Tell you what – we love hearing from artists when things go right. We equally love hearing from artists when things go dreadfully wrong. A song that was a piece of piss, written in 20 minutes? Or years in the making and a bastard to write?
Whether it’s a song that came together through great duress or one that was smashed out in a short amount of time, we’re getting the lowdown from some of our favourites on the one song that they can’t stop thinking about – in their own words.
Real Terms have just announced they will be the first signing to Delta Sleeps’ new record label Sofa Boy Records, kicking off the announcement with a new single – ‘Frantically Wrong’! Bassist and vocalist John Crawford took a deep dive into the writing process for us – touching on global politics and the palaver of the pandemic. Take it away, John…
Words: Andy Hughes (Photo credit: Amin Musa)
“Generally what I end up writing about more than anything else is frustration, and what has been more frustrating, more alienating, more brain-meltingly maddening than the global political situation over the past five or so years? I don’t set out to write political lyrics, and I don’t set out to admit it either – the idea of saying ‘this song is about Boris Johnson’ makes me cringe like a Rage Against the Machine-loving 17 year old, but I guess in some ways, that’s what I still am.
But there’s no getting away from the fact that ‘Frantically Wrong‘ was written in the early stages of the pandemic and born of the frustration I felt that the people in charge of this unprecedented crisis were the same charlatans who had lied their way to power with calculated bluster and buffoonery. There’s also frustration in there about my own inaction and powerlessness.
At the same time, there’s a reflection in the lyrics of my unease about the increasing polarisation in society, despite my positioning of myself firmly on one side of it – the type of identity crisis that features heavily across a lot of the music we have forthcoming. This dissonance is mirrored in the guitar and bass parts, particularly in the intro, and in the jarring rhythm that Lynny plays on guitar during the verses.
Musically speaking, we wrote this song as we write all our others – in a room, each noodling around and playing off each other, panning for gold, until we give the glance that means we’ve seen something glinting in the dirt (this doesn’t always happen simultaneously). The bass part in the intro and verse reminded me of one of our collective favourite bands, Make Believe, so I decided to ape them in the vocal part too, reaching for a primal, guttural sound like the one Tim Kinsella opens ‘Another Song About Camping’ with. Sorry, Tim. After taking a relatively soft touch approach on our previous EP, it felt fucking brilliant to let rip again, and though my inaction might still need addressing, for two minutes and fifty-five seconds, I at least feel a little like I’m taking some power back.”
Like what you see? Why not stick around and check out the other articles and interviews!
Don’t forget to follow Birthday Cake For Breakfast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Birthday Cake For Breakfast 