WHEN J MASCIS HUNKERED down at his own Bisquiteen Studio in Amherst, Massachusetts, to begin work on his new and fourth studio solo album, it was with the intention of approaching it much like he had the previous three — as a largely acoustic affair, with unplugged guitars functioning as the primary support to his lead vocals.
But something happened during the making of what became his latest release, What Do We Do Now (Sub Pop): Mascis found himself, as usual, strumming plenty of acoustics, but he also added drums, keys, pedal steel and electric guitars — lots of electric guitars, in fact.
What sparked the change? As Mascis explains in his characteristically blunt manner, nothing, really. “I was trying to do just acoustic,” he says over Zoom late one afternoon, “but then I just started playing drums.” When it came to guitar solos, he continues,
