Chicago funk sensation The Heard is on the heels of an exciting debut album due out this October. The self-titled release was produced by Orgone’s Sergio Rios and features a slew of special guests. Orgone’s powerful lead vocalist Adryon de León appears on the album’s first track, a soulful, funky number titled “Gimme Gimme”, which you can stream and download below.
An Interview With Chicago’s Newest Funk Sensation, The Heard
We spoke to bassist Mike Starr about the track, and he said:
‘Gimme Gimme’ has buoyant energy and great feel. Sonically, it’s exemplary of the live, gritty, old school vibe that we were thrilled to capture throughout the record. Our desire for the album to have that sound was the reason we knew we had to work with Orgone’s Sergio Rios. We started recording this track the same way we recorded all the tracks on the album – by recording drums, bass, keys, and guitar all live together in one room to tape. With “Gimme Gimme” it was something like the second or third rhythm section take that we decided was the keeper. The horn section then came in to record their parts on top of that, and that’s when some really neat cinematic tension began to emerge in the middle section of the song. After adding a couple additional keyboard layers – the track contains organ, piano, and clavinet – including a great piano solo, Adryon de León and Cole DeGenova came in at separate times to deliver fantastic vocal performances that really make the track pop.
You can catch The Heard’s album release show along with the New Mastersounds at Chicago’s Concord Music Hall on October 17th (tickets here), and be sure to check out this funky band at Hulaween, playing the coveted Halloween festival at the Spirit of Suwannee Park. More information about Hulaween can be found here.
[Cover Photo by Chris Monaghan]