Atari Pilot On the Making Of “4X / 22”
What was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of "4X / 22?"
It’s a cliche, but it’s just one of those songs that just fell into our lap , we just had to wait twenty odd years!
Onze ( Singer/songwriter ) is constantly working on songs at all stages and he was searching around for a song that was really punchy and direct and with some pounding drums in order to follow our previous singles , Train Of Life and I Took A Photo.
The main hook line “Forty something, going on 22, 22” just came out during a writing session and then with that line he had the idea to write to.
Onze loves writing songs that come from a real place, and this song is like a call to action to remind yourself that you can move beyond your age or your past or any failures or mistakes and really embrace life with the energy you had when you were younger.
The whole process from initial idea to finishing was really fast, we went with the gut feel rather than getting bogged down so it captures more of the raw spirit of the song.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for "4X / 22?"
Straight away it felt like the melody and lyrics could really resonate with people, and then when we came with adding the synth solo and the massive tom rolls, we knew this song had found another level and was also going to fun to play live too!
Have you noticed any particular interpretations or connections that listeners have made with "4X / 22?"
People have mentioned how the energy of the music really meshes with the lyrics and the message behind the song, which is great.
Our music does seek to be a source of positive energy for people in their lives so whenever we hear that’ve we hit mark on that , it’s a good sign!
Could you share some of your musical influences and how they have shaped your sound?
We’ve had countless influences over the years but if we were to narrow things down then we’d say we try to combine the human experience style story telling of someone like Springsteen and mix it in with the driving type rhythms of ‘Random Access Memories’ era Daft Punk and finally combine that with the kind of inclusive singalong melodies that Oasis were so great at.
Who would you most like to collaborate with, if it could be anyone in the world?
Right now if you put on us the spot, we would love to collaborate with someone like Lana Del Rey or SZA, they both have such powerful and effortless vibes it would be really interesting to write and sing a song with someone like them to see how the styles mesh together.