SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Making music can be both a team or a solo sport. When Will Anderson created Hotline TNT, he toured with a group of musicians, but he wrote the songs himself.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WAS I WRONG?")
HOTLINE TNT: (Singing) Was I wrong?
SIMON: On the new album "Raspberry Moon," Hotline TNT turned from a solo project into a full band.
WILL ANDERSON: This album is the first time that we had four people who have been touring in the band for the last year and a half who all played on the album. And we left a lot of time in the studio to transform the songs into something that I don't think would have happened if it was just me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WAS I WRONG?")
HOTLINE TNT: (Singing) Answered as soon as I knew hard truth.
SIMON: Anderson told us how his songs transformed once the band got into the studio together.
ANDERSON: I think one song in particular that really changed was the first song on the album, which is called "Was I Wrong?" I had the structure kind of mapped out myself, which is how I always used to do it, had the demo ready to go and figured we'd just bang it out in the studio. But then Haylen, our bass player, said, like, I think we got to add some extra flavor, something special to this song. And he said, let's cut out the drums for the entire intro of the song. So it was, like, a long - I think, like, it's, like, a minute, minute and a half where there's just guitar and voice, and it's kind of like an extended intro. I never would have had that idea, and I give the flowers to Haylen for coming up with that part.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WAS I WRONG?")
HOTLINE TNT: (Singing) Was I wrong, or did you sing my song? You hummed along.
ANDERSON: For years now, the kind of bendy, warbly loud guitar has always been a fixture in my music, both in this band and my previous bands. Just sounds cool. And I think other people think it sounds cool. It also looks cool when you kind of bend your guitar, and I've always thought that looking cool is one of the most important parts of being in a rock band.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY")
HOTLINE TNT: (Singing) Either way - my insecurity...
ANDERSON: The feedback is a tricky subject because it feels a little weird, like, kind of like studio magic to put the feedback as, like, a voice or a character in some of the songs. But feedback is just another crucial element of the song. And, you know, there's songs like "Dance The Night Away." After the first chorus, the drums cut out again, and there's, like, kind of a loud feedback section, which - we just had to record a layer of feedback with nothing else.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY")
HOTLINE TNT: (Singing) I wanna say a hundred times a day, I love your face when you sway.
ANDERSON: There are never enough layers of guitar, even with this record. Like, I think it's probably a little bit more stripped back than if I was doing things the way I did in the past. Like, the first album, there was probably, like, no less than 12 guitar tracks on every song. And I think we're down to about six or seven, maybe eight, per song.
(SOUNDBITE OF HOTLINE TNT SONG, "JULIA'S WAR")
ANDERSON: I think I'm learning as I get older that, like, you can make a huge sound with less. You can do less with more. But even when you're playing the exact same part with, like, just slightly different tone, I think that makes a really cool effect with the wall of sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JULIA'S WAR")
HOTLINE TNT: (Singing) Julia, tread the water. I won't make you break the law.
ANDERSON: This album is finding me in my life at a point when I'm in a really solid and happy relationship. And I feel like I just - it would have been weird to keep writing songs about getting dumped or dumping other people because it hasn't happened to me in a while - knock on wood. And if things go my way, it'll never happen again.
(SOUNDBITE OF HOTLINE TNT SONG, "CANDLE")
ANDERSON: That doesn't mean I'll never write another sad song, but there's absolutely, like, a bunch of poems and odes to my girlfriend. And songs like "Candle" just kind of flowed out pretty easily once we started courting each other.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CANDLE")
HOTLINE TNT: (Singing) Mark my page, words I can't erase.
ANDERSON: My inspiration for the songs comes from all over the place. A lot of it is real-life experiences and, you know, things like having a crush on somebody or getting my heart shattered by somebody. But as I've continued my career, I have found myself experimenting a little bit more with, like, whose voice I'm stepping into, and I think I'm doing that a bit more as I keep writing albums.
SIMON: Will Anderson of the band Hotline TNT. Their new album "Raspberry Moon" is out now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CANDLE")
HOTLINE TNT: (Singing) Get butterflies. Never dare to tell you what to wear. I'm not scared. We'll find new things to share. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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