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Blake Stranathan, Lana’s Del Rey guitarist sharing some of the co-writing process of Ultraviolence with Lana in 2014 for strymon
 
Can you share what the co-writing process was like with Lana Del Rey on the new album Ultraviolence?
It was probably the best experience of my life so far. I was in New York visiting family, and Lana invited me down to Electric Lady Studios, which was always a dream of mine being a Hendrix nut. It was surreal being and working there. We wound up being there for 8 or 9 days with basically the entire place to ourselves. I had played guitar on a couple tracks that were pretty much finished, but one morning I came to the studio super early just to work out some tones and play in that amazing live room. As I was coming up with some progressions, Lana walked in and we came up with “Pretty When You Cry” on the spot. It was recorded through a Neve 8078 which just sounded unreal. None of it was planned which certainly added to the vibe. The same happened with “Cruel World”. I was actually watching a video of the ‘BigSky’ on my computer and showed it to her. She said, “Fuck! That sounds amazing. We need that.” (Laughs) So a couple of hours later, a runner went out and grabbed one. On the last day while Phil Joly, the engineer, was bouncing down a couple sessions, and she asked me if I wanted to play around with the new pedal in the live room. I played maybe a few chords and we immediately started writing ‘Cruel World’. We recorded it just guitar and vocal in one take, and then Dan Auerbach went on to produce the song not long after. Everything about the recording and writing process was super organic, plus the energy in that studio is very powerful. I came up with the guitars for ‘Flipside‘ at home in Los Angeles using the BigSky as well. I made a quick video clip and sent it to her phone. We wound up writing the song a couple days later at her house, and then recorded it at a studio later that night. Strymon definitely played a big role in shaping the sound of the record.
https://www.strymon.net/pedalboard-feature-blake-stranathan/

Photographer Vincent Haycock shares behind the scenes footage from the West Coast with Lana Del Rey
 

Lana Del Rey being honored with the Global Impact Award at ASCAP Pop Awards
 

Lana having her fortune read by the Bocca della verita in Rome, Italy
 

Lana on instagram wishing everyone a Happy Easter and Passover: “Happy Easter, Happy Passover, happy wherever you are – from us to you!"
 

Lana previewing new music inspired by Scarlet Letter author Nathaniel Hawthorne
 

Photographer Vincent Haycock shares behind the scenes footage from the West Coast with Lana Del Rey
 

For anyone wondering about the symbolism behind the daggers into the heart: The seven daggers into the heart is relation to Our Lady of Sorrows, the virgin Mary. And are a representation of the sorrow in her life.

Photographer Vincent Haycock shares behind the scenes footage from the West Coast with Lana Del Rey
 

For anyone wondering about the symbolism behind the daggers into the heart: The seven daggers into the heart is relation to Our Lady of Sorrows, the virgin Mary. And are a representation of the sorrow in her life.

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

For anyone wondering about the symbolism behind the daggers into the heart: The seven daggers into the heart is relation to Our Lady of Sorrows, the virgin Mary. And are a representation of the sorrow in her life.

I think it's so disrespectful how people constantly presume Lana is either drunk or high at events like these. She is a naturally shy, introverted person. I'm sick of people interpreting her natural uncomfortableness in a highly publicized environment as her being drunk or high. She said she's been sober for years and her stance on drugs has clearly changed a lot in her music. "Heroin" is the story of someone who lost it all to drugs. I fail to see why people think she's on drugs or drunk when there's no evidence to say that at all. In fact, I would suggest the tone she has taken on drugs as of late in her music reflects a very cautionary approach to drugs, painting them as irrelevant and dangerous destroyers of life.
 
"It never was about the money or the drugs" (Religion)
 
"I'm flying to the moon again, dreaming about heroin, and how it gave you everything and took your life away" (Heroin)
 
 
Anyway, the look SLAYS and if you think otherwise, you're just plain wrong. 

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

I thought we'd established for a long time that if she ever looks high it's bc she's shy af and since she doesn't go to a whole lot of events she always feel at least slightly uncomfortable

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

Alessandro Michele on Lana Del Rey & Jared Leto's Gucci ensemble he styled for the Met Gala's Heavenly Bodies
 

Lana Del Rey and Jared Leto at the Met Gala styled by Alessandro Michele
 

Photographer Vincent Haycock shares behind the scenes footage from the West Coast with Lana Del Rey
 

Lana Del Rey and Jared Leto at the Met Gala styled by Alessandro Michele