Track By Tracks: Getaway Van - Getaway Van (2019)
1. Intro:
C: As the name implies, this is an introductory track to get you a little acquainted with Getaway Van before the album really takes off. I wrote the piano melody when I was living with my parents in their old place. They had a beautiful Steinway & Sons piano from 1918, and I would frequently sit down at it and screw around. This was the result of some of that screwing. We took it into the studio with a general idea of what we wanted to do with it, but it really came together with the help of our producer Mike Slater. I clearly remember when we listened back to it the first time, and it just sounded so much larger and just sounded… Huge. Way bigger sound than we were creating in our rehearsal space at the time. We listened to the playback and there were smiles all around in that studio.
Z: People who know us are definitely going to be caught off guard by this one. They're used to our big booming, fast-paced, unhinged rock, but instead, they'll be greeted by this slow somber piano tune. It'll lull them into a false sense of security… And that's when the big booming, fast-paced, unhinged rock comes in.
2. Branches:
Der: Branches was one that I wrote. It is really about my time working my job as a Project Manager in Healthcare IT in 2017. Work was demanding really long days and nights, weekends, just drawing every bit of patience and energy out of me. I was working 15-18 hour days in front of the computer screen and my eyes became so bloodshot that I wrote the chorus lyrics of “Bleeding, they’re growing branches; my eyes are wide and drying”. I wrote this as an outlet to vent, and I think the manic sort of feel that I had is really well represented in the sound.
Dev: Branches was the first song we all wrote together. It was fast, and it was heavy. I come from a Punk Rock background, so I was really stoked for this one. It’s still one of my favourites to play.
3. Comin Back:
C: This is a song I wrote during the summer of ‘18. Getaway Van, as a collective, went through a bit of a rough patch, and there was just a lot of uncertainty in the air. We lost a bit of our kinship for a couple weeks, but we pulled through and our personal relationships with one another were stronger than ever. It was a well of inspiration for me because I’d always felt very connected with these dudes, and the fact that we were able to overcome what has been our biggest obstacle thus far, really solidified to me that we had a good group of not only bandmates but brothers.
Dev: This is probably our newest song. To me, it’s got a great RocknRoll sound, and it’s definitely got some meaning behind it. Every band goes through difficult times, but we all got through it and we came back. Hence the title “Comin’ Back”.
4. Follow Me:
C: I came up with the intro riff for this song after listening to a lot of really doomy stuff, like Kyuss and Ordos. I love how bands like that frequently will just let the bottom string ring out while playing the rest of the melody, so I decided to take a page out of their book on that one. I wrote some lyrics and took it to the guys, and we screwed around with the different vocal harmonies and lead guitar lines until we found something we really liked. This is another song that Mike Slater had a huge influence on, as he helped us really fill it out.
Der: This song is one of my favourites. The number of different layers going on both instrumentally and vocally in this song really felt like we turned the corner in our writing of songs together. We tried to build an uneasy feeling in the music with the dissonance in the verse chords, which really added to the creepy vibe of the song about stalking and murdering someone in the subway tunnels of London. We spent quite a while composing this, but the juice was well worth the squeeze.
Der: Branches was one that I wrote. It is really about my time working my job as a Project Manager in Healthcare IT in 2017. Work was demanding really long days and nights, weekends, just drawing every bit of patience and energy out of me. I was working 15-18 hour days in front of the computer screen and my eyes became so bloodshot that I wrote the chorus lyrics of “Bleeding, they’re growing branches; my eyes are wide and drying”. I wrote this as an outlet to vent, and I think the manic sort of feel that I had is really well represented in the sound.
Dev: Branches was the first song we all wrote together. It was fast, and it was heavy. I come from a Punk Rock background, so I was really stoked for this one. It’s still one of my favourites to play.
3. Comin Back:
C: This is a song I wrote during the summer of ‘18. Getaway Van, as a collective, went through a bit of a rough patch, and there was just a lot of uncertainty in the air. We lost a bit of our kinship for a couple weeks, but we pulled through and our personal relationships with one another were stronger than ever. It was a well of inspiration for me because I’d always felt very connected with these dudes, and the fact that we were able to overcome what has been our biggest obstacle thus far, really solidified to me that we had a good group of not only bandmates but brothers.
Dev: This is probably our newest song. To me, it’s got a great RocknRoll sound, and it’s definitely got some meaning behind it. Every band goes through difficult times, but we all got through it and we came back. Hence the title “Comin’ Back”.
4. Follow Me:
C: I came up with the intro riff for this song after listening to a lot of really doomy stuff, like Kyuss and Ordos. I love how bands like that frequently will just let the bottom string ring out while playing the rest of the melody, so I decided to take a page out of their book on that one. I wrote some lyrics and took it to the guys, and we screwed around with the different vocal harmonies and lead guitar lines until we found something we really liked. This is another song that Mike Slater had a huge influence on, as he helped us really fill it out.
Der: This song is one of my favourites. The number of different layers going on both instrumentally and vocally in this song really felt like we turned the corner in our writing of songs together. We tried to build an uneasy feeling in the music with the dissonance in the verse chords, which really added to the creepy vibe of the song about stalking and murdering someone in the subway tunnels of London. We spent quite a while composing this, but the juice was well worth the squeeze.
5. Ugh:
C: This was the first song that Zack brought into our world, and I have always really liked it. It’s simple but has that angsty, grungy 90s feel to it, and that era was the soundtrack to my adolescence, so this song hits home with me for sure. Plus, the back half is one big guitar solo, and I’m not gonna say no to that.
C: This was the first song that Zack brought into our world, and I have always really liked it. It’s simple but has that angsty, grungy 90s feel to it, and that era was the soundtrack to my adolescence, so this song hits home with me for sure. Plus, the back half is one big guitar solo, and I’m not gonna say no to that.
Z: I was in a dark, drunk, anxious, and lonely place when I penned the angst-ridden lyrics to this one. This slow, grungy trudge through melodramatic existentialism is sure to have people swaying, and cursing the world around them.
6. Blacktop Mistress:
Der: Man, I bought a brand new car this year. It’s a turbo Honda Civic hatchback that’s black on black. I worked really hard to get it, and it just made sense to write a song about it. However, I kind of wrote the song about how getting the car, getting back into the car scene again, it’s something that is productive and fun. It gives me another outlet to have fun with, that is more constructive than partying or just lazing around watching TV all the time. So for me, this song talks about finding the thing you’re passionate about and going for the ride. Get out there! Do stuff! I also wanted to tip my hat to the desert rock scene, and songs about cars are obviously the way to go. Haha.
Dev: This is a simple song that’s fun, loud, and just good RocknRoll. The album has some serious topics, but I think it’s important to keep an element of fun. Sometimes you just need a song about a car.
7. You Make Everything:
C: This is just a good ol rock n roll song that started with me humming some words in the shower one day. I came up with the basic vocal melody before any of the music, which is the only time I’ve written a song in that order. I wanted to write something in the vein of long-haired 70s rock n roll, and I feel like this captures that well. It’s your quintessential love song, written about my girlfriend.
C: This is just a good ol rock n roll song that started with me humming some words in the shower one day. I came up with the basic vocal melody before any of the music, which is the only time I’ve written a song in that order. I wanted to write something in the vein of long-haired 70s rock n roll, and I feel like this captures that well. It’s your quintessential love song, written about my girlfriend.
Z: This is just a ball's to the wall, booty shaking rock'n'roll tune. Definitely a song that'll get people moving on the dance floor and the lyrics come from a place of love, which is always good!
8. Lord I’ve Been Running:
Z: I was just messing around one day on my guitar and this beautiful little ZZ Top-esque riff just sort of fell out of me. I immediately formed a song around it to match the urgent tone of the riff. The lyrics, again, come from a place of personal anguish. I was broke and over-worked, and in need of a vacation, as I'm sure many of us are. The narrator in the song is pleading with God/the universe/anyone who will listen to just give him a break.
C: I love this song. This is another Zack Fox special. He played the opening riff one day at rehearsal, and my mind went “WHAT IN THE SWEET FRESH HELL IS THIS?!” I had an immediate attachment to this song. Zack and I took our time making sure we were nailing our vocal harmonies in the chorus, and I feel like the guitar riff in the verses did a good job of capturing the urgency of this song. It’ll get ya runnin, that’s for damn sure.
9. So Long:
C: This was one of the first three songs that flew under the Getaway Van moniker. You can find it on our first EP as well. This is basically a different conception of a song called “Greece,” that Derek and I played in our last band, Destructive Interference. I wrote Greece a loooong time ago, when my girlfriend and I first started seeing each other, and there was a lot of rockiness. We started Getaway Van, and I still really like that song, but knew it could be way better, so I tinkered and retooled it into what it is today. Once we got the rest of the band behind it, it really started taking form. The outro of repeating, offset, and harmonized “So Longs” juxtaposed to the searing lead line from Derek really makes this track stand out to me.
C: I love this song. This is another Zack Fox special. He played the opening riff one day at rehearsal, and my mind went “WHAT IN THE SWEET FRESH HELL IS THIS?!” I had an immediate attachment to this song. Zack and I took our time making sure we were nailing our vocal harmonies in the chorus, and I feel like the guitar riff in the verses did a good job of capturing the urgency of this song. It’ll get ya runnin, that’s for damn sure.
9. So Long:
C: This was one of the first three songs that flew under the Getaway Van moniker. You can find it on our first EP as well. This is basically a different conception of a song called “Greece,” that Derek and I played in our last band, Destructive Interference. I wrote Greece a loooong time ago, when my girlfriend and I first started seeing each other, and there was a lot of rockiness. We started Getaway Van, and I still really like that song, but knew it could be way better, so I tinkered and retooled it into what it is today. Once we got the rest of the band behind it, it really started taking form. The outro of repeating, offset, and harmonized “So Longs” juxtaposed to the searing lead line from Derek really makes this track stand out to me.
Dev: This one is a lot of fun for me. It was the first song we wrote where we all went “holy shit”. With kind of a heavy blues feel, we knew we were on to something different. I always enjoy playing it live, especially being a drummer.
Z: A sweet little reprise of the intro to send you on your way after absorbing the preceding chaos. And yes, that is a piano.
Der: The outro idea was just to tie up the end of the album with the same grand piano that we had in the intro. Charlie wrote that piano melody and we sat on it for a long time before coming up with somewhere to use it, but I think we nailed this one.
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