Los Angeles-based pop/rock band and four-piece Lunarcode returns with their highly-anticipated, empowering single entitled "Cuttin' the Cord."
Lunarcode began their journey in the summer of 2020 when the likes of Ronny Minuche, Vincenzo Carubia, and Jason Booth got together. From there, Lunarcode expanded with bassist Richard Smith. Lunarcode is best known for its nostalgic classic rock sounds merged with a modern pop edge, offering listeners a slice of both the past and future.
Now, the moment we've all been waiting for, Lunarcode recently released their stimulating and fiery single, "Cuttin' the Cord," alongside a conceptual music video that touches on themes of fighting against those who hold us down. Lunarcode does an amazing job of leaving us feeling ready to conquer the day, especially through their heavy music video that brings those themes to life.
Jumping into the single itself, "Cuttin' the Cord," the track begins with Carubia's scorching hot vocal delivery alongside Minuche's riveting lead guitar and Booth's heavy, midtempo drum breaks. As Smith's dense and plucky bass licks begin to smoke through our speakers, Lunarcode jumps into the hook and reminds us that enough is enough.
Carubia's lyricism is top-tier, and his charismatic and energetic vocal delivery is the perfect pick-me-up, especially when Lunarcode blasts into the bridge with the utmost heat, vitality, and power. This track isn't one to miss; Lunarcode makes it difficult to ignore such a blazing sound and a conceptual message that just about anyone can benefit from.
What are you waiting for? Start "Cuttin' the Cord" from toxic people with help from Lunarcode's latest single, now available on all digital streaming platforms. Their full-length album, “Stories Untold” will be released on February 4, 2022. Stay tuned.
We can't get enough of the empowering and inspirational feel of your latest single, "Cuttin' the Cord." What inspired your band to create a song about separating yourself from toxic people and situations?
I would say it was inspired by toxic people and situations! Haha. You nailed it on the head. Every song has its own story of how it came about. For this one, it’s quite special. The catchy riff had already been created by Ronny Minuche (guitarist and composer)a bit before we went to the studio to record. We hadn’t actually begun writing anything to it yet and it was just an idea at the time. When Ronny flew to Fort Wayne, IN to record our first two tracks with Sahaj Ticotin we were initially supposed to do “Parasite” and “Heartbreak”. For one reason or another “Heartbreak” wasn’t attracting Sahaj from its demo stage and he wanted to hear what other songs we had in our arsenal. We went through a few and Ronny played the Riff to “Cuttin’ the Cord” which at the time had no name, it was like “Riff 482”. Sahaj had him lay it down and produced the track literally in front of us in minutes and was like, here is your song. You have two days to come up with lyrics, we record vocals on Thursday, And GO. It was the most pressure I had ever been under when writing lyrics and I remember slamming my pen down on the table in our hotel room and telling Ronny I F*cking hate this. Everything I’m writing sucks, I don’t like this at all. I stuck it out though and really started channeling that frustration I was feeling into frustrations I had just dealt with in general living on my own in Los Angeles, away from family and on my own. I have had many roommates, many toxic relationships, dealing with narcissists, and constant competition from peers and even friends. The amount of takers and manipulators that have come across my path is just mind-blowing. I’ve had to cut a lot of people out of my immediate circle more than ever before. I started just seeing the patterns of what I was repeating and deciding like, “NO, you don’t serve me anymore, I’m better than this treatment, I’m not going to continue to allow you to consume my energy anymore.” The original lyric wasn’t “Cuttin’ the Cord” however, it was something else, I’m not even going to say what it originally was because the lyrics were god awful. However, after all, was said and done, we bust out a hit song that turned out to be our number one streaming single thus far and an absolute crow favorite. I definitely work well under pressure and have Ronny to thank for his optimism. And yes my advice is if someone or something is toxic and pulling at your energy, CUT that sh*t out.
Speaking on the song's empowering lyricism, was it easy for you to write about these themes for "Cuttin' the Cord?” What impact did you want your lyrics to have on the listener?
Wow, thank you for your compliment. Yes, the words are very empowering, even as I sing them I still feel a sense of empowerment. The song was definitely intended to be a fighter song. I actually used those words as a way to describe the energy of the video to our dancers during the casting audition when they did their improv. The theme was not at all hard to write about. I had at the time severed one major friendship that was just not serving me anymore and carried trauma from a past living situation that really left me scarred and closed off from trusting people. However, I’ve noticed that I really closed a cycle and began to see the patterns and know the red flags. Writing has become my way of overcoming those inner demons so to speak. When I write my lyrics I don’t necessarily at the moment think how they will impact others, it’s more let me get this off of my chest. I follow the feeling and let the feeling lead my voice. Then when I hear it, I realize how it speaks to others and thinks to myself, wow that is so relatable to so many people. For a long time I was creating art for others and I feel like I was losing my authenticity and what mattered most to my heart. I feel I’ve found that authenticity now and I believe that is where the impact is. When you are authentic and truly believe and feel what you are singing, people want to be a part of that. That’s where the magic happens.
How did you begin bringing the instrumentals to life for "Cuttin' the Cord?” How did you lay the foundation and work your way up from there?
Ronny would send me about 5-10 Riffs a day at the beginning of forming Lunarcode. We were just starting to write our music and we had so many ideas and tracks going. I think at the time we already had about 6 or 7 written or in progress songs. “Cuttin’ the Cord”, as I mentioned earlier was not even one of those songs that we were finished with and ready to record. We did jam with it a couple of times and I Mumbled along with some melodic ideas but I kinda thought this song was like a “we’ll get to it one-day” type of idea. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, it was just one of many. Like I had said, Sahaj heard the riff and was like, “that’s the one.” And I remember thinking to myself “Oh, sh*t”. Time to get to work. He did brainstorm with me a bit on the lyrics but for the most part, I was pretty on my own. Sahaj literally took the Riff that Ronny laid down and just wham bam bust out a SICK produced track and was like here’s your groundwork. He bounced it for me to go back to the hotel room and write to it. We then went on to record “Parasite” and I kept pushing “Cuttin’ the Cord” off because I wasn’t ready yet. Then the big day came and I had to lay down the vocals and it all just fell together and turned into such a great track. I can’t imagine us NOT having that song now. I love blasting it, I love singing it, performing it, and I feel so connected to it. It’s just so personal and empowering as you said. The fact that people resonate with it so much too makes it that much more special.
Regarding the music video for "Cuttin' the Cord," what inspired the many torturous and wicked scenes? Why did you choose to symbolize these toxic themes through literal pain?
There is a LOT of symbolism throughout the video and I’m so happy that you asked about that. For starters, when the video opens and we’re riding in through the desert and my persona is sitting in the back of the truck the main symbol here is personal reflection, and answering your call despite your past. However, we all have trauma. Things that tie us down and weigh down the deepest parts of our mind no matter how much you try to move past them. They are ingrained in you. The figures you see dancing throughout are “energy vampires”. They are representative of the people, things, experiences, that enter your life and try to hold you back from where you’re going. They are alluring, mysterious, seductive, but ultimately they drain you of your energy. More often than that you are blind to them, which is why my subconscious character wears the black headpiece with all of the glass shards on them. It is also said that the things we dislike most about others are often a reflection of what we don’t like about ourselves. We are often blind to this as well. We tend to be stuck in our ego and operate from that out of fear. And yes these moments can really hurt. And the toxic themes of literal pain, are because I felt real pain. From people that I trusted, that was supposed to love me, that I loved deeply, and while I forgive them every day, that is a pain that I won’t forget that I felt. I felt stuck, I felt like a victim, and I felt like a burden to some as well. I had a lot of anger and a lot of sadness from these situations, but I also had tremendous growth. This video was my artistic release and expression of the inner turmoil that I felt.
What's next for you?
Lunarcode will be having our first live show at The Whiskey a Go-Go on January 7, 2022, in West Hollywood and we’re so excited. I just finished editing our 4th music video “Hell is Just a Place” which will release with our album at the end of the month. Our album “Stories Untold” is set to release at the end of the month. We are currently booking performances and tackling the beast that is social media. After almost 2 years of writing, rehearsing, studio recording, and video production, we are ready now to just play out and connect with the fans while we continue to work on material for our second album, which WILL happen. We already have enough material for two more albums so it’s all about connecting with the fans and putting out content. The music will just continue to come because we can’t help it. We are such a solid unit, when we get together to rehearse we just are always coming up with new stuff. Many exciting things in the future. Please follow our journey and be involved.
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