“We couldn’t figure out what to do with it”: Meduza nearly scrapped hit track Piece Of Your Heart
The hit song reached number two in the UK singles chart, was nominated for a Grammy, and has had nearly a billion streams on Spotify.
Credit: Giuseppe Cottini/AC Milan via Getty Images
Electronic music trio Meduza nearly scrapped their hit track, Piece Of Your Heart ft. Goodboys, entirely when they hit a wall creatively in the studio.
The track, instantly recognisable for its vocalised “da da da” melody, reached number two in the UK singles chart at its release. It was also nominated for a Grammy award for Best Dance Recording.
Speaking to Music Radar in a new interview feature, the group – consisting of Luca de Gregorio, Mattia Vitale and Simone Giani – reflected on how the hit came to be, and how they nearly abandoned it altogether.
“Usually back then we did covers and nothing original. So we started to write something new, and we were having fun with some sounds,” de Gregorio shares. “I remember getting a sound in Serum (his go-to synth of choice) that sounded far, far away. I think in two or three minutes we started it, tweaking the sound, and as soon as I heard this thing, I started playing the melody.
“After getting this riff, we said ‘Ok, let’s work on this, it’s actually pretty good’. We had a verse on this demo sound. When we went back in the studio and tried to add more we couldn’t figure out what to do with it. We were actually close to junking it.”
At its early stage, the track was relying on a vocal chop that wasn’t working out: “We decided that instead of using the chop, we thought we’d try and sing something that’s like a chop but isn’t.
“Josh [Grimmett] from Goodboys, said in the room, ‘Sorry – just quickly, what if it’s ‘da, da, da…’ and proceeded to vocalise a hypothetical melody. Luckily we were recording that moment. That melody, and the original recording of the spontaneous idea from Josh, became central to the track. It just sounded so good!”
Listen to the track below:
View Meduza’s upcoming tour dates via their official website.
