Calgary garage influenced rockers Crooked Spies recently released their new single "Pay It Mind" and to celebrate we asked Dylan Evanik to tell us about the track. Here is the story:
To preface this tale of our new single Pay it Mind. I figured I'd start by saying that I was a tad worried about the title itself. Nothing like starting an article with a bit of self doubt. I'm not usually one to concern myself with such troubles but I could not escape the thought that people would think I was unaware of the actually saying. The title is based on the old adage "pay it no mind" and I was losing a few zzzs over the idea of having people constantly telling me that I got it wrong. I should have heeded the advice of the true saying I guess. Dad joke alert. Knee slap. Moving on. Now to Pay it Mind.
Pay it Mind was one of those songs that was written front to back super quickly. It was really only two sittings with the riff and lyrics coming only a week apart. When I'm not musicianing I do field work as a geologist in northern Alberta working on tailings ponds. Now when I say ponds I mean extremely large man made lakes filled with the remains of human energy consumption. I'm actually writing this currently on a stint, at a super sh*tty camp, located about 20 steps away from a massive open mine. Weird. The lyrics for the song came my first morning back after a long shift away from home (not unlike the one I am currently on) as I sat on my patio in a semi-soothing state of self loathing. The song is based on being trapped in a repetitive cycle or living out the same mistakes over and over again.
The premise of the song is to actually acknowledge the fact that your in this destructive loop and legitimately make a change in your life. It doesn't matter if it's big or small. Basically to get out of the repetitive cycle of bullsh*t you might be dealing with. Being a musician and being away from home a lot makes it pretty easy to develop some self destructive habits. For me personally it was "indulging" a bit too much and not really being present in my own life...if that makes any sense. I was just reflecting on that old saying "pay it no mind" and thinking that it doesn't always apply. Paying it Mind made much more sense to me at the time. Instead of not paying attention or dismissing things or "putting sh*t behind you", it's about actually recognizing that you or maybe someone you love has an issue. Acknowledging the fact that you're f***ing up can allow a person to take the necessary steps and actions to improve. At the very least it begins a personal dialogue of understanding. By focusing on the negative you can actually turn it around to be a positive learning experience. By paying attention you are actually present in your own life. The song is based off of this idea.
Recording it was an absolute blast and the entire process had the vibe of buds making tunes in a basement. This could be because we recorded the track with a bud in a basement but I cannot be certain. It was stress free and honestly super refreshing to go back to that mentality. The last record we did was a little more stressful to put together, mostly due to the fact that none of us were ever in the studio together at the same time. After all was said and done though, we didn't completely make it out unscathed having suffered a couple of casualties in the forms of a broken speaker stand and hole in the wall of the recording space. Said casualties were the result of a freak wheel falling off a chair and Dylan (me) taking a slow motion windmill fall into the wall incident. We are happy to say no musical equipment was harmed in the production of these tracks. Mostly just pride. Walls don't feel pain but I did.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself right here!
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