RECLAWED brings forth a passion and intensity that is unwavering with their song, "Wasted," off their debut EP, 'Don't @ Me,' and we can't wait for you to hear it.
This 4-piece Pop-Punk band from the NYC area is made up of members Erica Clayton (vocals, keyboards), Reid Smith (bass), Mike Costa (Drums), and Freya Wilcox (guitar).
Despite this being their debut release as the band RECLAWED, all members have played in various groups and set-ups together over the last ten years. This has undoubtedly helped hone in on a unified, polished sound that they bring forth in their releases as RECLAWED.
Throughout the last couple of years of the pandemic, this band has had to navigate many roadblocks, including writing and recording their entire EP completely separate from one another. This is an outstanding feat, and we are thoroughly impressed with the results!
Now, let's dive into their captivating track, "Wasted." This high-intensity song is filled to the brim with energy from start to finish. RECLAWED has infused this track with sonic elements that immediately bring you into their Pop-Punk world. Gritty guitar, dynamic bass, and driving, forceful drums carry on throughout the song and maintain a robust, upbeat environment for the listener to immerse themselves within.
Clayton's impressive vocal performance cuts through with a dynamic punch, perfectly matching the soundscape RECLAWED has created. Her delivery is extremely engaging, and we are hooked onto every word as she describes the various feelings that come along with choosing a lifestyle that doesn't follow the societal norm. She states, "My life could never be as tame, As everyone I left behind, Struggling could never be as sad as standing still, Stability's out the window, Freedom's calling."
RECLAWED recent high-intensity banger is bound to make you get up and scream along at the top of your lungs. Check you "Wasted" by RECLAWED today, along with the rest of their debut EP, 'Don't @ Me.'
Welcome to BuzzMusic RECLAWED, and congratulations on your new single "Wasted." Can you tell us a bit more about the inspiration behind "Wasted?"
"Wasted" is actually the first song I started and the last song I finished writing when working on this EP. It took years to get the right feel and the right words - I was editing the lyrics right up until the very end. When I first started working on it, it was about missing an old friend who I thought was missing me too. My life was moving forward. Their life seemed to be paused. The calls and texts became less frequent between us as time went on, and you can kind of feel that in the chorus as the resentment between us grew. I was mad at them for not doing anything. They were mad at me for not sticking around. I wrote the second verse ("what was the story of our old friend...") and the last verse ("where you when I was calling...") first, I wrote the chorus ("I never said I would...") and the intro ("You said you had it...") last. I thought I was writing 2 different songs, honestly, but it all came together as the same story in the end. This song is really about a friendship that fell apart because neither of us could accept how each others' lives were going in completely different directions in our mid-20s. For me, it was hard to see my friend fall into such a bland routine because I knew they had so much to give, but it's not up to me to tell them how to live. If that was making them happy, who was I to be so annoyed by it? But I was still annoyed by it! Eventually, you have to make a call on if your friendship is still worth it.
Did you have a specific idea in mind of you who hoped this song would resonate with the most when writing it? What do you hope listeners will take away from this song while hearing it for the first time?
Although I didn't write "Wasted" with anyone in mind, I think it would have been harder for me to relate to when I was still in denial about the state of the friendship it's about. Anyone out there wondering if it's time to move on from people who are stuck in your past can probably relate.
You've mentioned that you wrote and recorded your EP during the pandemic, completely separate from one another. Can you tell us about some of the challenges that might have come along with this?
Oh man, working on this record remotely was cool. We've done something like this before as a group... the four of us have played together in a cover band called Raccoon City, where we re-work existing songs into our own pop-punk style. The strategy has always been to listen to the songs, come up with ideas, bring them to practice, and suss it all out together. That's what we did here too, just without the practice part. I made MIDI demos of all the parts in my DAW and sent them out to the band. They sent back fully formed parts based on the demo. Instead of talking it through over practice, we had a group text and a shared dropbox folder where everyone could weigh in... but the best part is that we hardly had any notes for each other. This group of friends is just so proficient and fun to work with. It was easy to come to a consensus - They were so cool to just go with it all! Even when I was changing Wasted's key after already getting a couple of parts for it. Sorry, y'all! Recording in our homes comes with its own physical challenges. I live on a very busy street corner in Bedstuy - we refer to it as the "chaos corner" among our neighbors. My apartment is above a bodega and a vintage clothing store, there's always something loud going on outside. With most of the instruments, we could record directly through an interface without needing live mics - even the drums were done on Costa's electronic kit in his San Diego apartment. With vocals, it was a little harder. In addition to the chaos corner, I have a roommate who I both didn't want to bother and didn't want to hear my repetitive (and sometimes straight-up bad) vocal takes. So I needed to get creative in soundproofing my bedroom and scheduling time to record around when she would be out of the apartment. It was a lot of tacking fleece blankets and quilts on the walls to cover the windows, convincing the cats to stay quiet and be chill instead of scratching at the closed door, and frantically texting my neighbors to ask if they could hear me. They always said they couldn't, but I have a hard time believing that. Last but not least, there's a lot of pressure to perform in the studio, even when you're surrounded by friends who are supportive of every single take - even the comically bad ones. I felt much less stressed out doing this at home, where I could decide for myself when I got "the one" that I wanted to ship. Being able to take as much time and punch in as many times as I wanted was freeing and made me more comfortable trying out things I probably wouldn't want anyone else to ever ever EVER hear.
How do songs like "Wasted" represent you and help us get to know you better as a band?
Like a lot of our songs, we tried to keep it interesting with "Wasted." The chorus only repeats once. The verses are unique to each other. We didn't want to add any parts that weren't properly moving along. I get really impatient with songs that add time just for the sake of adding time or have overly repetitive parts. This style represents who I am as a person... particular, a bit impatient, and interesting.
What's next for you?
We've got more songs on the way - recorded in the same way, all at home. I want to try to work on writing more mature lyrics that have more depth to the stories they're telling. I want us to take more risks with rhythm and leads, and I have a lot of faith that we can make it happen!
