Kurt Vile talks Fontaines D.C. collab, his shoutout from Sam Fender, and paying tribute to Philadelphia: “It’s like rap – I’m calling out my fucking zone!”

Kurt Vile has spoken to NME about summoning the “ghosts” of his home city on latest album ‘Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me’, inspiring both Fontaines D.C. and Sam Fender, and plans for the future. Read the interview below.

The iconic indie-rocker spent 12 weeks on the road following the May release of his 10th solo LP, including a homecoming show at Philadelphia’s Dell Music Centre in July, an onstage collab with Fontaines D.C. in France and an appearance at End Of The Road Festival.

• READ MORE: Kurt Vile – ‘(Watch My Moves)’ review: Philly hero keeps it weird on freewheeling ninth album

Marking his first full-length project since 2022’s adventurous ‘(Watch My Moves)’, the new record refocuses on Vile’s hometown, taking listeners through the Mount Airy neighbourhood and the Schuylkill River in this musical homage to Pennsylvania’s largest city.

Joining NME backstage at Project House in Leeds, nursing a cup of coffee, Vile was pleasantly surprised to find himself doing an interview on the final night (September 15) of this lengthy touring stint.

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“Normally, towards the end, I cut off everything!” he laughed. “We’re joking how this is iconic – ‘Live At Leeds’ [referencing The Who’s 1970 live album] or whatever – but for us, we’re all fried. It’s more like ‘Dead At Leeds’! But you’ll hopefully see that we’re tight – tight and loose at the same time. Dead-alive!”

Indeed, Vile and his backing band The Violators showcased their rich, thick sound to a sold-out audience who remained bewitched throughout the gig. Key moments included a beautifully melancholic ‘Girl Named Alex’, the woozy synth intro of ‘Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)’ and his certified crowd-pleaser ‘Pretty Pimpin’. An effortlessly cool Vile was in fine form as he thanked the faithful for coming out: “The best place to do the last one.”

In 2022, Vile’s stage presence and demeanour were the subject of praise from Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten, who told Rolling Stone UK: “I envied him. The sun was going down and he was able to stand there and chill out… I envy someone who can send a text to his kid, go off on stage and then just play really well.”

Responding to those compliments, Vile told NME about the headspace he tries to enter. “It’s a persona that I can tap into, and that’s an ideal place I want to be,” he explained. “But you’ve got to be really, really stressed to get to that place.

“That’s what this tour feels like to me. I turned in the record, I was overworked, depleted… then you’re thrown out into the universe. At first, it’s raw, but you find out [how to cope] real quick, as long as you’re bobbing your head and into it. You’re forced to play every night, and I embrace that, because everything is always different. That’s the fun, because you can play those chords a million different ways.”

Read the full interview below, where Vile also talked about his performance with Fontaines D.C., the image of Philadelphia he channelled into the new album, his memories from his time in The War On Drugs, plans for some “weirdo projects” to come, and more.

NME: Hi, Kurt. Earlier on this tour, you joined Fontaines D.C. to perform ‘Roman Holiday’ – a song they’ve said was inspired by you – at La Route Du Rock in France. How did that surprise appearance come about?

Kurt Vile: “That was very sweet, because they’re really nice young kids. I’d definitely heard their music. The first time I heard their name, we were on the same tribute album [2021’s ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’] for the first Velvet Underground album. I was like, ‘Oh, what’s this music? It sounds old’, and I’d do the old Shazam. We shared this festival in France, and when we were finished, their people were like, ‘They want you to sit in’. For a split second I was like, ‘Oh man, but I just got off the stage’, but time went on, and then immediately I got high at the thought of playing again. I met them; they were super sweet.”

What did you talk about backstage with Grian Chatten?

“He said, ‘I don’t know if they told you, but this song is inspired by you’. I’m like, ‘Whatever, man! I’ll bring my best guitar, my Travis Good – from The Sadies – Gretsch, and I’ll shred to whatever’. I listened, and it was so fun. To this day, I’m not exactly sure how it’s influenced by me, but that was really fun. I would definitely play with those guys again.”

One month earlier, you brought ‘Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me’ back home for an outdoor show. Did that homecoming feel different, given the album’s subject matter?

“I’m calling out my people – but by title, so everybody’s paying attention. I had never played an outdoor venue like that in Philly. I saw The War On Drugs [Vile was a founding member until his departure in 2008] play it for the ‘A Deeper Understanding’ tour. ‘You Don’t Know Cuz It’s My Life’, it’s got the line, “I’m from Philadelphia/ A couple of my heroes wrote a song/ But that ain’t where they’re from”, which is Neil Young and The Boss [Bruce Springsteen].

“Bruce has ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’, and on the same soundtrack for the Philadelphia movie, Neil has ‘Philadelphia’. Neil is my God. Bruce was my God many times when I was younger, but still, they ain’t from there. Some of my close friends too, they’ve gone on to other places like LA, but they actually weren’t from there either. Now, you’ve got me at the point where I’m finally going back. Dead at Leeds, but reborn and gon’ back home!”

What keeps you grounded in Philadelphia and connected to it?

“I’ve got a large family, I’m one of 10… but I like to walk all the old avenues. All the ghosts, I see every spirit. That’s the same as having a record; you can look at the date and remember everything that happened. This is Philadelphia Brewing Company where I worked. This is where I recorded with Adam Granduciel from 2003 through 2007. I used to record with Jeff Zeigler; I bought his old tape machine. [2009’s] ‘Childish Prodigy’ was recorded on there; The War On Drugs’ [2011 album] ‘Slave Ambient’. I like gathering up all those old ghosts, keeping them around. This whole era, it’s almost like rap. I’m calling out my fucking zone!”

On ‘Chance To Bleed’, you reminisce over memories of “old time lo-fi DIY rock ‘n’ roll nights” in Philly. What picture were you trying to paint there?

“It sounded like a catchy rockabilly thing, calling out the old time and then making it specific to my scene. It sounds like Jerry Lee Lewis. It conjures [memories of] recording upstairs in my small Northern Liberties apartment, on my little digital eight-track, or recording at Adam Granduciel’s house in Fishtown. We had so many wild, late nights into the morning! Not much has really changed, except in the earliest days, we were hungry as hell. Juggling day jobs and trying to figure it out, it was a race. That was our 20s.”

Granduciel worked on Sam Fender’s Mercury Prize-winning 2025 album ‘People Watching’. On the track ‘Arm’s Length’, Fender says the riff “sounds like a Kurt Vile thing” – what did you make of that shoutout?

“That’s cool as hell! Yeah, I heard he’s a fan; that’s really nice. I have yet to meet him. I know Adam’s been working with him, and Adam is killing it over in his world, cranking things out with people and doing his own work in LA. But I felt that too with the Fontaines D.C. thing. I was like, ‘Oh, these kids?’ and then you see them do what they do, and people are going wild. That they’re fans of my music? That fucking rules.”

Fender has taken lots of inspiration from The War On Drugs, too. How does it feel that your little pocket of Philly guitar music has been so inspiring to these era-defining modern guitar acts? Do you think about how that legacy is beginning to unfold?

“Yeah, I’m glad to pay my respects. I want to give back to the city. [Philadelphia Eagles’] Connor Barwin does so much for the city with the Make The World Better Foundation, and I’m absolutely gonna get more organised for my city. Grassroots, man. Start local, and for all the positive reasons.”

What’s on the agenda?

“Nothing I could articulate right now. I’m so fucking crispy!”

What does the future hold for Kurt Vile? You’ve said you treated this record “like it’s my last” – is that an attitude you’ll carry forward?

“The way I’d make a traditional album takes a lot out of me. I’m sure I’ll do it again, but at the same time, I’m thinking about all the other weirdo projects I want to do. The archive is vast. Sitting with the old stuff and putting out compilations sounds really awesome. I’ve got to be in the moment, and you get overwhelmed, but one thing at a time, until you’re in the zone. Reset, be a good dad, family guy. I always clean my zone up before I leave, so I come back fresh.”

‘Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me’ is out now via Verve Records. Check out Kurt Vile’s upcoming North American tour dates below, and find any remaining tickets here.

Kurt Vile’s North American tour dates for 2026 are:  

NOVEMBER
04 – Asbury Hall, Buffalo, NY
05 – Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH
06 – Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, K
07 – The Sovereign, St. Louis, MO
08 – Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI
10 – Wooly’s, Des Moines, IA
11 – Liberty Hall, Lawrence, KS
12 – The Waiting Room, Omaha, NE
13 – Washington’s, Fort Collins, CO
14 – Summit, Denver, CO
16 – George’s Majestic Lounge, Fayetteville, AR
17 – Minglewood Hall, Memphis, TN
18 – Joy Theatre, New Orleans, LA
20 – Watt, Athens, GA
21 – The Music Farm, Charleston, SC
22 – Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte, NC
23 – The National, Richmond, VA
24 – Ottobar, Baltimore, MD