Minding Our Own- Jody Chappell
Written By: Jody Chappell, Dave Hangley & Ethan Willis
We really get to hear a brand new single before it's released? YUP. Jody and UPstar. Music have teamed up to give you an exclusive listen to his brand new single "Minding Our Own" which is set to be released on May 22.
Mama there goes that man again! Jody Chappell breaking out a brand new single this Friday and HOLY SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT is this a HEATER... and yes, I needed the 16 T's to tell y'all this is gonna make some waves. From the bad ass vibe, to that electric guitar and throw in some boot stomping lyrics on top of that... you got yourself one bad to the bone
jam-orama. Hell, I may go put on some aviators, my leather jacket and go raise some hell ... No mom, I won't get myself arrested doing hoodrat shit with my friends. Promise.
Behind the song "Minding Our Own" with Jody Chappell
Inspiration Behind the Song
"Honest and truly I was laying in bed one night and it was on my mind the whole day that I needed a party song. You know, the one you're going to play when riding four wheelers, that you're gonna play sitting at a bonfire or speeding with the windows down. I did a lot of partying in high school and we had a couple spots around town. The opening line to this song is a picture perfect representation of one of the spots we were always at-Out past the holler, where the creek runs through the woods. There's a break in the trees right where that old house stood. Ethan was from the same town, so he'd been there like 100 times as well, so that made this song idea a breeze. I started this song as a poem, which is how I start a lot of songs, but it wasn't complete. I had a write scheduled with Ethan and Dave at The Rukkus Room, it was late at night, I think on January 19th and it was snowing, nasty weather and we got in there at 7:30 pm. We sat down and were brainstorming and I was like, "guys I need a party song" and Dave started playing this riff, this nasty bad ass swampy riff and it hit me right away."
Story of the Song
"So back to that opening line, Out past the holler... that was the spot right there, it was on the Arlington line and it was in Bolton School District. I was a Bartlett kid and I would always hang with Bolton kids and we had these parties and always had the mentality that we weren't bothering anybody. It was in this half built subdivision with nobody living in it, we would go out there in our trucks and that one line every now and then there's still a light just represents that there was always this haunted feel, like there wasn't houses people were living in just a bunch of us out there. The hook of minding our own, like you remember being in high school when you were with some friends or at a party you just did your own thing, didn't want to bother anyone. Then, the party gets busted and then you're like "okay, we were probably bothering someone haha". I wanted the bridge to be more aggressive, to sink in the last part, so it's like a 30 second guitar solo and it just rips through the song. Then the line-can't keep us out, we ain't going home, don't push your luck we're just minding our own- this is just saying "this is our spot" and if the cops come and kick us out we aren't just going to go home and go to bed, we're just going to find somewhere else."
The Day of the Write: What Went Down
"I had to hunt the next morning, it was still duck season and I had to be there. It was already getting late and I had a long night ahead of me, like a 3 hour drive. We got in there and Dave played that riff and I told him to keep playing as I went through my phone and found a few lines to Minding Our Own and sang it how it was. Ethan was like "did you just write that?!" and I was like "no dude I've had this and just been waiting for someone to play that riff". All of our eyes lit up and it was a really surreal moment. I'm not the best guitar player and I couldn't picture a riff like this being anymore perfect. We just sat down and I already had the first verse, but then got to work on the rest. And this song, each line has been lived by myself, Ethan and I'm sure Dave. Me and Ethan went to the same high school, went to all these parties together, seen a lot of shit together. Also, Dave is one of my favorite people to write with because how he plays the guitar, each time we write he think of some cool riff, but this one is for sure my favorite. It kind of all just fell into place, the write took like 2 hours, which flew by. That's not long at all, I've sat through writes that have been close to 6 hours. Coming out of a write like that was just a high."