Recently added to the music roster at Bongo Boy Records, ODDS LANE has not disappointed with it’s release of LAST NIGHT ON CHEROKEE. The first song off this album is called “Take It Slow.” Make sure to check it out below after reading this amazing interview about the creation of this single.
Why did you select “Take It Slow” as your current single?
There are two reasons, really. The first is that It contains the lyric that became the album title. The second is that it is probably the best example of how the return of our eclectic, funky, blues roots mixed with the more rock style of our previous album DARK MATTERS.
How does this single relate to the rest of the Album, ‘LAST NIGHT ON CHEROKEE’?
The song lyric is a composite description of the many crazy nights we had years ago living together as a band with Mike Zito. The three of us lived in a tiny house in South St. Louis not too far from the Cherokee street and gigged sometimes seven days a week. The band house was were we hung out and partied which resulted in many stories that would require a lot of censorship to be told here. This new album of ours is really a resurgence of the funky blues style we were playing at the time. “Take It Slow” to us anyway embodies the spirit of the whole record.
What was the writing process for the album?
Originally, the songs that made the album were part of a group of dozens of rough demos. We then started to pick out some of our favorites to work on more extensively. Since this record was a real departure from what we had been doing for the past several years, we spent several weeks jamming on just the bass and drum parts. We tried different feels and arrangements that sometimes sparked whole new directions were fresh and unexpected. The end result is a new hybrid of the style of our recent albums and the style of “Blue Room”, which was the album we put out with Zito
What does this song’s “Take It Slow” lyrics mean to you?
Lyrically we like to leave things open ended and available for the listener to interpret In different ways. However, this song is basically about a wild night that maybe had gone too far, but at the same time it’s about embracing the chaos and randomness that is life.
What would it be like to see you in person performing songs from the album?
We recorded this album in much the same way we perform it. We went in with the idea to basically record everything live and keep the number takes and overdubs to a minimum. The live show is an extension of this raw sound of the blues trio captured on this record.
Could your fans summarize who you are as a band by this new album?
Yes. We worked very hard to make this a group of songs that best represents us not only as a band, but as songwriters and individuals.
What was the idea behind the video – “Take It Slow”?
With the video we tried to recreate the album cover, which was taken months earlier on the same corner on Cherokee street. The basic concept is: after a rough night on Cherokee, we ended up on the corner. Then, after a brief respite, we were ready to hit the studio to record a song about it. This is not uncommon to similar situations we found ourselves in years ago when we lived together in South City with Zito.
One last question, what is your motivation behind your music?
We’ve both grown up playing music together for nearly 25 years, since grade school. At this point our main motivation is that there just isn’t anything we’d rather be doing. The motivation behind our own music is to craft honest songs about our life experiences with musical arrangements that we ourselves find interesting and enjoyable to listen to as well. We hope that others will to and want to share with anyone who will take a listen.
Social Media:
http://www.oddslanemusic.com/