During a recent conversation with Andre Cholmondeley on Make Weird Music, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson opened up about his new projects, and when asked about what he has been listening to during the repetitive days of COVID-19, he said that he keeps his distance from new stuff.

There is no doubt that Alex Lifeson is one of the most well-known guitarists of all time and he is highly famous for his amazing performances as the guitarist of Rush. As you may recall, Geddy Lee had made an announcement over a month ago that Rush could not continue without Peart, who passed away at the beginning of 2020 due to brain cancer.

However, soon after that, Alex Lifeson had revealed that Lee and himself might start working on something separate together which excited their fans. In a recent interview, Lifeson was asked what he has been listening to lately to which he responded by saying that although he enjoys background music, he doesn’t make an effort to listen to new stuff.

He went on to explain that when he’s working on something he prefers to stay concentrated on his work because if he listens to something new while trying to create something original, it affects/influences his work which is something that he doesn’t appreciate as he prefers to create something ‘fresh.’

This is what the interviewer asked:

“What are you listening to these days, if anything?”

To which Alex Lifeson responded:

“I haven’t really been making an effort to listen to too much outside of this room and what I’m doing in this room. Generally, at home here, when we’re just sitting around, we just put Chill Radio on Apple, and I like having that background music.

I’m just not really focused on chasing anything right now, and I always find that when I’m working on something, the less specific music I listen to, the better. It’s OK to have that kind of background ambient stuff but I thought it stinks into what you’re doing, and I don’t like that feeling.”

He went on to say:

“I like to be really, really fresh. I’ve always written in such a way that it’s always the early stuff, that’s my best stuff that speaks to me the most. And then I move on very, very quickly, and maybe it’s because of that laziness or just being a little antsy.

I don’t really belabor a lot of stuff, I’ll come back and I’ll listen a million times, but I like to get performances out and so I like to keep a clear head. I tend to not listen to too much new stuff.”

Click here for the source and you can listen to the whole interview below.