Punch Your Way Into Heaven

Mikee:

I think easily, remarkedly the one track that convinced anyone that it was possible that Interloper was actually a band that had some tracks. This was created when learning the BR-8 and Zoom Sampler and Drum Machine. The core rhythm is a bunch of drum loops some fast, some short, some pitched, some normal and a long time-stretched sample from Age of Chance’s ‘Learn To Pray’

This was my first big attempt to rap and in it, it’s everything that was on my mind, in popular culture and the central theme is simply: if there is a heaven and you’re not allowed in, then fight for it. It’s about confidence, retribution, indignation and taking your place in the world. It really is something that you expect young people to write.

A big part of the influences as far as Hip-Hop goes was turntablism and b-boy culture - just cutting up loops and the loops establishing a core backdrop to the lyrics and a lot of the concept of ‘musicality’ has been pushed to the back. It’s why interloper don’t do a lot of middle-eights, key changes or stick to a particularly key: we’re DJ-ing our own loops.

There’s a really great Leslie speaker effect on the fuzz bass in the bridge which Mikee recorded before he went deaf in one ear, so this is probably his first and last dabble in any kind of deep panning effects. Ones that he can hear, anyway.

Incidentally the track was sent to the bassist of Age of Chance, Geoff Taylor and we got the thumbs up. Or rather, we weren’t sued or anything.

Misc:

This track was forged long before I joined the band, but its thumping rhythm was an utter joy to chug along to on stage. The broken, mechanical chords of the verses gave way to a bare, almost ethereal chorus that put the focus squarely on Mikee’s vocals. I’d often shove my guitar towards the amp for some juicy feedback, before jumping back into the next staccato verse. The outro’s “ruin your life and wreck everything, we came to…” inversion helped to keep the tension high right up until the sudden cut-off ending.