John Oates Shares Origins of New Song “Pushin’ a Rock”: Exclusive
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The post John Oates Shares Origins of New Song “Pushin’ a Rock”: Exclusive appeared first on Consequence.
Origins is our recurring series that gives artists a space to break down everything that went into their latest release. Today, John Oates takes us through his new song “Pushin’ a Rock.”
John Oates (of iconic pop duo Hall & Oates) has returned with his new solo single, “Pushin’ a Rock,” an updated version of the Good Road to Follow track. Co-written with Grammy-winning producer Nathan Paul Chapman (Taylor Swift, Shania Twain), the song comes with an accompanying music video steeped in empathy, understanding, and brotherhood.
“I had been interested in the concept of personal struggle and the fact that everyone, regardless of their station in life, has something that they need to address, overcome, or face,” Oates tells Consequence. “Together, Nathan and I pooled our personal experiences and wrote the song in a few hours.”
However, the Sisyphus-referencing song’s journey to completion extended long past those first few hours of work. While initially content with the results of the original writing session — even releasing it in 2014 — Oates felt there was a certain disconnect between the themes of the lyrics and the production of the tune.
Then, the pandemic hit, and Oates found himself spending his newfound time at home reflecting upon the same ideas that brought “Pushin’ a Rock” to life almost a decade ago. “The old song kept haunting me since the theme seemed even more relevant,” he remembers.
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So, he took another crack at it, this time striking the sympathetic, uplifting tone he felt the first iteration lacked. With the new version, Oates and Chapman knew they had done the song justice. “Nathan heard it and said, ‘This is how it always should have sounded!'” Oates recalls.
Check out the video for “Pushin’ a Rock” below, followed by John Oates’ breakdown of the track’s Origins.
Oates has also teamed up with the charity Movember to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues focusing on mental health, suicide prevention, and testicular and prostate cancer. Learn more and donate here.
Uncharted Waters:
Photo by Laura Lefurgey-Smith via Unsplash
“Pushin’ a Rock” is an evolution of an older version that I recorded and released on an album called Good Road to Follow. It was an album of collaborations with various artists, songwriters, and producers whom I admired, one of whom was Nathan Paul Chapman. At the time, Taylor Swift had made a decision to go in a new direction with new producers and for some reason, my instincts told me to reach out to Nathan to check in with him. I asked him how he was doing and he admitted that he felt like he was entering into uncharted creative waters. I was feeling the same and we both thought that the best therapy for both of us might be to get together and write a song.
The Myth of Sisyphus:
I had been interested in the concept of personal struggle and the fact that everyone, regardless of their station in life, has something that they need to address, overcome, or face. I wanted to use the metaphor of Sisyphus from Greek mythology to somehow address the concept. Together, Nathan and I pooled our personal experiences and wrote the song in a few hours. Although I was happy with it initially, I always felt like the recorded music and track never really meshed and supported the real meaning behind the lyrics.
Lockdown:
Photo by Jonathan J. Castellon via Unsplash
Flash forward to 2020. COVID found me staying home, not touring, and finally having some time to step back and reflect on so many things that were going on in my life that had been left unresolved both personally and business-wise. The old song kept haunting me since the theme seemed even more relevant and I revisited it.
GarageBand:
Image via Apple
I love to work in GarageBand on my Mac and started to build a track that felt more in line with where I was musically at that moment. I pulled up the original lyrics that Nathan and I had written and realized how timeless they were. I then began to re-craft the melody and phrasing to fit the vibe of the new groove and track I was building.
Part of the process became the realization that the original version did not put enough emphasis on the hook of “Roll with it, roll with it.” The revised version started to really feel good and I told Nathan I wanted to re-cut the song in the studio.
I pulled together an amazing group of players and we went into Addiction Studios Nashville with my engineer and co-producer David Kalmusky behind the board and the song came alive. Nathan heard it and said, “This is how it always should have sounded!”
John Oates Shares Origins of New Song “Pushin’ a Rock”: Exclusive
Jonah Krueger
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