MammaBear On the Making Of “Fever Dream”
What was the creative process like for this particular "Fever Dream?"
I wrote the chords and melody for “Fever Dream” a long time ago and rediscovered the idea by chance, tinkered with it some more, and basically came up with a different song! I was torn between which I liked better so I combined the two- the verse represents the old idea and the chorus the new, same chords, and different melodies. When I toured England last year I played acoustic solo shows as I still didn’t have a band after Covid and I had planned to record my solo set at Abbey Road as a testament to my solo shows during 2022, something like capping off the year and honoring what I had done while planning my next moves. The days we had booked at ARS were at the end of our tour and I had blown out my voice the night before at a party, leaving me unable to record my solo songs in one take as I had panned. I dusted off two songs I was working on and tracked them instead of my solo set-one of them being Fever Dream. I actually didn’t have the final arrangement for the Fever Dream and was sitting in the hallway at ARS writing the middle section and trying to tie it all together literally moments before my session began.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for "Fever Dream?"
It was a lot of fun to walk into Abbey Road Studios past the famous white gate and the gathered crowds and be ushered into one of the most iconic studios of all time. As for the song itself, I tracked “Fever Dream” a bit differently than I track most songs in a studio. I started with the bass guitar to a click and laid down the arrangement before tracking and doubling the rhythm guitar through a fender twin and a third guitar on a marshal half stack. I recorded the drum on a Ludwig 5-piece set after I was finished with the guitars and then I tracked a very loose vocal take more as a guide for the future rather than the final take. I finished the vocals and extra sounds in Atlanta with my very good friend and mentor, Kristofer Sampson of Sampson Sound.
What do you like the best about this track?
I like the keyboard on the 2nd verse, it’s barely there but adds a spooky, or rather, a comically spooky sound.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in music?
I grew up in a family that loves music more feverishly than most others. My great-grandfather was A&R for RCA for decades helping the likes of Eddie Arnold, Perry Combo, Chet Atkins, Lorne Green, and Elvis Presley. If he believed in you, he worked hard to get you heard. From all accounts, he was a stand-up guy and is in the GA Music Hall of Fame. I never met him. My uncle was a DJ in college and adores music- he makes the coolest mix tapes out of his vast collection of records, they are unique and so much fun to listen to. His son, my cousin Kevin, works for Live Nation and attends more concerts than anyone I know, save for maybe our Uncle Keith who also adores music and turned us onto some of our favorite stuff when we were young. My mother raised me with music- mainly The Beatles. Music always hit me a bit differently than any other art form. I don’t recall when I decided to pursue music exactly, but I also don’t know a time in my life where a musical hook didn’t mean something to me or transport me to a higher place.
What do you enjoy most about performing live and connecting with your audience?
I love playing live- music hits different live and being on stage at the command of an audience is absolutely hypnotic and euphoric. I’ve never minded being on stage and I adore the attention, the more attention and participation the more I give, and vice versa. It’s on me to provide a moment worthy of people’s time and attention, that’s my job as an entertainer. As an artist, I only worry about pleasing myself. I find the live performance aspect to be the time where I can connect human to human, I don’t know who is listening to me online or through one of my records or CDs, so the live moment is for us. I cherish that.
