To coincide with the launch of their iconic and provocative, catchy new rock and roll gem Somebody’s Always Doin’ Something 2 Somebody, we caught an interview with DownTown Mystic songwriter and frontman Robert, to find out more about the making of the song, the ideas that inspired it, the musicianship, and his thoughts on the role of the artist. Here’s the conversation in full.
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Hi Robert – great to catch up with you, and huge congrats for the brilliant new single! To introduce things, what inspired the title and concept for ‘Somebody’s Always Doin’ Something 2 Somebody’?
Thanks so much Rebecca! It’s always a pleasure to get a chance to chat with you. I hope you’re ready to take a ride on the Spiritual Side.
That’s a really good question and I wish I knew the answer. Seriously, I wish I knew where that came from. I wrote the song and demoed it back around 1990 and it was an accident that I even recorded this version you hear now. But was it an accident or a coincidence? I would call what happened to be synchronicity. Everything always works for you.
The truth is I went into the studio to record When The Angels Sing (on the AmeriKarma album) the day after Christmas 2021, and it was kind of a bust, which was unusual. I had also brought a DAT with me that had a bunch of demos on it because I needed to get a song from it to be transferred to an MP3. I wanted my guys to hear the demo so we could record the song at the sessions in January 2022. When I put the DAT into the DAT machine, I was fast forwarding to the song I wanted, and the fadeout of the previous song came on. If you’ve ever used a DAT machine you know what I mean.
When I heard the fade out of that previous song the light bulb in my head went off. It was this song Somebody’s Always Doin’ Something 2 Somebody and I had totally forgotten about it. It was like “whoa we could kill that song in the studio!” So, I also got an MP3 of it to send. That is the only reason we’re talking about the song now. Accident, coincidence?? I don’t think so. LOL
The lyrics draw connection to the stories of the Bible and the societal changes we’ve seen since its inception. What do you hope people take away from this song?
Everybody knows the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible. We’re told Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit, which got them kicked out of the Garden of Eden. That was the original sin we’re all supposed to be born with. Sounds like a scam to me. In fact, she was hipping Adam to awaken him with the knowledge that would enlighten mankind.
“You could say that Adam & Eve were the first WOKE people on earth. Now we’re rockin’! LOL.”
What do I hope people take away from the song?
I think I would want people to just look at the obvious truth we all see every day. I used the “war of the sexes” as an excuse to get to the bigger picture. Somebody is always doing something to somebody. It’s as old as the Bible and everybody knows it. I made it tongue-in-cheek to make it easier to digest. Everyone has experienced it and knows what it is.
Your focus remains clearly on keeping rock and roll alive, but the conceptual and topical edge of this release is confronting alongside that – how important is it for you as an artist to reflect upon the issues of modern times?
Here’s why Rock & Roll is still topical, especially in the USA. It’s always been about freedom for the individual, which includes freedom of speech. In its own way, RnR is very much about the ideals of the American way. It’s old school smarts. It’s a state of mind. It has an attitude that doesn’t like BS. What is more BS than politics? We just want to live our lives, and we can’t because of politicians trying to pit us against each other for their agendas.
“Why did politicians try to get RnR banned when it started in the 1950s? They didn’t like that kids were listening to songs with sexual undertones, particularly by black artists. It was ok for Pat Boone to sing Tutti Frutti but not Little Richard. One was pure white bread, and the other was the devil. Sound familiar? They feared white and black kids coming together because politics is all about division. Today’s generation don’t play that BS!”
As an artist I must be able to express my authentic self, otherwise what’s the point? I also think it’s important for an artist to reflect on the issues of the times they live in. My music has a vibe and frequency that I want to be heard and felt in the world.
I make music for a new generation to discover what new RnR sounds like so they can do their thing and keep moving it forward. Like you said, my focus is on bringing RnR into the 21 st Century.
The USA was built on rock’n’roll. Just because some artists die and new sounds emerge doesn’t mean that RnR is dead. It was once the mainstream. Where do you hear all the great songs? Classic Rock and Oldies radio stations, right? There are kids who grew up on Classic Rock because their parents played it and now, they’re turning 30 and 40. In many cases, when their kids listen to a Classic Rock station, its NEW music to them.
Like anything else, if you want to be heard as an artist, you need to find your own style and create something that’s different. RnR has a rich history and I try to honor that.
You take on this idea with a cleverly vague and poetic approach – do you remember the lyric writing process, and how did you narrow things down to meet the ultimate anthem and groove of the released single?
My writing process always starts with the music. I was trying to write a hit song and came up with the riff that the entire song is built on. I had a synth with like 3 or 4 cool sounds and the sound for this bass made me want to write a riff to it. I thought it sounded so cool that I had to write a song around it. Hit songs are simple, catchy and repetitive. This song is all about the riff and the groove. Make it simple and get a sexy vibe going. You want it to be infectious. Men and women are at war here, but the groove makes them want to rip each other’s clothes off! LOL
The title is the entire hook of the song, but I don’t think I had it at the time. My process back then would be to come up with a musical idea and work it out with an arrangement that I would write the lyrics to. Once I got an idea for the lyric, I would start by writing a verse. The verse would make me look at what would come next in the chorus. In a way I’m creating and discovering what comes next and I know I’m going to have to nail it in the chorus.
I probably got the idea to start writing about Adam & Eve because I was thinking about a war of the sexes type of thing. The groove had sex appeal, so it had to be about a woman or women in general. Men and women, what could be simpler? The obvious starting point would be Adam & Eve, and if I was going to write about Adam & Eve, then I wanted something biblical. Making a statement about men & women has to start with the Bible (Truth!). It gives what you’re writing about an air of authority that helps to sell it to the listener.
It would also allow me to make it a bit tongue-in-cheek. The track has a groove that’s sexy to sing over and lets you tease and have some fun with it. Men rag on women and women rag on men. I decided to have a female sing on the track to make it more inclusive. I think the female voice gives a subtle vibe that makes it ok for both sexes to be cool and positive with it. The listener immediately thinks about how true it is, right? Yeah, somebody’s always doin’ something to somebody. It’s in The Bible! Ha!
This is easily one of your catchiest and most stylish hooks to date – how and where did you come up with that chorus?
I’m not sure how I came up with the chorus. My guess is The 7 Hands or The Light 8 were involved. Lol You’re probably wondering who’s that, right? I was not aware of them back then, but I’ve since learned that they might have been around. The 7 Hands and The Light 8 are spirit guides. They work with people who are doing creative endeavors and they can help with the creative ideas.
“Nobody can say where the ideas for the songs they write come from. It’s a mysterious process for everybody who does it. These spirit guides are called in by your Higher Self. Remember, your name vibrates with a frequency that can attract others to you on the spirit plane. But I digress…”
So Eve tempted Adam and that would have sparked the idea of somebody doing something to somebody. I like to take words that are similar to each other that I can ping-pong with, and in this case, have some form of alliteration to them. So logically, getting somebody leads to something and back to somebody again. I just needed to fill in the blanks. I knew when I got the chorus I had the hook to the song. It was perfect. The entire chorus would be the title of the song. That was cool. lol
Tell us about the musical side – who plays on the tracks, and how long was the final mix in the making?
I cut the basic track in January 2022 with drummer Steve Holley and bassist Paul Page thanks to that MP3. I knew the key to making the track work would be the bass sound that I had on the demo. I didn’t have the synth anymore, so I was going to have to find one with that sound. I met keyboardist Jeff Levine at Shorefire Studios before we cut the track. He knew Steve and had his own studio downstairs. Steve introduced me and I got Jeff’s contact info. Steve told me he played with Jeff in Joe Cocker’s band. I would find out that Jeff has a very impressive resume—Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Fogerty, Hall & Oates, the list goes on.
The original demo had a jam built in and Steve & Paul followed the demo, so we recorded the full jam. On the 2nd verse Steve does this stutter step on the snare that is so subtle but mind-blowing. Paul’s solid bass keeps the groove flowing, which allowed me to keep the synth off the verses. A few weeks later I had Jeff come in and cut B-3 organ and piano. I wanted to get an authentic old school sound the demo didn’t possess. Then I told him I needed to find this sound for the bass riff. We went into the control room where there was a Moog.
He tried it out and started to give me some sounds until I heard what I was after and then proceeded to record the part on the Moog. The final touch was bringing in Michele Weir to sing harmony and background vocals. I got the idea for the background “shoops” while she was recording her parts. The 7 Hands were probably telling me to change it up from the demo. It’s a bit weird going back to a song you wrote in another time and place because you don’t have the same head and interest you did when you wrote it. I was learning the song like Steve, Paul and Jeff did. LOL
Somebody’s Always Doin’ Something 2 Somebody took about 35 mixes to get it right. I recently went in and did some new mixes and that brings the number up to 50! I should add that includes full versions and instrumentals of both versions. I think some of these mixes will probably make it to the next album.
The release includes an animated Ai visual, but what about the live aspect – any videos or shows planned?
The single is from the Mystic Highway EP which will be released on November 7. This is one rocking EP!! It’s got intensity and energy all over the place. It’s a musical statement of modern RnR in the 21 st Century. You know Rebecca, I’ve become something of a RnR Influencer, thanks in part to reviewers like you. LOL I’m getting more eyes and ears and I’m getting to show them my RnR side. I hold myself to a higher bar because I want to remain true to the history of what came before. The music has to have authenticity and be of the highest quality I can get. In regard to the Ai video for Somebody’s Always Doin’ Something 2 Somebody, it will have over 100,000 views by the time this interview is out, which is crazy for me! I have a new Ai video planned for the EP release, which I think is even cooler.
Is there anything else we need to know about this release or your plans for the coming weeks?
The single and Mystic Highway EP will finish 2025 on a rocking note and help set up the first release in 2026, which will be the On E Street Remix project. I went in the studio to reimagine the songs I recorded with Max Weinberg & Garry Tallent from The E Street Band. I think these guys form one of the best rhythm sections in RnR history and deserve their due.
These songs have taken on some historical significance because they were recorded when Max & Garry were recording the Born In The USA album with Bruce. Think about that. Their lives and careers were about to blow up with the biggest album in Springsteen’s career. They were so in sync with each other from the sessions for that record. Then I got this amazing opportunity to record my songs with them. I’ve done some mixes that showcase just how tight they were on the tracks. I’ve recorded some new things for it and I think it’s going to rock. I can’t wait to release it. What a trip!
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