Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge? How about Two Cheers for a damn good song? Two Cheers, the pop-rock group based out of Los Angeles debuted their new track, “The Explode Boys.” Vocalist Bryan Akcasu opened up to us about the track, what it means to them, and where it stands with their new album, Splendor, which will be out July 21st. Check out the interview and stream of the track below.
There is a lot to say about how “The Explode Boys” came about. First of all, Mitchell wrote the guitar countermelody for this song on the chorus and interlude for another song of ours, “Into My Own”, and I liked it so much I thought it would be better to just create a whole new song around that riff. It is really special, and inspired the whole song — lyrics and all. About six months later, he’d thought I’d forgotten about it, but we were jamming late at night and I said, “Okay, let’s get back to this riff!” I don’t think he believed it would work because we don’t usually base a whole song around another song’s countermelody. I picked a beat from a library of loops I have, and we tried it but weren’t feeling it. I picked another to jam over, and we weren’t feeling that either. I picked a third loop to jam on… Still no luck. Finally, I turned all three loops on at once and we fell in love with the power and complexity of it. We started riffing over it and a chord progression I did on a Fender Bass VI, and I think he was playing his Fender Jaguar. I’d occasionally say “Okay! Play your riff here! Explode!” and he’d play the formerly “Into My Own” riff with gusto over the nascent new song. Well, those sections became the choruses. He came up with some spy licks for the verses to echo the interlude riff. We did a few overdubs and each time we’d both cry out “Explode!” right before the chorus. It always struck me as kind of absurd and I was always tempted to omit it from final song in order for it to be taken more seriously, whatever that means, but it became part of the fun and we agreed to keep it in.
A few months later I was writing lyrics for these songs, and usually that is where I decide whether or not the song is going to make the cut. I typically write lyrics in a very quick, stream-of-consciousness way because I get purer thoughts and images out that way. I liked what I came up with for the verses, and I was able to incorporate the “Explode” vocals, and I wept a little when I wrote the lyrics for the chorus – which is always a promising sign – but I was still not 100% sold on the song in general. As for what the lyrics mean, it’s the new album’s only love song. It’s kind of about the feeling of falling in love, but more so about being in love with everyone and everything you meet, like total compassion and appreciation, and never wanting to lose the ability to have that feeling… I get this kind of explosive, cosmic, super-nova feeling sometimes and it feels like my consciousness is bursting out of me and enveloping everyone around me and I feel for a moment that I understand what life is all about. All my senses become heightened and I remember what seem like thousands of sights and smells. So, the verses are kind of collages of some of those images through this strange filter, and the chorus is made of words I was using to express this impossible feeling. But it’s a bliss that is indescribable without music, so for me the lyrics themselves are meaningless without the context of Mitchell’s riff and the enormous drum beat. A song like this is always what I shoot for — it was a surprise to create from beginning to end, and it communicates something that I can’t communicate any other way.
Next up, I drank some white wine, played the demo back, and in a single take, came up with all the vocal melodies. I was in tears by the last chorus, and if I feel that way while I am writing a song, that seals the deal for me. I texted Mitchell right away that I thought our goofy “Explode” song might actually be one of the best on the record. I also kept that half-empty bottle of wine in my vocal booth untouched for almost a year, as kind of a lucky charm. As a final hurdle, the studio drummer, John O’ Reilly Jr., had to find a way to recreate the crazy drum beat, which was actually three drum beats in one. But, he is a genius, so it wasn’t much of an obstacle after all!
P.S. We shot a music video for this song. When it’s done, I hope you catch up with us and check it out.
