Hum For Your Buzz

Album: Ash & Ice (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was recorded at a rented house in Los Angeles, with just a couple of mics for Alison Mosshart's vocals and Jamie Hince's guitar. Mosshart recalled to Tonedeaf: "What really made that song come alive for me is when we were recording that song in LA, it was really fun: I was standing in the bathtub of my bathroom and I couldn't see Jamie and Jamie was standing in the living room on the other side.

    I could sort of lean my head out of the house (without trying to fall to my death) and look at him playing guitar through another window on the other side of the house. There's no drums to that song, so it was trying to almost be psychic and singing and playing it at the same time."

    When the pair got to Electric Lady studios, they added some Hammond organ and a tambourine to the original demo.
  • Alison Mosshart penned the song. She bought it to Jamie Hince fully formed. Mosshart said: "That song is pretty much as it was written. It was written in about as long as it takes to listen to it."
  • Jamie Hince recalled the recording of the song to Artist Direct:"'Hum for your Buzz' is kind of [a] classic blues song, really, and I tried all sorts of ways trying to make it something with a different angle to it, and nothing worked as well as it on its own. And then I thought this is quite good actually, this record is turning into something that's an exploration of everything about The Kills, and one of those things is just the simplicity of my guitar and Alison's vocal.

    We always used to talk about how funny it is playing together, as in sometimes you get these sort of psychic feelings when you're playing together and you can just read the other person really well, and that's on song where it worked really good. We were actually in completely different rooms when we were playing that song. She was in the bathroom and I was in the hallway, and yet it just sounds like it's just one person playing it and I just feel like that's a big part of The Kills, really."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Adam Young of Owl City

Adam Young of Owl CitySongwriter Interviews

Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews

The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

Angelo Moore of Fishbone

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.