The genius George Young – songwriter, producer, and rock star extraordinaire — passed away recently, but plans were already well underway for a tribute record to his band The Easybeats before he died.
The lead single from Rebeat, is an interesting take on 1968 pop ballad ‘Hello, How Are You’ by an act named Boom Tish, a four-piece fronted by Daniel Johns. The sparse woozy electro feel recalls The Dissociatives, his project with Paul Mac.
Daniel Johns explained his reasons for choosing that particular song, as well as the quickfire recording process.
“The Easybeats legacy is undeniable and Harry and George in particular created a blueprint of self-sufficiency for Australian musicians that is more relevant in 2017 than ever”, Johns wrote.
“I remember seeing a quote from George Young where he said ‘Hello, How Are You’ was considered by many Easybeats fans an unwelcome departure from the band’s typical rock sound…. I feel like I can relate to this statement. This is probably why the track is one of my favourite Easybeats songs and Boom Tish had a lot of fun working on it.
“We could assume that having four friends work on the song in my lounge room, self-producing and recording it in a day and then sending it to the label via text message was a slight departure from the recording process of 50 years ago!”
Check out the song below, and find out more about Rebeat here.
