Singled Out: Ginny Luke's Yeah Yeah Yeah

10-28-2024

Ginny Luke has worked from artists ranging from Foo Fighters and Meat Loaf to Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj, and now she is gearing up to release her own album, "Devil At My Heels". To celebrate we asked her to tell us about the song "Yeah Yeah Yeah". Here is the story:

I wrote "Yeah Yeah Yeah" to be one of those songs you blast getting ready or driving down the highway, feeling f***ing fabulous and like no one can mess with you. There's a unique feminine power and badass feeling I was trying to capture in the song--a youthful energy that was a cross between how I felt listening to Kesha or Charlie XCX growing up and as adults now rocking out at a concert or dancing, partying with your friends that make you feel badass. As I'm sure many people did in their early twenties, I also wanted to capture the rebellious free feeling of taking shots with friends and not giving a care about the world, while still knowing your power in your seduction skills and sexiness prowess.

I've always been a big advocate of women doing whatever they want, so the lines "I'm the kind of girl who grabs an alpha by the leash/Always braggin bout your cash but babe your talk is cheap/You really shouldn't mess with girls so far out your league" are words of encouragement to myself to be a woman that is that confident and doesn't give a damn. My writing partner, Kimi Liope, is a badass, no-nonsense type of gal, so some of her characteristics ended up being written into the song, which I think is cool, and the "show you who's been actin' out/Make you wanna scream it loud" was a nod to my violinist friend Lacy Rostyak, who I used to have the most fun adventures all over L.A. with, and who did not hold back screaming when she was having fun (hah!).

I also grew up in Iowa, where people party as a sport, so "Ride it out/Drink it down/F*** it up right now" are actual things people used to say at parties I was at when challenging each other to drink more. It's simple, but I think women being rowdy is an act of rebellion in itself, and that's with the spirit of this whole Devil at My Heels album is--being heard and not holding back one's true self.

Two funny and odd aspects in this song finally coming out in 2024 are: 1. I moved out of my shot-taking phase of my life for the most part (don't tempt me! hah) and 2. the vocal production ended up being a lot less of a feminine girly-rock vibe for the record and become a lot more intense, with more whisper textures, gritted teeth, etc. And the cute poppy edgy synths were taken out, so the song became a lot heavier, which, on one hand, makes it more musically relatable in the rock world, but also makes it more mature and less light-hearted.

The crazy drum fill in the middle of the song was nailed by Johannes Gritscacher, the insane guitar/electric violin battle was with Nick Marbury (had literally no idea what was happening while we were recording this part of the recording session). My producer Dave Darling just told me to get in the room and musically respond on violin to Nick's guitar improv ideas so I did. I was SO nervous, I haven't been that nervous in YEARS playing the violin, (I've played classical violin since I was 3 and I do like a hundred recording sessions per year! I'm always in control! Why was I nervous!?), but it turned out cool and we got super edgy tones on the electric violin thanks to Nick's pedal and tone expertise (Nick, do you have any idea what pedal we used on that?!). One of my favorite parts of the whole record is Dmitry Gorodetsky's bass playing, which fills out this track substantially as well, and the memory of originally coming up with the concept of the song when hearing guitarist Lucas Sader's heavy repetitive opening riff for the first time.

I hope it sets a new standard for what people think the electric violin can do, and most importantly makes people feel they can be whoever and whatever they want to be.

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