Recording Sessions for Kings of Leon's New Album Riddled with Practical Jokes

Recording Sessions for Kings of Leon’s New Album Riddled with Practical Jokes

2013-08-30

Story by Cat Badra

Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill says the band had a blast recording their upcoming album, ‘Mechanical Bull’

King of Leon will release their latest full-length, “Mechanical Bull,” on Sept. 24, and drummer drummer Nathan Followill says recording the album was all fun and games. “This record was so much fun to make,” Nathan told Rolling Stone. “We spent 80 percent of the time playing practical jokes and 20 percent getting work done.”

He says that laidback recording process resulted in a very free, loose-sounding record. As for a few of the choice tunes, he said, “‘Family Tree’ is a song that sounds like we picked up our instruments and went with a groove, and that’s pretty much exactly how it happened. ‘Don’t Matter’ was one of the last ones we recorded. It literally was written that day in about 15 minutes.”

For those who worried about Kings of Leon’s future during the band’s recent hiatus, Nathan says the guys knew the band was strong.

“People ask us that and if you ask any one of us, we’d say, ‘No way,’” he said. “That wasn’t a thought in any of our minds. We all knew we needed a break, but we knew it wasn’t over.”

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Cat Badra

Meet the expert - Cat Badra is a music writer for Audio Ink Radio and a range of other music, sports and lifestyle publications. She's a graduate of Michigan State University with a master's degree in theater and speech. Contact her at cat@audioinkradio.com.