The Pulltops On the Making Of “Wide Awake”
What was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of "Wide Awake?"
The writing process for us usually starts with a musical idea, and the words and lyrics come later in the process. In the case of "Wide Awake", the musical inspiration came from my buying a new Gretsch baritone electric guitar. That's why the song has a very prominent bass line. The whole song was written on this baritone guitar.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for "Wide Awake?"
Well, there is a funny story to the mixing of the song. It always felt very cluttered, and something about it just wasn't working. I had doubled most of the baritone guitar parts with the bass guitar, and there was just too much going on. In the end, I ended up completely removing the baritone guitar from the mix. When I did that, everything fell into place. So the baritone guitar that was the inspiration for the song, and was used to write the entire song, isn't even in the song. Completely removed. lol
What do you like the best about this track?
We have a lot of influences, and some of it is quite diverse. I feel like with "Wide Awake" we were finally able to combine those influences into a cohesive sound, instead of just bouncing from influence to influence. Plus I love how the bass guitar turned out. It really drives the track.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in music?
Both Mark and I have older siblings, and we were exposed to their record collections growing up. We were always music fans first and just infatuated with music. It was just a natural progression to get into making music. For me, I was bit by the guitar bug early on. I loved everything about it. I got my first guitar when I was 10. I also had some piano lessons and played clarinet and saxophone in the school band. But I always came back to the guitar.
What do you enjoy most about performing live and connecting with your audience?
The best part about performing live is seeing everyone in the audience having a good time. They came to see you play so that they can forget about everything else they may have going on in their life, and to escape for a few hours. They want to feed off the energy you give them, and in turn, you feed off the energy they give back to you. When that happens, it's a great feeling. It's all about being lost in the moment.