Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Chicago rockers Filligar recently caught our attention with their killer old school meets new school sound. So we asked Filligar's Casey Gibson to tell us about "Health" from their new album "The Nerve". We now turn it over to Casey for the story: "Health" came together in our practice space in Chicago. It started with that Mellotron hook--I had been listening to a lot of Zeppelin and it just hashed itself out one cold morning. We sat on that hook for a long time, happy with the melody but a little unsatisfied with the pocket underneath. We had been experimenting with different ways of expressing it harmonically, but it was feeling too busy. Finally, the answer hit us--give it the old Chicago Blues treatment and just thump the E tonic underneath. It gave it this pulse that really carries the momentum of the melody.
The lyrics are feel-good--we like the idea of pairing the positive message with that menacing groove. We also had a good time putting on our producer hats in the studio with this track--I think the amplified harmonica in the choruses and ending was a cool addition, and that guitar freak-out in the closing seconds of the song was Johnny breaking a string on that last chord. He ripped the string out in frustration, thinking he'd need to do another take, but we liked the effect and decided to keep it.
The song has become a staple of our live set. It's an easy one to have fun with, and that last rock-out is great to lean in to and let everything loose.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself with the full album stream - right here!
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