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

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Songs About Movies

Songs About MoviesSong Writing

Iron Maiden, Adele, Toto, Eminem and Earth, Wind & Fire are just some of the artists with songs directly inspired by movies - and not always good ones.

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music Scene

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music SceneSong Writing

With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.

Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire

Verdine White of Earth, Wind & FireSongwriter Interviews

The longtime bassist of Earth, Wind & Fire discusses how his band came to do a holiday album, and offers insight into some of the greatest dance/soul tunes of all-time.

Who Wrote That Song?

Who Wrote That Song?Music Quiz

Do you know who wrote Patti Smith's biggest hit? How about the Grease theme song? See if you can match the song to the writer.