Breaking Down a Set List with X Ambassadors
X Ambassadors give us a behind-the-scenes look at their songwriting process and how they organize their set list.
Opening for Muse, X Ambassadors started 2016 on the road in support of their debut album, VHS. The band took the world by storm with their unique sound and anthem hits "Renegades" and "Jungle," so fans were swarming to catch this act live.Each night playing a different city, a different venue, a different crowd…when you're a rock band with a strong catalog of songs like X Ambassadors, how can you ever decide which ones to play each night, let alone what order to play them in? I caught up with the band to discuss songwriting and how they organize their set list.
"We've been working toward the sound that you hear for a long time. I think it's always a malleable thing. As we grow as people and musicians, that informs everything that we write," explained guitarist Noah Feldshuh.
"Our songwriting process is very much collaborative between us and our producer Alex the Kid. It can happen in many different ways, where someone has a vocal idea or a rhythmic idea or melodic idea, and then we all kind of take it and build off that. Sometimes it's more fully realized than others. The process really changes with every song," added drummer Adam Levin.
Sam Harris, lead singer for X Ambassadors, shared his set list with us and gave us the rundown on why they play each song when they do. Mouse over the number by each song below to see his insights.
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