ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 12/7/2008
Posts: 87,284
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Hey guys! I'm very excited to share Warrior with you! This collaboration between Mark Foster, A-Trak & I happened almost entirely over the internet and across 21 cities & 4 continents! Below are the various places we all worked on this song (between the three of us).
Hamburg
Cologne
Dusseldorf
Paris
London
Auckland
Melbourne
Austin
Washington
Philadelphia
New York
Los Angeles
Boston
Las Vegas
Honolulu
Salt lake city
Guadalajara
Mexico City
Colombia
Buenos Aires
Jamaica
Now that's what I call 'world music'.
Being a big fan of both A-Trak and Foster The People, I jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with them for Converse, especially considering the calibre of past collaborations that Converse had orchestrated (like Gorillaz, Andre 3000 & James Murphy for example!). We worked mainly over email because of our hectic schedules but Mark and I later got to work on the song together in LA and I finally met A-Trak at SXSW in Texas which was great. I'm super honoured to have worked with both these guys.
Being a once-off collaboration, this opportunity really allowed for us to let loose and have a bit of fun without being too attached (like we all tend to be when it is a song purely written for our own records). I could explore a different territory vocally and we could all experiment with a vibe we might not of delved into without the influence of each other which is what the Converse collaborations are all about. It's always refreshing for me to jump onto an entirely different project as most of you know i have been on the VOWS bandwagon since I was about 17... ha. There's nothing like a fresh collaboration to re-inspire, and it's always funner when it's in a different sonic world to the one I usually create.
The track first came about in NY when A-Trak and Mark did a session together. They sent me through their beat with the music/chords Mark had written as well as the hook over the chorus that he sings. I was in an airport in Hamburg, Germany when I received the track - feeling pretty glum because I'd just had to cancel 2 shows with Gotye due to mild tonsilitis and a loss of my voice! However, it turned out to be perfect timing as I had heaps of ideas come to me when I heard the track and nuzzled into my Macbook to sing my vocal melodies (hoping people in the airport wouldn't notice and think I'm crazy) just before we boarded our flight. Ha! I went on to complete the rest of the vocals/ lyrics (and writing the bridge) in a hotel in Cologne while communicating with Mark and Atrak who were in LA and Paris (respectively) at the time. This is what they call a 21st century collaboration people!
Funnily enough, we actually felt there was such a vibe from some of the airport/ Macbook takes that a lot of them actually made it into the final version of the song! Ha! Let that be an encouragement to fellow macbook music-makers! Lo-fi is so hot right now. We had a lot of fun making this video too. Stunt doubles, roundhouse kicks, luchadore masks, everything I love! You can check that out here.
I also really enjoyed writing the lyrics to this track. Mark's initial suggestion after writing the 'pushing me down' hook was that we try and write the song about something or someone who threatens to take away our joy. There are people who always want to bring you down, and 'Warrior' is about standing up for what you believe and following your convictions even when people want to prove you wrong or explain away the mystical or extraordinary experiences you have. There are people who try to take away our sense of beauty and awe of the world by rationalising it all away with human theories and therefore cheapening our emotions by minimising them to pure math or chemical reactions. Although these views are valid and can be worthwhile and progressive in their own right, this song is a call back to embrace that child-like wonder and strength in 'feeling' things, while not always fully understanding them. There's a war-cry at the heart of this song that I feel strongly about.... Will we raise our men and women to be strong in heart & 'to cry for the ones they love'? Or just automated to be strong in body and mind, but lacking in empathy? Hold onto your light.... follow it to the end... and fight the man! Preferably with a roundhouse kick to the face in a Luchadore mask and spandex leotard!!! Haha  But of course & as always, make of it what you will! That's just my slice of the pie x
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WOW!
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