Dream of a Man in a Top Hat On the Making Of “WORRY”
Can you share any interesting or unique musical elements or production techniques used in “WORRY?"
We tend to write in two different ways: guitar-based and computer-based. This one was the latter. But as always we added plenty of live guitar, drums, and bass along the way. So it’s a hybrid song. Someone recently wrote that they liked the guitar samples but there are none. That bit of the song is me playing guitar.
What was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of “WORRY?"
Well, Mike usually writes his words first and he did that for “WORRY.” It keeps with our usual approach - using simple words to hopefully convey something a little less than simple. We never discussed what event or events caused those words to be written - though I’m sure it was something. We really never talk about our words with each other.
What do you like the best about this track?
We have many influences and I think that they show up in “WORRY.” Psychedelic, post-punk, rock and roll, and a little funk and jazz too. It wasn’t a deliberate attempt to merge those genres. It just kind of came out in an unforced way.
How do you balance the artistic aspects of your music with the business side of the industry?
Funny you should ask as I’m knee-deep in the business side right now, which always happens when a new release comes out. We like to do the business stuff ourselves. It’s the other half of my brain… but I’ve been doing that for years, jumping from a post-punk band into an MBA program many years ago.
How do you approach creating something new and different?
We try to write the kind of songs that we’d want to hear but almost never do. And we try to make our sound production fit our songs - we think today’s production techniques make everything sound way too pristine. We desire a little murkiness. And lastly, if one of us has an idea that makes the other one laugh we know we’re on the right track!