“Here’s A Catchy Ditty That I Fucked Up”: Allday Took Us On A Spin Around His New Album
"I’m a man so I don’t take baths because they make me question my fragile masculinity."
Tomorrow, Allday will release his fourth studio album, Drinking With My Smoking Friends.
It’s a swerving turn for the rapper and singer — the biggest change being that this is the first time he hasn’t rapped on an album; Allday is now committing himself to the croon.
He’s also leaning harder into pop than ever before — playful ’80s new wave influences bouncing up against cheerful Aussie indie pop. It’s hard to believe single ‘Stolen Cars’ is from the same artist as ‘You Always Know The DJ’, but that’s evolution folks.
So who better to explain how it all came together than Mr. Tom Gaynor himself? We let him chew his pencil and jot down some thoughts about the whole process (perhaps unwisely), running through each track and dishing the behind-the-scenes dirt.
– Jules, Music Editor
Hey, I’m Allday. If you don’t know me I’m a rapper who started singing a bit and now I’ve done an album where I sing THE WHOLE TIME and rap none of the time. I’m writing a ‘track by track’ for my new album Drinking With My Smoking Friends.
What I’m not going to do is explain the meanings behind every song, because the meanings are for you to attach yourself. I fundamentally don’t believe in explaining the meaning of music or any kind of art. As David Lynch says, I like to leave the audience “room to dream”. What I will do is mention whatever I can remember about the song which is probably not much.
Some things to note about the album as a whole: It was produced and mixed by Scott Horscroft at The Grove Studios, with the exception of ‘Butterfly Sky’ which was mixed by Simon Lam and ‘Door’ which was mixed by Chris Collins. Why am I telling you this? Because engineers and producers deserve their credit.
#1. ‘Void’
I wrote this track with my mate Simon Lam. He executive produced Starry Night, my last album. I try to write with him whenever he has a free day. So we have dozens of demos in all different styles. Our writing process is me coming to his studio at 11am, working for a few hours, then going to a snack bar and buying a big bag of hot chips. After the hot chips it’s kind of hard to work because we feel so sick. Anyway, ‘Void’ was one we made and felt had the magic feeling. Avoiding the void is the mission statement for the album.
#2. ‘Cup of Tea in The Bath’
‘Cup of Tea…’ is the most explicitly Melbourne song on the record. It has a lot of references to Melbourne things such as being cold and going for a walk. Around the time I wrote ‘Cup of Tea’ I was listening to a lot of Stone Roses and I realised Ian Brown (Stone Roses’ singer) just kind of whispers instead of singing. So I did the same thing.
Have I ever had a cup of tea in the bath? I’m a man so I don’t take baths because they make me question my fragile masculinity. I take showers and lean against the wall like I’m the misunderstood protagonist of an action movie.
#3. ‘Stolen Cars’
I was trying to do a Prince or ’80s David Bowie thing here. ‘Stolen Cars’ is an over the top romantic Bonnie & Clyde story. Early in the album process, I considered giving the album a clear narrative. ‘Fast Ride’ and ‘Stolen Cars’ were going to be the early part of the story. But then I decided to keep the story open-ended, and as I mentioned before, leave people “room to dream”. There is a nice lil’ funky bassline on this one.
#4. ‘Door’
For a while I didn’t know if I was making a rap album or a rock album, ‘Door’ was originally written on a beat by Keanu Beats who is one of Australia’s best rap producers. This is the only song that made it across from that rap album. All the other songs are on my computer feeling very left out.
It was eventually produced by Chris Collins who lives near Byron, so the coastal cool guy surfer feeling this song has is legit. I can’t surf, I’m from Adelaide. There are no waves in Adelaide so as kids we shoplifted instead. Once I put a 1kg tub of protein powder under my school jumper and walked off. A hundred bucks worth! To the kids reading this, don’t steal from small businesses but big ones are ok.
#5. ‘The Paris End of Collins St’
The phrase “The Paris End of Collins Street” is used to describe the end of the street in the CBD of Melbourne where all the luxury brands are located. I think people use the phrase unironically but there is something deeply funny about it to me. Australia is on a desert island at the bottom of the planet. I don’t think this is the place to be fancy.
Anyway, I wrote it with the king and queen of Australian Rock music, Hayley Mary and Johnny Took. After recording the track though, my lyrics felt a bit pointless. So I went back and I changed the verses to be a bit more fun. To me the chorus represents burying your head in the sand about the state of the world; because sometimes you have to do that to protect your sanity. And the verses are me being realistic about the world.
#6. ‘After All This Time’
Here is a catchy ditty that I fucked up. It was an open layup and I tripped over, dribbled the ball off my knee and watched it rolled out of bounds. That’s a basketball analogy and I hope it makes sense. You wouldn’t believe how long I spent on the lyrics to end up with something so simple that it’s now devoid of any meaning.
There are 10 different versions of this song in my notepad that are all better than the final version. Anyway, this song came out as the first single, and I was still figuring out the band/rock’n’roll thing. I learned my lessons from this song. There’s a nice song in here somewhere, it just isn’t captured on the final recording. Let’s move on.
#7. ‘Fast Ride’
‘Fast Ride’ is a bit weird. I’m shout-talking the words. But it’s also a sincere love song that you could have a wedding dance to. I think because of how musically irrelevant and uncool it is right now, it will probably age well. Or maybe it will be even more irrelevant and goofy in the future. Only time will tell. I’m proud of the lyrics in this one.
#8. ‘Bright’
Hear me out, this is the best song on the record. This or ‘Butterfly Sky’. I first recorded it with Joji Malani, Elliot and Monte from Delta Riggs. They captured the spirit of it.
We “finished it” but the mix was just ok and the lyrics were vague (I was listening to Oasis and trying to make everything vague on purpose). I realised the song could be better. So I sat down to rewrite the verses and they poured out of me as fast as I could write them down. We mixed the album on Scott Horscroft’s SSL desk. Usually once you’ve completed a mix on a proper old school desk you can’t really go back and edit it because it’s not a computer. But I coughed up the money (R.I.P) and Scott Horscroft made the time to help finish the song the way I wanted it. So no pressure, but you absolutely have to like this one.
#9. ‘Butterfly Sky’
I’m always struggling with whether to name things ethereal names like ‘Butterfly Sky’. I realise that some people, especially guys, can be put off by imagery like butterflies. I had an internal struggle about it. But the butterflies won.
I like the fact that butterflies turn into beautiful flying things after being a caterpillar, it’s very inspiring. I wanted to oscillate between fantasy and something more realistic. That’s how I landed on the lyric “if I get drunk, hold me up.” That’s the moment in the song you are grounded back in reality. When I listen to this song I like to picture a sky entirely filled with butterflies. It might be a bit scary if it actually happened, I would probably go inside and lock the door, but it’s nice to daydream about. Try it out sometime.
#10. ‘Spin’
I really wanted to say “she’s pretty, she’s photoshopped by god” because I think it’s a fun line. I’m glad I shoehorned that in. When you think of a good line just put it in a song, who cares if it makes sense! That’s my philosophy.
I wrote this song with Lontalius from NZ, Chris Collins produced it and played violin on it too. I wanted it to sound a bit Irish, like The Corrs. Fuck they were good. If you listen to the acoustic guitar in this song without any other instruments it sounds A LOT like ‘Wonderwall’. But we don’t talk about that. Noel Gallagher please don’t sue me, all I have is a 2006 Hyundai Accent.
Allday’s new album Drinking With My Smoking Friends is out Friday, May 28. He’ll be touring Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane in August.
Photo Credit: Sam Wong