FM Berlin keep banging out the hits, this one inspired by 80’s band The Stone Roses and Natural Born Killers, and cranked out after a workshop with billboard hit song-writer Ralph Murphy. “Ransom,” is about a golden ticket out of here, an end to the rat race, and probably driving your car off a cliff when it’s all said and done. That’s how these things usually end, right? At least you’re guaranteed some good company.
“‘Ransom,’ is an urban take on young love and the intensity and romance that comes along with it. It’s a song that I’ve always wanted to write – young love through the eyes of the hopefully afflicted,” laughs FM Berlin’s Corey Hachey.
“Ransom” playfully echoes outlaw films like Bonnie & Clyde, Pulp Fiction, and specifically Natural Born Killers according to Hachey, “I mean, yeah, they were insane but they were as in love as any to people could ever be. The song is sort of an ode to new wave or post punk bands that we like from the 80’s and 90’s. It feels to me like something The Stone Roses would have released in the early days, or maybe The Cure.”
The song was churned out in a mad rush during a SOCAN Song House with Ralph Murphy, the man responsible for producing April Wine’s first album. Murphy is a hit maker who has worked with everyone from Country artists to Pop artists, and co-written countless number 1 Billboard hits.
“I came in with a half written song and left with the song that you hear on the album. That workshop had a lasting effect on me,” says Hachey. “I write differently now because of it.”
“It helped me a lot. I was going on 100% instinct (which is paramount) when it came to writing, and after the SOCAN Song House experience I was able to start using more of the ‘craft’ of song writing for lack of a better word. I guess that’s what all good art is, a meeting of instinct and craft. Instinct is that which propels the artist into action. Craft allows him to finish the task. I mean to carve a great sculpture, first you need to learn how to sharpen your blade.”
While Murphy didn’t get a co-writing credit on the song, he was instrumental in holding the whip that pulled it together.
“He explained his approach to writing then we all had to go back to our hotel rooms and finish a song . Not together either. Each person individually. He asked everyone to come in with a song that was unfinished,” laughs Hachey. “Mine was literally one line. I worked my butt off that night to finish that song! I worked from 6:00pm to 4:00am. I thought to myself, ‘This is never going to work,’ but it eventually came together.”
Tour Dates:
12.07.18 – Montreal. QC @ Piranha Bar
12.08.18 – Ottawa, ON @ Avant-Garde
12.14.18 – Saint John, NB @ Peppers Pub
12.15.18 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capital
12.21.18 – Halifax, NS @ The Carleton