Video: John Mellencamp Talks New Album, Grandfather's Influence

Rolling Stone senior writer David Fricke recently sat down with John Mellencamp at New York's 92nd Street Y for a wide-ranging conversation about the Indiana singer/songwriter's career. The discussion touched upon Mellencamp's new stripped-down album No Better Than This, which was partially recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis. He explained that he learned the value in recording quickly during the process. "In the Eighties you would spend millions of dollars and millions of hours getting a drum sound," he said. "Everybody was all into this technology." They also discussed the influence of Mellencamp's grandfather Speck. "He told me, 'If you're going to hit a cocksucker, kill him,'" he recalled. "Mellencamps have always been colorful."