Originally taken from Wild Ones' 2013 album Keep it Safe, listen as vocalist Danielle Sullivan's vocals on “From Nothing” get dressed up in an 80s slow motion fantasy on the following premiere of the remix from Double Plus Good. Erik Carlson of DPG latches on to the keyboard chemistry of Thomas Himes to the melodic rhythmic contributions from Clayton Knapp and Seve Sheldon found on the original to illustrate a whole other world hidden within the song's fields of sound.
Carlson recreates “From Nothing” with a cinematic ear like a Molly Ringwald pictorial retrofitted review to house Danielle's vocals. All the original audio trails dive into hyper-specialized modules that obliterate the parameters of the space-time continuum like cracking open a shaken up time-capsule can of Tab from 1981. The keyboards underscore scenarios of prom date pickups, nervous car rides, awkward talks with the parents, and moments stolen away from the authoritative view of faculty chaperones patrolling the school dance.
The song's chorus becomes a prime time soap opera theme that sends out a relatable drama through the slow spanning sound restructuring from DPG. The four minutes enter the complicated aspects of amour, the constant confusion, and the infinite frustrations from being young at heart while attempting to grasp and understand what strong empathetic feelings truly entail. And just as the keyboard progressions elicit the analogous futurism from that former epoch of boxy cars and the reign of Reagan; the rising stair ascension turns the synthesizer into effective shining klaxons and sirens that point to a new era. A new time that exists outside of allusory comparisons from paradigms past. Erik builds forth from Wild Ones' hints and initial inklings the recreation of what was probably there all along that echoes an experience evolved from the phenomenology of nothing.
We caught up briefly with Double Plus Good’s Erik Carlson on extending the aural pop wonderland hooks by reconfiguring the auditory frontiers of Wild Ones.
Care to give us some insight into the process of reworking the stems from Wild Ones' “From Nothing”?
I really love the chorus of the song, one of those lines I could hear a million times and not get sick of. I wanted to make the mix feel like it was in slow motion, kind of a sort of 80s movie slow fantasy scene, soft lens and smoke, so I could make the hook feel even longer. I got the idea to record the mix at double the speed and pitch, slow it down, and then lay Danielle’s vocals back on top of it. I really liked the effect, super ethereal and dreamy.
Wild Ones' Danielle Sullivan talked to us about the origins of “From Nothing”, as well as the remix.
How did “From Nothing” came about, whether or it was inspired or perhaps came from the ether, that great unknown nothing?
'From Nothing' is a song about writer's block. I sat down at my computer to write the song about something very different, but after hours of staring at a blank screen, I decided to write the song about the excruciating experience of writing the song. Meta, I know.
Thoughts on how “From Nothing” got transformed by Double Plus Good?
I love the DPG remix so much. A lot of Wild Ones songs have up beat instrumentation, but dark lyrical themes. This remix has a vibe that matches the song's meaning in a very satisfying way.
Wild Ones' Keep It Safe is available now from Party Damage Records.
