Singled Out: Valentin Marx's Made Up

01-21-2019

New York group Valentin Marx recently released their new single "Made Up" and to celebrate we asked guitarist and vocalist Andy Kissel to tell us about the inspiration for the track. Here is the story:

So Made Up was a song I had written about six months before I ever brought it to the band. I was just coming out of a relationship where I felt really out of touch, and the song was essentially my attempt to make sense out of a confusing situation. Social media, and all the various trappings of modern communication were really stressing me out. As soon as things with this person had really gained traction, she totally blew me off and essentially disappeared. I was amused to find out this is now called "ghosting" by the kids.

For whatever reason I really latched onto the concept and how it kinda encapsulated the whole situation, and the song was born. As much as I want to blame the failure of the relationship on technology and modern social constructs, the real issue was two people with very different worldviews and expectations. Months afterward, I ran into her at a coffee shop. She very casually offered me an apology for the situation, but also with a little twist that stuck with me: "I know it was a sh*tty thing to do, but my mind was made up so I just went with it."

My favorite part of this song is how it finally came together as a band project. I presented the finished tune to the band and we played through it a couple times. Brian stopped us about halfway through and said, "Hey, why don't we try it way faster." It totally changed the band's energy, and Travis' new bass line really pushed it over the top. So the Made Up that you hear now is at least twice as fast as how I had originally intended, and all the better for it.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself right here!