ODESZA’s “Loyal” is Zane Lowe’s World Record today on Beats 1 on Apple Music [apple.co/zane]. The song is also featured in today’s Apple Special Event recap.
The duo previously played “Loyal” during their Coachella set earlier this year, and discuss how the song came together, their favorite cinematic composers and their experience having their song featured as part of Apple’s event. They’re set to play the Life Is Beautiful festival on September 23rd, and Austin City Limits this October.
ODESZA x Zane Lowe World Record ‘Loyal’ + Interview
LISTEN | https://apple.co/_LoyalWR
INTERVIEW:
ZANE: Let the drums ring out, let everybody know in the hills far and wide that ODESZA are back with something that can only be described in four letters — epic. In your own words, what were you trying to and striving to achieve with “Loyal?”
ODESZA: It’s been a long work in the process. We kind of first developed the idea way back at our first round at Coachella in 2015. Just like playing a bunch of festivals and doing a bunch of live electronic shows, you kind of want something that brings high energy. That’s kind of what started this song, was the genesis of that idea and then it’s taken on a life of its own, as it’s progressed over the next couple of years.
ZANE: When you’re making records does it ever fall apart? Do you ever get to a place where it’s like, you’re completely lost in the process, and you’re not sure you can make your way out?
ODESZA 1: Those are the ones that don’t come out. I mean, even the last process, you’ll get like, 90 percent of the way with a lot of songs and it’s always that last 10 percent that can take a long time.
ODESZA 2: We usually like to take a break and come back to the music before it’s just that much of a struggle.
ZANE: With a song like “Loyal,” in particular, how do you stay focused on it? What are your touch points, sonically and image wise?
ODESZA 1: We think a lot about how it’s going to affect the crowd and the energy especially for this song in particular. We’ve always really loved cinematic music, so we try to make it, like you said, epic and big and full.
ZANE: Do you have your favorite soundtrack? Like, people who make cinematic music? Mine’s Thomas Norman — he’s one of my favorites of all time. Do you guys have people who you really admire?
ODESZA 1: Yeah, Phillip Glass, Johann Johannsson, Ennio Morricone.
ODESZA 2: Trent Reznor, he’s done an incredible job.
ZANE: Surely there is a brighter future for you out there in that environment, as well, the kind of music that you are making, outside of being a touring entity, a recording entity, and existing as musicians and artists. Where do your ambitions lie outside of them?
ODESZA 1: I think film score eventually would be something we’d like to dive into.
ODESZA 2: Hopefully things slow down. We’ve been so busy with touring that we have to wait for things to settle a little bit, but I think down the line it would be something really fun to explore, for sure.
ZANE: Obviously “Loyal” plays a really important role for us today here at Apple. For us, it’s amazing because whenever we have a big event and being you know so invested in the music side of Apple, we’re always fascinated to know what songs are going to get used and how they’re going to get used, where they’re going to get used. Congratulations, you guys are a part of the whole process. How did you find out? What do you know?
ODESZA: We know very little. It’s secretive, to say the least.
ZANE: It’s amazing, so you’re watching it with everybody else, kind of waiting to see how it’s used.
ODESZA: Basically, yeah. We’ve done a lot of shows, and this it really is a new experience for us, so we’re excited to see everything come out.
ZANE: When you make music like this, do you ever kind of imagine it existing in multiple places like this. I mean, you said you made this one primarily for live performance, but do you ever imagine it kind of traveling and appearing in different ways? There are so many ways music can be adopted now.
ODESZA 1: Yeah, that’s really interesting for us to see other people’s interpretations of where the song works and also when people break down our songs and almost make acoustic versions out of the stems and then use them and create a totally different feeling or emotion from it is really interesting to hear.
ODESZA 2: As the music industry and how people release music has gotten to an interesting point with streaming and everything going on, I think finding new ways to do something like that, and reinvent how people experience music and listen to music — especially for a record — would be really cool. I think in that sense, we would really like to dive into and push a little bit, for sure.
ODESZA 1: I really believe that if you try to fight the way people take in and ingest music, you’re really going to hurt your own audience from just listening to you. I think our lives and people being able to listen to you.
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