Singled Out: Heavy Static's Andromeda

08/04/2016
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Heavy Static just released their new EP, "Here Comes The Fear" and to celebrate we asked lead vocalist and guitarist Christian Patrick to tell us the story behind the single "Andromeda" Here is the story:

The opening riff to "Andromeda" was one that had been drifting in and out of my brain for a few months. I actually came up with the progression while sitting on my couch after a night out. I'd had a few drinks and I remember thinking "this is so cool" - because I don't usually write songs starting with power chords nor do I ever write songs with quick-succession chord changes. It was different. Though, by the next morning I'd forgotten all about it. A week later it just came back to me at rehearsal and James (Heavy Static's drummer) and I jammed with it for a little while. Shortly after the practice, however, it was once again forgotten. Luckily, a few weeks later I remembered the riff again. Even more fortunate was that we were planning the "Here Comes The Fear" EP recording sessions when the song resurfaced.

Although it was a cool riff, it was quite difficult to build a song around because I didn't want to ruin the flow and energy. I've never been one to spend too much time working on a song because either it works or it doesn't work - but this song seemed like something worth sweating it out for. The song originally went by the working title "Sputnik." The word "Sputnik" was the first thing that came to mind when I tried to fit something lyrical in between that opening riff. I have no idea why. But that became the inspiration to the song's space-travel theme. When the song was recorded I still hadn't written any lyrics for the song. It's the first time I ever did that. That's how quickly the song was conceived and recorded.

The day I was to lay down vocals for the song, I still hadn't written any lyrics. I really wanted to find the right words. It was scary because I was very cognizant of the mistake of hastily jotting down lyrics. I had to be extra-vigilant that I wouldn't listen back to these words in a few months and think "I hate that line!" I wanted words that were close to rhyming but didn't actually rhyme in the typical way. Out of nowhere I came up with the line "The Oort's erratic ... " as the first line. It was so weird that it was perfect. Has anyone ever referenced the Oort cloud in a song? I don't think so! The rest of the words flowed from there. It's funny, because "static" is mentioned a few times in the song and that is actually where the band name is derived from. I was working on that particular song at the exact right time when we were looking for a new name for the band. I keep thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't working on something extremely uncool at the time or else we may have ended up with an embarrassing name like "Pearl Jam" or "Rainbow Butt Monkeys" (Yes, that last name is actually a Canadian band from the '90s).

Just before my final session for vocals, I realized I still hadn't come up with something to sing at the end of the song. I must have come up with 20 different melodies but nothing was working. I didn't really realize what exactly I was writing about when I wrote the lyrics, to be honest. I just had a space-travel theme in my head. But when I really started to post-analyze them, I realized that "Sputnik" wasn't the song. "Sputnik" was an instrument, a thing. I needed a place, and the name "Andromeda" came to mind. It seemed like the kind of place I'd want to find if I was lost. As soon as I came up with that idea, the end of the song wrote itself and the melody worked perfectly. The guitar lead at the end still sounds like circus music to me. A circus seems like the perfect thing for a welcome party on Andromeda!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and learn more about the EP right here!

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