J Mascis on The Rolling Stones guitarist he emulates the most
For his work in Dinosaur Jr, sometimes it seems like J Mascis is playing the role of multiple guitarists. While Murph and Lou Barlow hold down the low end, Mascis frequently switches between lead and rhythm parts throughout his playing, often using a blast of distortion to kick off the space he’s about to leave while switching between the two.
In that respect, he’s not that different from Keith Richards. Instead of sticking to a distinct lead or rhythm approach, Richards prefers his “guitar weaving” technique that he first approached with Brian Jones and later perfected with Ronnie Wood. The main difference is that Richards has another guitar player to make that weave possible, while J Mascis is in charge of threading his own parts in and out of each other.
Like any good 1970s kid, Mascis was exposed to the art of the weave through Rolling Stones records. But his preference actually came at a time when the Stones had a more direct delineation of duties: Keith Richards on rhythm and Mick Taylor on lead. When asked by Guitar Player to name some of his biggest influences, Mascis opted to keep the pair together on his list.
“I have to keep these two together because what they did together was so great,” Mascis claimed. “The Stones are very different from Dinosaur Jr., but I love them. Mick’s melodic style against Keith’s more stripped-down, bluesy approach is a guitar sound that I’ve always considered magical. The way Mick would play lead and his note choices influenced me. And his melodies and ideas always struck me as very cool. As with Keith, his rhythm playing is always so locked in.”
“When I started playing with other guitarists, I noticed that I tended to look at rhythm more like Keith, where I was locked into the beat and taking a lot of time to observe the other guitarists I was playing with,” he added.
It might not seem like a completely natural comparison, but there’s enough Rolling Stones DNA in songs like ‘Freak Scene’ and ‘The Wagon’ to understand Mascis’ love for the Stones. He’s almost like if Keith Richards, Bob Mould, and Jimi Hendrix came together and bought 40 Mashall stacks. Mascis would eventually craft his own unique sound, but the influence of those players can be felt, rather than directly heard, in just about everything Mascis does.
Check out ‘The Wagon’ down below.
