I’m excited to get back into your ears and heart with this new tune, Step on the Gas. It’s got a laid-back AOR feel that reminds me a bit of Joe Walsh Eagles but also some Steely Dan as well.
The song started just as a riff and some chords. Got to play around with some heavy organ sounds and fun stop time beat drops.
Lyrics
Step on the gas
Get on up outta town
Pick up the pace
And you can catch em around
Wait in the grass
And you’ll be stuck on the ground
So get your head in the race
Get on up outta town
The kid makes her mark on the streets of LA
She skates in the park and rolls bones brigade
In Pasadena, they call her the “The Skid”
But when she goes downtown, they know what she did
CHORUS
She’s the one to watch when they’re down in the bowl
they watch her carve the walls while they’re out of control
It’s a sight to see when she grinds on the ramp
and when the pipe is dry, she can fly like a champ
CHORUS
LYrics to “Step on the GAS”
I definitely found the chorus first. The idea of starting a song lyric with Step on the Gas, like you were fleeing the scene of a bank heist was at the front of my mind. I went through that creative exercise to see where that took me, and I let my thoughts make that a metaphorical flight. Then, the idea of being part of a race came to me so I threw that in. It’s all a bit vague but in a way that I’m happy with how it could probably be interpreted a few different ways. Plus, the words felt singable so I went with it.
The verses were all about character sketch for a female skateboarder in the LA area. Shout out to my Trulli friend Victoria Townsend who inspired me! It seemed like an interesting vignette and the image of a skater in a bowl going up and down the sides felt like it matched the progression that gently sways between two chords until the climb back to the chorus.
Production
The drums and percussion are all ezDrummer but I did try to be thoughtful with the fills and momentum so I can live with it. The guitars are my telecaster direct using some amp modeling. I think the main line is the Universal Audio model for the Buxom Betty series. As usual, recorded in the REAPER daw, with a good amount of plugs from Waves and iZotope.
