Toronto band Born Ruffians recently came out with the video for “Forget Me” the second track from their forthcoming album. Written by frontman Luke Lalonde on the day that star David Bowe died, Lalonde says that his death was beautiful. Originally formed in Ontario, the group arrived in Toronto in 2004 where then they released a self-titled EP in 2006, then later Warp Records released Born Ruffians full-length album Red, Yellow & Blue in 2008. Thier sophomore effort later was released called Say it in 2010, then after joining Yep Roc Records, the albums Birthmarks was released in 2013 and RUFF in 2015. Now the group celebrates the upcoming release of the fifth album Uncle, Duke & The Chief by touring Noth America this Spring.
Below, We asked Luke Lalonde from Born Ruffians a couple questions regarding the track “Forget me”,
Q: What inspired you visually and musically to write “Forget Me”?
“I don’t know if I get a ton of inspiration visually, at least consciously. Maybe the movie Paris, Texas kind of inspired it. I always pictured that movie working well as a music video for the song. It was a reference point when we made the actual music video.”
“I really wanted the song to frame the vocal and the lyrics. I did the demo with hand claps, floor tom and kick so not really a lot of drums. Steve has always been cool with playing minimal stuff if it’s what works best for the song. We really liked the vibe of one single hand clap, it has a sort of 50s vibe to it I think.”
Q: What artists were you listening to at the time while you were writing this track?
“Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and other 50s stuff. But the big one was Many Roads to Follow by the Nerves. That song was a big hit in my life. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I loved the feeling and emotion they captured. It’s really heartbreaking and beautiful. I think it’s just a demo and it sounds like it was recorded on a tape recorder. I probably got a bit close to ripping it off so I’m scared to put this out there…”
Q: What was the writing process like for the track “Forget me”?
“I wrote this song two years ago, January 10th 2016. I found out that morning that Bowie had died and, like a lot of people, I was pretty crushed. I was busy all day but went to our studio spot that night and had some time to process everything. I listened to Bowie records and cried. Then I wrote Forget Me. The song came out pretty fast, which was nice. That whole thing about how you’re not really writing a song, you’re just picking up on a signal being broadcast and getting it out into this dimension… The year leading up to that my dad had gone through chemotherapy and radiation treatment for lung cancer (he’s doing well now) so I think the death of David Bowie was a catalyst in me dealing with some of those emotions surrounding potential death etc…”
“I did the demo that night and the recording on the record is a pretty faithful recreation of it. Richard Swift (producer) and the guys really liked it so we just left it the way it was.”
