By: Shayla Lee
Having a normal sleep schedule is something that I’ve always struggled with. I have a wild schedule (I’m talking bedtime at 5 am) so I tend to spend a lot of time awake when most of the world is asleep. Although I find solitude in the quiet that comes at night, it’s frustrating spending hours tossing and turning trying to fall asleep. This often causes my mind to race.
The UK-based band Runaway Hounds captured exactly what I experience in their latest track ‘Nightlight.’ The song, which is a combination of clever lyrics, riffs, and a catchy chorus, explores what it feels like to have spinning thoughts at night.
I caught up with lead vocalist Owen Stavenuiter to talk more about ‘Nightlight.’ Hit the play button below and learn more about the track!
Femme Riot: I’m loving the sound in this track – definitely getting some Catfish and the Bottlemen vibes! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the song?
Owen Stavenuiter: Thanks very much, I’m glad you like the track. I took a lot of inspiration from the big beefy sound of bands like Catfish and Peace but Cage the Elephant has been quite a big influence with this one, with that sort of repeated chromatic chord progression and chorus guitar effects decorating it all. I kept in mind a lot of these elements when creating the song whilst providing our own stamp on it.
What did the creative process for the track look like?
Since the track explores the struggle to sleep it’s only natural that it was written at a ridiculous time of the morning, like 5 am, while sitting on my bed with an electric guitar. I love the sound of the chord progression and wanted to do something with it for ages but it was that night/morning(?) when the lyrics all just spilled out in one go. I knew I wanted a chorus that was quite repetitive, not just for the sake of being catchy, but to kind of represent that endless frustration of not being able to sleep. That’s also the reason why it’s such a loud and energetic song for a topic on sleep; your head is blaring with thoughts and distractions, even if you’re lying down in a quiet room. Unlike a lot of our songs, this was one that I had a very clear idea for lyrically and instrumentally and once it was written, sleeping became a bit easier, so maybe there’s some irony in there.
Anything in the works for 2019?
Songwriting and recording is always happening with us behind the scenes and we have more music ready to release in 2019 that we are very excited about. Expect something a little bit different next…
If you want to learn more about Runaway Hounds, you can check out our interview here and you can follow their journey on Facebook and Instagram. The band also has their biggest gig of the year ‘Wolftown’ which is coming up on Friday, December 21st at The Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton. More info on the event can be found here.
Check out ‘Nightlight’ and the rest of the Runaway Hound’s music below!
FEMME RIOT 