Singled Out: Mike's Dead's GRIP

Mike's Dead released his new EP 'REBIRTH' today, November 30th, via Hopeless Records and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about one of the tracks, and he selected "GRIP". Here is the story:

There's a few songs I could dive deep into on this new EP, but I think GRIP is a really solid choice to single out. The first song on the EP, GRIP starts with acoustic guitar and seamlessly drops into industrial mayhem which was entirely new for me. I've never had the opportunity to use an acoustic guitar on a track so this made for a really unique intro.

From the production perspective, I co-produced this track w/ two friends, Markus Videsäter from Solence, and Matías Mora. I was in LA for some sessions and this track flowed seamlessly; with all 3 of us piling on top of the computer to put our ideas in. There was this sort of neurotic meticulousness that went into the song - everyone throwing idea after idea but crafting it to be super specific and particular. We definitely hit the industrial mark while still keeping it modern with 808's on the verses and an open, yet detuned pre chorus. Something that really separates this track from an average Mike's Dead song is that we played 7ths on the chords for the chorus which gave it this "church anthem" vibe that normally you won't hear in my songs. We tried power chords after and it just didn't feel right, so we kept the 7ths and really leaned into this big radio friendly chorus.

Writing was a bit less seamless, as I wrote the chorus in session and came home and finished the verses later. I wanted to deliver that same strong Mike's Dead hip hop element while still maintaining this pretty church vibe on the singing sections. From an overall perspective, the track really focuses on mental health and just throwing in the towel. I feel like I've written so many songs about either bettering myself, or maintaining, that it was inevitable to write from the heart about giving up (or at least being on the edge). The chorus came out seamlessly; it maybe took me 10 minutes to write both lyrics and melody, which is always a good sign of something coming from deep down. I really leaned into the idea of slipping into destruction on the verses to kinda hit the nail on the head.

This & Bite Down are definitely my two favorites on the EP. They both have a similar tone but very different styles. I'm incredibly excited for people to hear these two specifically as they paint an awesome picture of what Mike's Dead represents. Also incredibly excited to add GRIP to our live set and play it on the upcoming tours!

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

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