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Afghan Whigs Credit: Orlando Perkins<\/p>\nAfghan Whigs Credit: Orlando Perkins<\/p>\n
At the tender age of 4, Greg Dulli bought his first record, the Jackson 5 single \u201cI Want You Back.\u201d Little did he know the song would find its way back to him more than two decades later, this time as a building block for one of the Afghan Whigs\u2019 most recognizable tracks.<\/p>\n
On \u201cDebonair,\u201d from the band\u2019s 1993 album Gentlemen, Dulli married the Motown classic with the eerie opening chords of the title theme to David Lynch\u2019s Twin Peaks. An unlikely combination, certainly, but one that captures the musical imagination responsible for making the Cincinnati group one of alternative rock\u2019s most distinctive (and combustible) acts.<\/p>\n
It was hardly an isolated experiment. The Afghan Whigs built a reputation for putting their own spin on familiar material, whether covering TLC\u2019s \u201cCreep\u201d or reworking the Supremes\u2019 \u201cMy World Is Empty Without You\u201d over the bassline of Hall & Oates\u2019 \u201cManeater.\u201d For Dulli, the boundaries separating rock, soul and R&B were never particularly rigid.<\/p>\n
While the band shared space on indie label Sub Pop\u2019s roster with the likes of Nirvana and Soundgarden during the 1990s, their musical vocabulary stretched well beyond the grunge movement surrounding it. The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Al Green and the Supremes were just as influential as the band\u2019s alternative-rock contemporaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a compilation of our memories,\u201d Dulli tells Orlando Weekly ahead of the Afghan Whigs\u2019 Nov. 4 performance at the Beacham.<\/p>\n
For the frontman, those memories begin with the records he grew up listening to with his mother, who was still a teenager when he was born. Her appreciation for soul music helped establish a foundation that would follow him from his childhood home in Ohio to stages around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up and listening to music with my mother, who was a teenager when I was born, I will never forget that,\u201d Dulli recalls.<\/p>\n
He remembers not only the music, but his mother\u2019s encouragement to pursue whatever made him happy. Decades later, those early influences remain inseparable from his creative instincts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey never go away,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if they ever did, I would be so fucking sad.\u201d<\/p>\n
That attachment to the past hasn\u2019t prevented Dulli from embracing the present. His appetite for discovering and interpreting other artists\u2019 work continues to extend across generations, with the Afghan Whigs\u2019 live performances often making room for unexpected covers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m constantly covering my contemporaries and people much younger than me,\u201d he explains. \u201cIf you\u2019ve given me something that inspired me and I want to sing your song, I\u2019m gonna do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And after 40 years, the band\u2019s appetite for exploring its own sound hasn\u2019t diminished, either.<\/p>\n
The Afghan Whigs\u2019 latest album, Soft Control, released in August through Royal Cream\/BMG, found the group continuing to expand upon an identity established decades ago. Their 10th studio release, and fourth since reuniting in 2012, pulls from the familiar sonic intersectionality while reflecting a more seasoned perspective on the passage of time.<\/p>\n
The band\u2019s current lineup features Dulli with fellow founding member and bassist John Curley, guitarist Christopher Thorn, multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson and drummer Bryan Lee Brown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recorded across studios in Joshua Tree, New Orleans, East Hollywood and Cincinnati, the album began as a collection of 22 songs, ultimately narrowed to 10. For Dulli, choosing which tracks made the final cut was about finding a cohesive collection.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason why I write more songs than I need is because I need to find the 10 songs that can hang out together,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very simple and very elegant. I\u2019ll say no more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Its first half leans into the band\u2019s more immediate, guitar-driven sound before giving way to increasingly atmospheric arrangements and studio experimentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I wanted side two to be a bit more esoteric,\u201d Dulli explains. \u201cSide one would be the songs we\u2019d play live, most likely, and side two would be the more produced sound, studio sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout Soft Control, familiar elements of the Afghan Whigs\u2019 musical practice take on unexpected forms. The opening track, \u201cJungle Roux,\u201d incorporates a synthesizer part born from a mistake during recording. \u201cDuvateen,\u201d meanwhile, began with a Keith Richards-inspired guitar riff before evolving into a sprawling arrangement that finds Dulli reaching toward the falsetto stylings of his beloved Curtis Mayfield.<\/p>\n
Even the smallest details can become opportunities for experimentation. For Dulli, the human voice is another instrument in that process, capable of carrying emotion without necessarily relying on words.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I love to use people\u2019s voices as instruments. You know, they don\u2019t even have to be saying anything,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Take \u201cMemphis, Texas,\u201d which features vocalist and violist Petra Haden (That Dog, The Rentals). Her sustained backing vocals add another dimension to the track\u2019s atmosphere, stretching into notes that seem to hover above the instrumentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPetra is one of the greatest singers currently on the planet,\u201d Dulli says, praising her ability to sustain notes for unusually long periods. \u201cShe can hold a note for an abnormally long time, like opera notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Dulli explains, those seemingly simple vocal contributions can become some of the most expressive elements of a recording.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you can use someone\u2019s voice to lift a song in a wordless way, that\u2019s magic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The playful backing vocals on \u201cHouse of I\u201d offer another example of that attention to detail. Even the seemingly spontaneous flourishes, Dulli insists, are deliberate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doo-doo-doos on \u2018House of I,\u2019 totally intentional,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, brass arrangements lend additional character to the record, particularly the trumpet on \u201cThe Deepest Part of the Darkest Shadow.\u201d Dulli even describes using his mouth to imitate the sound of a trombone, further illustrating his fascination with blurring the distinction between voice and instrument.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a creative approach that traces a line back to those childhood records, when sounds from different musical worlds first began collecting in Dulli\u2019s imagination. The Afghan Whigs have never seemed particularly concerned with keeping musical influences in their designated boxes.<\/p>\n
But four decades of music also present an interesting challenge: How does a musician continue finding meaning in songs written by someone he no longer is?<\/p>\n
When the Afghan Whigs reunited in 2012 after a 12-year hiatus, Dulli found himself performing material that was already more than a decade old. He knew that if the band intended to continue, it would have to make new music rather than rely entirely on its past.<\/p>\n
Still, he understood the importance of the songs that brought audiences to the band in the first place.<\/p>\n
During the group\u2019s spring tour, the opening seven songs came from seven different albums, an arrangement Dulli found particularly gratifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m singing songs of who I used to be and singing songs of who I am now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
For him, the connection between those two versions of himself has to remain genuine. Longevity, after all, is no excuse for going through the motions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never sing a song I didn\u2019t feel like singing,\u201d Dulli insists. \u201cThat would be dishonest to me and to the audience, and I would never do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a conviction he\u2019ll bring to downtown Orlando on Nov. 4, when the Afghan Whigs kick off the North American leg of their Soft Control tour at the Beacham.<\/p>\n
Dulli is particularly excited about reconnecting with friends in Orlando and others traveling from Daytona Beach, including a childhood friend from Ohio. There\u2019s also the added pleasure of sharing the tour with Minneapolis psychedelic-rock band Night Moves, whose music he speaks about with considerable enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re one of my favorite bands ever,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s nobody like them.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the headlining performance, Dulli promises that even concertgoers familiar with the Beacham will encounter something different. The band has developed a deliberate approach to lighting and visual presentation, intended to transform the atmosphere of each venue without relying on elaborate stage production.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever a band makes the stage look different, then I\u2019m transformed,\u201d he explains. \u201cNow I\u2019m in a new place.\u201d<\/p>\n
What will the transformation look like when the Afghan Whigs take the stage Wednesday night? Eternal showman Dulli isn\u2019t giving much away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very simple and very elegant,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ll say no more.\u201d<\/p>\n
7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, The Beacham, 46 N. Orange Ave., thebeacham.com,<\/a> $30-$40.<\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tThe Knicks won the NBA Championship just months ago, now star player Josh Hart is looking to unload his Florida vacation home\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"Stay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1793720420_596_OW_JoinNewsletter_970x250_1.jpg\")
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