The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen: Music Saved My Life Once Again
The Pretty Reckless were on top the world in the spring of 2017. Their third album Who You Selling For had come out a few months prior, and they were on tour with Soundgarden — one of their biggest influences. Three years and several tragedies later, the band is back with a new single "Death By Rock and Roll" and an album on the way, which Taylor Momsen describes as a rebirth for them.
Right at the end of their tour supporting Soundgarden, Chris Cornell was found dead in his hotel room in Detroit. Just under a year later, Kato Khandwala — the producer who had worked with the band since 2010 — died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
"This [new] record was me starting to come out of that. I went down for a while there," the singer admitted in an interview with Loudwire Nights. "This record, when I started writing that, was the start of me going on an upswing and really needing to get back in the studio and make music again."
"Music for me has always been the thing that's been my salvation, it's always been the thing that I can do in my bedroom and helps me stay sane," she continued. "So I turned to music again, and it once again saved my life. It really brought me back to life again."
Part of that "upswing" was when Momsen got to fly to Seattle and record a song at London Bridge Studio with none other than Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden. "We have this tune for this record — that I can't really talk too much about because it's not out — but it was just begging for Soundgarden, it was a Soundgarden-type tune," she explained.
Recording at London Bridge Studio, where albums such as Alice in Chains' Facelift, Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam's Ten were made, was quite the experience for the vocalist. And to top it off, she says the song is one of her favorites on the record.
"Actually getting to go to Seattle and spend some time there and get to be a tourist for a minute and record in such an iconic city, in such an iconic studio with the guys in those bands that made those records was such a highlight in that record and in my life."
To hear more details about the band's upcoming album Death By Rock and Roll, listen to the full interview above.
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