Singled Out: Blitz Vega's Lost Myself

Blitz Vega are gearing up to release their debut album Northern Gentleman this Friday (Sept 27th), which was co-produced by late bassist Andy Rourke of The Smiths fame. To celebrate we asked Kav Sandhu aka Kav Blaggers (guitar / lead vocals) to tell us about the single "Lost Myself". Here is the story:

Lost Myself first came about in June 2019. We were getting geared up to play our first live shows and Andy and I had both lost people close to us around this time. I was sitting on my roof in Los Feliz one night, looking at an epic sunset. I just started playing the chords to the chorus and the lyrics just flowed. The actual moment is captured on the single artwork of 'Lost Myself' which was when I took a picture of the sunset and the view of Los Angeles. I had no idea we would end up using it for the artwork. It just captured the moment.

I took the idea of the song to rehearsal, and Andy and the rest of the band were into it. We included it in the set list for our first full live show at House of Machines in downtown L.A. a few days later. Around the same time we recorded the first version of the song at Big Bad Sound studios in Echo Park. The session felt great! Andy came up with a melodic bass line that just elevated the chorus. Then we recorded the drums and keys pretty quickly.

The song sort of remained on the back burner for a while. I couldn't quite finish it - there was something missing. At some point in the middle of the pandemic we'd recorded some extra guitar parts including a hook riff that Greg Gent (guitarist/ backing vocals)'s teenage son Harrison Gent played. But still the song wasn't there - it felt like two different songs. So I decided to split the song in two. I took the verse and turned it into another song. At which point both parts felt good and worked well separately.

In March 2023 I really wanted to include the song on the album, or at least for it to be considered for the final cut. We'd been working with our co-producer & mixing engineer Will Kennedy for some time at the studio he owned with Matt Wallace Studio Delux at Sound City, Los Angeles. I was adding various musical parts to the song.

At this time, I'd also been travelling back and forth from LA to New York to see Andy. Andy was now unable to come to the studio as his illness had noticeably taken hold. It was so difficult to see. I'd begun writing about my own experience & this is what inspired the new verse. I went into Will's studio, where we recorded the new verse lyrics. The song finally felt right.

Looking back, I needed to go on this journey to capture all the different emotions and experiences in this track. The process had been genuine and natural. I played the final "Lost Myself' track to Andy at his place in Brooklyn and he was extremely happy with it. It was one of my favorite songs on the record & we decided to release it as a single.

You have to get your head in the right place to perform it live. It's probably the most emotional song on the album. You can't be off otherwise it just doesn't work. This song captured everything we went through and the struggle between darkness and light. Trying to find yourself in a place where you can get some peace of mind.

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

Blitz Vega Memorializes The Late Andy Rourke In 'Disconnected' Video

The Smiths' Andy Rourke's Final Album Coming This Spring

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