This past June 1st, The Right Fiction released our first full length album, “Golden Apple.” This project began production in the fall of 2019, but writing sessions began years before that. I’m really proud of this project, and love being in this band. So I thought I would publish a post a day about each song, sharing some production notes and thoughts about the making of this album.
The lyrics for Rumble Young Man were re-written at some point along the way, and were inspired a bit by Muhammad Ali. Aaron found out that he lived for a time in Philly/Cherry Hill and that was an entry point for him to think more about Ali’s legacy. The reason this lyrical re-write is important is because it led us to record the song kind of backwards. Oftentimes, a song starts by recording the drums, then bass, keyboards, guitars, vocals, etc. In this case, the drums were the last thing to get recorded (actually, re-recorded). After recording all of the other layers, the song needed a climactic “boxing match” part. What better than a bombastic drum solo?
Another “fun fact” about this song is that Aaron convinced me to play slap bass in the verses. I am typically allergic to playing slap style (no shade for others who slap), it’s just not for me. But I tried it out, and it worked. This is one example of many of me learning to stay creatively open during this whole process. You never know what might work in the studio, and a curiosity to try new ideas is absolutely essential.
Lastly, there’s kind of an “Easter egg” in this song: during the choruses, you can hear the guitar play “Amazing Grace” at about half speed. This is one of my favorite production/arrangement elements of the song.