![\"Nate-Ruess---Main-Press-Photo---Credit-Norman-Seeff\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Nate-Ruess-Main-Press-Photo-Credit-Norman-Seeff.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nAfter nearly three years of supporting Some Nights<\/i>\u2014the platinum-selling, 2012 breakthrough album by his Grammy-winning band fun.\u2014Nate Ruess was feeling good. So good, in fact, he opted to temporarily step away from the trio and go solo. It was a bold move for the singer-songwriter, but it\u2019s paying off. His album, Grand Romantic<\/i>\u2014a fittingly titled set of massive-sounding earworms partially inspired by his romance with designer Charlotte Ronson\u2014features guest turns from Beck and Wilco\u2019s Jeff Tweedy. It also boasts the same infectious melodies and pop-rock pomposity that made fun. tunes like \u201cWe Are Young\u201d and \u201cCarry On\u201d such smashes.<\/p>\n
\nHow\u2019s it feel to be a solo artist?<\/b><\/p>\n
Sometimes it\u2019s strange to not be in a band. But I\u2019ve been having a blast. There are perks to not being in a band\u2014like having complete creative control. You don\u2019t have to worry about the other people\u2019s schedules, or even having to have a conversation about the music. It\u2019s not like it\u2019s ever been a problem in the bands I\u2019ve been in\u2014I\u2019ve been very lucky with people\u2014but at the same time, there\u2019s something nice about total freedom.<\/p>\n
\nThis record reflects your happiness.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
When you think about being happy, you think about puppy dogs, roses and whatnot. My favorite happy song of all time is \u201cMint Car\u201d by the Cure. When I make mix CDs or mixtapes or playlists for people, I always find myself looking for those songs that are sheer joy. I wanted to explore that on this album. I\u2019d never done that before, and I\u2019m proud of it. I don\u2019t think I crossed that scary line of being too overjoyed. You never want to feel braggy about it, either. As a songwriter, I\u2019m not out to be like, \u201cLook at me. I\u2019m so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nYour music reflects a mix of genres.<\/b><\/p>\n
As soon as the iPod existed, it changed the way we had access to everything. Growing up, I was an alternative kid, and then a punk-rock kid, then indie rock. It was one kind\u2014or nothing. Having an iPod offered access to everything. You\u2019re not stuck with your collection of metal CDs, or whatever it may be. And as a songwriter, anything can get me.<\/p>\n
\nBeck also embraces different styles.<\/b><\/p>\n
Beck is one of the pioneers of that whole \u201cscrew the genre\u201d approach. He does a great job of shape-shifting throughout the albums, which is fantastic. It\u2019s not something I\u2019m equipped to do. His references are amazing. That\u2019s what I look for in anyone I\u2019m making music with\u2014the references. You can\u2019t create something unless you have the ability to look back and appreciate it.
\nHow did Jeff develop his guitar solo?<\/b><\/p>\n
I think he had read an article where I\u2019d said my favorite Wilco song was \u201cMore Like the Moon.\u201d It has a classical guitar solo at three different times in the song, and it\u2019s always like a three-minute solo. He knew the era of Wilco that I was particularly looking for in the song\u2014and he was able to channel that. That\u2019s probably my favorite moment on the album.<\/p>\n
\nA glockenspiel in \u201cYou Light My Fire\u201d?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
That was the culmination of a whole bunch of different glockenspiels and xylophones. I decided I wanted to do something slightly Dire Straits-y. I was just getting ready to go into the studio\u2014seriously, I was getting dressed\u2014and I wrote the entire track, riff, everything, in like two seconds. That\u2019s always a great sign when something just comes, and you\u2019re able to put it all together in two seconds.<\/p>\n
\u2013Kenneth Partridge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NATE RUESS His latest project proves that going solo is fun, too\u00a0 After nearly three years of supporting Some Nights\u2014the platinum-selling, 2012 breakthrough album by his Grammy-winning band fun.\u2014Nate Ruess was feeling good. So good, in fact, he opted to temporarily step away from the trio and go solo. It was a bold move for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[7784,7696],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15521,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15519\/revisions\/15521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}