As part of our two-year Music Performance course, my band at college — Band 6 — recently covered Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug.”
At first, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s a song with such a unique feel — smooth, funky, and very different from the kind of rock tracks I usually play. But once we started rehearsing, I began to really enjoy it. The groove is infectious, and there’s something so cool about how laid-back but confident the whole track feels.
For me, the guitar parts were a chance to focus more on rhythm and texture rather than big solos. I spent some time experimenting with tone and effects to get that clean, slightly sharp sound that cuts through without overpowering the rest of the band.
The best moment was when everything finally clicked during rehearsal — the bass locked in with the drums, the vocals came alive, and suddenly it just worked. Those are the moments that remind me why I love playing music.
Performing “Love Is the Drug” has definitely made me appreciate Roxy Music in a new way, and it pushed me to think differently about how guitar can fit into a song’s overall vibe.
🎸 By the way — that’s me on the left in the video!