind of my specialty. Obviously, you know, Prince was an incredible guitarist. There’s the obvious ones, Prince, Jimi Hendrix. Grant Green was a big influence on me, but I’m more of a rhythm player. I like Nile Rodgers and Jimmy Nolan from James Brown. Cornell Dupree, who played on a lot of classic soul records is a big influence. Probably my biggest influence, particularly for melodic and solo content is George Harrison.

MD: Okay, there you go. I’ve been reading a lot about George lately. He’s been getting some love in the in the socials was his son’s doing some stuff. So that’s probably making people think of him for a bit. But yeah, he’s always been the third Beatle hasn’t he?

AQ: Yeah, exactly. Not to me, but yeah, but most people Yeah.

MD: All righty, so the album kicks off with More Than A Love Song, which has a video, as does actually the first three or four tracks. So visually, who’s behind the video production and how you manage to translate them into YouTube fodder?

AQ: A lot of our video concepts either come from, you know, usually come from the directors, but we’d like…sometimes our label or our management presents us a few options. If we don’t have the idea we pick from there and, you know, usually entertain some of their concepts and just give them some feedback.

MD: Right. Are there things you won’t do or want to do in videos that you haven’t or had to do?

AQ: You know, I’m usually a cameo in the videos. Eric is very camera friendly. So I’m more of the guy who comes in and plays a mechanic for five seconds. But we’ve been having fun and worked with a lot of incredible directors.

MD: Have you ever worked as a mechanic in real life?

AQ: I did job training when I was in high school for a summer working, in my dad’s trucking company. My friends tease me big time about that cameo as a mechanic but they don’t know that I did sort of learn that summer.

MD: Excellent, and you have a tune called and Mrs. Postman, which was co-written by a guy named JaRon Marshall, who I’m not familiar with. So you can enlighten me there. And there’s some nice piano in there too.

AQ: JaRon is our keyboard player and has been steadily for a few years now. So when we started working with him, I guess it was 2018. We used to get together like afternoons and kind of just make like these little hip hop beat instrumentals for fun. That was one that was born out of that. I love it, because it’s just a different melodic and cordial approach from something Eric and I would do. That was just one that, rose to the top. Eric wrote something, a really clever little play on words with Mrs. Postman and that was one that we’ve had the benefit of playing live for a few years, we’re able to see audiences react to it. That was one of our only times riding with somebody else and outside person.

MD: So how important is audience reaction? Do you do road test these tunes?

AQ: Usually we’re  able to on this album on a handful of them, probably, I’d say, for three or four of them. We didn’t have that on the first album, because we weren’t a band yet when we made it. That influenced a little bit for the arrangements this time around, for sure. As you know, seeing, these sections, the songs sort of like take on a new life after you’re playing them every night for a few months, they start to kind of morph into something else. Those little parts of the arrangement that we brought back into the studio we definitely utilize.

MD: Right. So speaking of live shows, I think you finally have some coming up. You’re doing something on the second of November. I’m not sure what that is, if it’s a radio thing, or a show, and then some dates in December. So how do these tracks…have you thought about how you’re going to present these live?

AQ: Yeah, we actually we rehearsed last night. We’ve rehearsed them this week, and last week as well. We’re finally, starting to wrap our heads around how to present, how to pull this off live, because a lot of these were recorded in the studio, but never really played live. We’ve been having a blast, learning and adapting them to the live band.

MD: So what’s the biggest challenge of taking it from the studio to the stage?

AQ: The biggest challenge I’d say is when in the studio, particularly on this album, we really use the studio as a tool, as an instrument, you know, where we didn’t set limitations on factoring in how to perform it. Versus the first album, which was a very specific palette that was very much tied to the live band. This time around, we kind of went like, just kind of crazy on some songs in the studio. So like having to be able to pull those things off without hiring 40 more musicians has been a little bit of a challenge, but it’s been a really fun one.

MD: Okay, all right, just to wrap things up, I’m kind of curious as to how the relationship between you and Eric has either changed, stayed the same or evolved over the course of these two albums from the beginning, back in what 2018 or so 2017  until now.

AQ: Yeah, it’s evolved greatly, like I said, we just didn’t even really know each other in 2017, it was a purely musical meeting that he who was very fresh and young, and at this point, we’ve been through a lot of things together, not just musical, but just life. That happens when you’re spending this much time working with somebody else. And the bond is, is a lot stronger. Also we realize this time around that we don’t have time to waste. So it’s like, if somebody wasn’t, into idea or was really into an idea, we were able to speak up and, and really be sincere about how we felt about certain things, which I think just comes with time. The first album was more like a handshake and this one is fully being, you know, musical partners for this.

MD: Gotcha. All right. That’s cool. So you’re thinking about number three yet?

AQ: Not quite yet. Right now, the immediate focus is our live show.

MD: Fair enough. All right. Well, hopefully you guys can figure out a way to come down to this part of the world and spread the love, if you will. We would love that. All right. In the meantime, thank you very much for spending time talking to me, I appreciate it.

AQ: Thank you, man.

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