“Hey Mary Jane” is probably one of my favorite songs to play from the new record. It’s also one of my favorite productions off the new record. Unfortunately when it got pitched to retail it got nothing whereas songs like “Cheddar”, “Everyone Knows Your Name”, and “House Party” have all gotten Apple and Amazon music placements respectively. The day “Hey Mary Jane” was released I got on the phone with Ryan which is typical for any Gumdrop release day. We talked about the songwriting, production, mixing, and mastering of the track. I tend to take the songwriting and production closest to my heart since I don’t mix or master the track and therefore only provide feedback on balancing at that point. However, I spent hours workshopping different bells and whistles and pads and backing vocal arrangements to create a really full-feeling production. I think where I missed the mark a bit from garnering curator support was a mainstream appeal to the lyrics whereas mine are maybe more high-level fly-on-wall and introspective with a touch of vague philosophical/existential implication rather than meeting a listener where they are. I’m not trying to come off as high-minded or snobby but lines like “take all of your burdens and push them back someway, nothing is predictable and no one is the same” I thought hit pretty hard. Maybe somewhere out in another universe is a version where there are thicker walls of guitar and the compressors are hitting a bit harder and this got all sorts of playlist support. Despite this, I still love the pentatonic melodic hook on the guitar and everyone tends to love the live arrangements the band has been doing. By no means am I anywhere close to stopping songwriting because one of my favorite tracks missed playlist support and one of my lesser tracks got lots of support. 2024 will be a killer year and I’m on the precipice of releasing “Your Heart is My Home” which I’m wildly excited for!!
Just a little self-reflection here. Please check out “Hey Mary Jane” below!
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