It’s my personal bad bitch anthem of 2016. Those aren’t my words but those of Pusher when I asked him to describe his latest release ‘Shake Down’. He elaborates, “‘Used to wait in line now I’m part of the lineup’?! Are you kidding me? That’s how I feel, all summed up in such a clever one-liner.” It’s a fitting description for an artists who’s gone from bedroom producer to one of Toronto’s most promising young talents. In the span of 2 years he’s risen from obscurity to a mainstay at the city’ best clubs and landed spots at festivals like Bestival, Halifax Pop Explosion, Deadbeats & Deadrocks. Further to this, the roll out for his forthcoming EP New Laces has shown his best work is on its way. The first two singles ‘Clear’ and ‘Tell You’ are certified summer anthems; smooth, sexy and moving. Subtly telling listeners “I need to be on your radar”. ‘Shake Down’ drops all subtlety and instead screams “motherfucker I’m here”. Largely due to Push Push’s aggressive and no holds barred vocals (and the production to fit), the track is raw, unforgiving and straight up slapping. “I just want people to get hyped when they hear it!” says Push Push. A few seconds of play and it’s hard to imagine that anyone wouldn’t get overtly hyped when hearing it. So if you’re looking to get wild or bring out your inner bad bitch press play and go off. For more on the track check out our interview below with Pusher and Push Push. New Laces drops September 16th.
How did you guys connect for ‘Shake Down’?
Push Push: This is why I love the internet. I thiiiiiiink it was Mothica who linked us via a tweet or something and then Marty sent me the track and it was go.
Pusher: I was looking for vocalists for the instrumentals that would become the other songs on New Laces and I came across Nicci on Soundcloud. The first thing that jumped out at me was her name, like “wouldn’t it be funny to have a Pusher ft. Push Push song” and so I checked out her stuff and I was blown away. On top of that I sent her page to some friends and one of them recognized Nicci’s song ‘Atom Bomb’ from an episode of Broad City and I was like “who is this person?! I need to work with her” and fortunately she was into the collaboration as well. Mothica was actually the one who connected us at first.
What were your thoughts when you first received the instrumental?
Push Push: I immediately thought “ok this kid is not fucking around” and sent him some stuff that I’d recorded at the DFA studios on West 13th Street last summer. It just went together really well and he sent me the track back almost like the next day I think.
Pusher what were your thoughts when you got the vocals back?
Pusher: After I initially messaged her and we talked about a song I sent her a demo and kind of didn’t talk again for months actually. I went back to the other tracks and finished them up and when the EP was looking complete I hit her up again and she sent me the vocals exactly the way they are now. I was starting to think maybe it wouldn’t happen (cause why would I be so lucky), but when I got the vocals I knew they were special. They were a complete song and I was so inspired I went back to the instrumental and basically completely changed it and within three or four hours finished it and got to enjoy a rare moment of “this is great, that went so smoothly and I think this is something really special for both of us”. I sent the track to my manager and Nicci and showed my partner Kim and they all seemed to feel the same about it. The only big change I made after that was to add the shaker in the chorus. You can’t have Shake Down without a shaker, right?
How would you describe ‘Shake Down’?
Push Push: I’ve tested it out in my set a couple of times and it’s definitely the song that gets people like, super wild and jumping up and down. It’s the song that gets my blood pumped (lol)
Pusher: It’s my personal bad bitch anthem of 2016. “Used to wait in line now I’m part of the lineup”?! Are you kidding me? That’s how I feel, all summed up in such a clever one-liner.
What do you want people to get out of ‘Shake Down’?
Push Push: I just want people to get hyped when they hear it!
Pusher: I want people to connect with the meaning of the song. I think the meaning is universal, like “I used to have to do all this garbage for other people, now look at where I am compared to that”. I definitely feel it in my career and personal life, and I hope it resonates with everybody out there killing it in their own way, and I hope it can motivate people to stick to whatever they’re working towards as a reminder of how sweet the payoff is when you work hard for something and you finally achieve it.
‘Shake Down’ is the most unique track on the EP. Did you set out to do this purposely?
I had a lot of instrumentals to shop around for the EP, but the one that turned into ‘Shake Down’ was written specifically for Push Push. I think it fits the EP amazingly well because it breaks up the otherwise left-field-pop-song centric arrangements, but it came about just as a way to work with Nicci, who I think has an exceptional personal style. Just being ready and open to the scenario of working with somebody cool is where it came from. Really, the whole EP took shape around the vocalists, even though I started things off with instrumentals. I didn’t want to be like “here’s the track, drop in some vocal and we’re done”, I wanted to shape the tracks around the vocals and create something involved. As they say, 100% of people get their shot, but 99% aren’t prepared to take it.
