Singled Out: The Kunes Clark Band (Cactus, Trans-Siberian Orchestra)'s Step Up Step Aside

The Kunes Clark Band, Jimmy Kunes (Cactus, Humble Pie) and Angus Clark (Joe Lynn Turner, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), just premiered their debut single "Step Up Step Aside" and to celebrate we asked them to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

Angus: "Step Up Step Aside" was one of the last songs to be written for the Kunes Clark Band album. We already had a variety of stuff for the record, some of it we wrote years ago, but we didn't have anything really up tempo, so we were looking for a vibe. I immediately went to Hendrix, thinking of something like "Fire", or "The Rocker" by Thin Lizzy. And that stuff requires a massive guitar riff. So I had an idea of the rhythmic feel, tempo, and so on, I just needed a MASSIVE RIFF.

In writing with Jimmy I've been pulling a lot of inspiration from anything that he sings, little improvised things that happen and so forth. He does this bluesy thing where he jumps the octave in the middle of a phrase and I always thought it sounded cool, so I wanted to find a way of putting that in, and you can hear all over the riff. It differentiates it from other rock riffs of the same type, and I'm really happy with it.

Once I had the big riff it was all about leaving room for the vocal in the arrangement, so that's why the rhythm part is so broken up and syncopated during the verse. Then it switches to a more driving sound before releasing into the hook. I had all that arranged before Jimmy and I got together and he started improvising stuff. We just ran tape on it and he laid down a ton of ideas, out of all of it, he hit the "step up baby" line and it stuck out. We leaned into that and got to where we both liked "step up baby, or step aside." That line kind of tells you the whole story, right? Are we doing this thing or not?

The rest of my work was in spinning out the arrangement, go here for the guitar solo, go to half time so that we can build it up to the last iteration of the hook. That's a big deal for me with arranging rock songs, how do you make the hook at the end of the song pay off in a big way, and here we do that by doubling the length of the last pre-chorus. It goes from half time to standard to double time with some extra chords that delay the expectations of the listener so when we get to the last "Step up baby" you're just as frustrated by the situation as Jimmy is! Than when we ride out on the riff the whole band is just going for it with me and Jimmy both wailing over the top. Massive kudos to Van Romaine for his drum performance on this track, along with Winston Roye on the bass, the rhythm section really makes the whole thing pop! I'll turn it over to Jimmy as far as the lyrics and melody.

Jimmy: My inspiration for the message and lyric is based upon how we are living in such a claustrophobic world these days and I'm deflecting a storyline that moved me by Angus's intense catch riff (I insisted he keep the octave in)! It's about a perceived relationship that's on the skids. Sometimes one realizes that you're not trying to explain your motives to someone else, but trying to justify it all unto oneself.

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

Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Cactus Stars Launch The Kunes Clark Band

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