Welcome to HeartSongs, our regularly scheduled (probably) look at songs and the people who write them. We spoke to Kees and James from Cork band The Shruggs about their recent single ‘Sunny Afternoon’.

“I was travelling around South America with my girlfriend and while in Bolivia I heard these stories of people holding street races at night. In Bolivia you have these small quiet towns in the middle of the desert with wide sandy streets and, even though the races were being held at night, I could just picture them speeding down and leaving a dust trail in the sun. There is a strange chaotic feel to Bolivia so the ‘through the hustle bustle’ line comes from the craziness that seems to happen in that country; a real contrast to the friendliness of the people and the beautiful landscape there.

Bolivia is a very Catholic country so the line “What about the Father” kind of has a double meaning. I thought this worked really well, you can either think of it as - is he worried about what his father is going to say or what the local priest is going to say about him racing in the streets. Most of all I wanted the song to have a summer feel to it and get people moving with that driving beat.

Although I wasn’t trying to replicate a ‘60s feel I am heavily influenced by Brian Wilson and his production style. His use of harmonies and his arrangements are always so unique so I always try to add some of that to my songs. I wanted it to be a poppy upbeat song with the beat driving it along the whole way through.

I also love Randy Newman and the way he adds humour to his songs and how he uses simple language to give you a feel for the character and story. It’s always been a big influence on my writing. Wilco was definitely another influence on the arrangement of the song, I love their songs and the way they can change up verses and choruses to keep a song interesting.

We are really happy with how it turned out. We went into the studio with Wayne Sheehy and recorded it over 2 days in his studio in Ocean Studios in Bantry, Co Cork. The studio is in a beautiful location right next to the sea, totally out of the way and a great place to get inspired. Wayne was great and we really dissected the song which is something I love to do. I had an idea of what I wanted the song and the harmonies to be and Wayne was really able to bring it to its full potential.” - Kees

“The accompanying music video was shot and directed by John Kennedy of The Young Offenders fame.  We recorded it in one full and sunny day along parts of the 'Wild Atlantic Way' (Bandon/Inishannon). We wanted to capture a mischievous 'day in the life' of two adventurous young lads, the lads worked really well and with their love of 'kick-flips' and 'tail whips’ really brought great charisma and personality to the screen. Everyone was top notch on the day of filming and it really surpassed all expectations. As a whole package we believe this is our best work yet and considering the small team that was involved we are very proud of the final product, one of the best aspects of it for us was being able to dedicate the video to the memory of our friend Dan.

It's really given us a great boost and the fact that it has over 6K views in the first week shows how much people love it. The airplay from local and national radio stations has really helped us along too, countless people have the track stuck in their heads; so that is fun for us to hear.” – James

Sunny Afternoon

Hey I’m a role model

Pull the wool over your eyes

I’m gonna get up onto my saddle

And race you to the light

And through the hustle bustle hustle bustle now

Right down through Calle Muerta

Where the ghosts fly right beside

And down to Santa Mor Boulevard

Oh you’re racing through the night

And through the hustle bustle hustle bustle now

Oh I don’t have a lot

Yo, we can go, we can stand here all alone

On a Sunny Afternoon

You can’t think too far ahead now

The same way we do in our lives

And oh if the tires burn out

We’ll be a mess by the end of the night

And through the hustle bustle hustle bustle now

But what about the Father,

What do you think he’s gonna say

What about the Father,

Oh it’s not gonna make his day

Yo, we can go, we can stand here all alone

On a Sunny Afternoon

But what about the Father,

What do you think he’s gonna say

What about the Father,

Oh its not gonna make his day

And through the hustle bustle hustle bustle now

Yo, we can go, we can stand here all alone

On a Sunny Afternoon