Last year Portland neo-psychedelic legends The Dandy Warhols celebrated their 30th anniversary. After spending much of the year touring their 12th studio LP, ROCKMAKER, they celebrated their third full decade together with a string of West Coast dates last December. “All of them were super fun… We did multiple nights in smaller venues in Los Angeles and San Francisco… as frustrating as little stages can be, there’s something about that energy,” Dandy Warhols guitarist and co-founder Peter Holmström tells me during a recent phone chat.
However, just last month The Dandy Warhols celebrated the 30th anniversary of their full-length debut, Dandys Rule OK. “It holds up to me quite well, surprisingly well… It doesn’t bug me in any way. Listening back, I’m surprised that that’s our first record,” Holmström jokes about LP #1, which features setlist mainstay “Ride” and “The Dandy Warhols’ T.V. Theme Song,” which earned the band some major mainstream exposure.
“We created that first record at the top end of our abilities, and stretched over a meager – it was either $3,000 or $5,000 – budget to create it… It was just all incredibly exciting because it was all incredibly new to me. This was my first real band. I mean, I’d been in some high school bands, but that’s different… It was amazing! We got songs on MTV, videos on MTV, going to Europe. I was always like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening!’ It was nonstop for a few years.”
Over the years, The Dandy Warhols’ catalogue has boasted a pretty impressive collection of guest appearances and collaborations, including Anton Newcombe of longtime peers and Dig! co-stars The Brian Jonestown Massacre, several members of Duran Duran (Nick Rhodes co-produced 2003’s Welcome to the Monkey House, which also features Nile Rodgers and Parker Posey!), Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell on …Earth to the Dandy Warhols…‘ “Love Song,” and David J, but ROCKMAKER might feature the most legendary lineup of featured artists yet, including Pixies’ Frank Black/Black Francis, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, and Slash, who appears on the album’s third single, “I’d Like to Help You with Your Problem.”
“Unfortunately, these days, we weren’t in the studio with him,” Holmström confesses of their collaboration with the Guns N’ Roses guitarist, but admits that just getting to send him something and have him send back a guitar part was beyond thrilling for The Dandys: “He sent us something that’s undeniably Slash, which is what we wanted… We’d get super excited and dance around and have a party.” Holmström also admits that these kinds of long-distance collaborations have just kind of become the norm at this point: “Things are so different these days. With ProTools, [music’s] more constructed than written. It just changes.”
This method, however, seems to be what, in part, earned Holmström his first official co-producing credit for ROCKMAKER: “Because of the pandemic, it was [Dandys frontman] Courtney [Taylor-Taylor] and I in the studio alone… It was the first time I co-wrote more than half of the album, so I had a lot more at stake. I had kind of stepped away from bringing ideas in on the last couple releases, just because people weren’t interested [laughs].” However, he also tells me that production duties tend to be a little more complicated than liner notes often suggest: “It’s one of those things, it’s tricky with interband politics and relationships. We’ve all been kind of producing ourselves the whole time.”
Last month The Dandy Warhols announced the ROCK REMAKER EP, a collection of ROCKMAKER remixes, which drops this Friday, May 16th, and features remixes courtesy of the likes of Ride’s Andy Bell, Night Club, and A Place To Bury Strangers. And Holmström says that the band is already working on the follow-up album, in addition to some vinyl releases. But The Dandy Warhols are currently in the middle of an East Coast jaunt that will have them returning to Ardmore Music Hall this Wednesday, May 14th. I’m curious if these dates might feature any additional material from Dandys Rule OK (recent setlists have generally not included more than one track), considering its recent anniversary, and Peter seemed quite receptive to the idea: “I’m glad you mentioned that, so I will bring it up when we start rehearsals… We’re trying to get a few more songs from ROCKMAKER on it, and now I’m gonna try to get a few more Rule OK songs into the set!” Update: The first three dates have each featured four tracks from the debut LP. You’re welcome…
*Get your tickets here.
**Full disclosure, it was actually my friends Eric and Janet that asked me to suggest more songs from Dandys Rule OK, so make sure to thank them!
