Multi-platinum selling, American electro-pop duo 3OH!3 unleashes their latest earworm “Vampire’s Diet” featuring Bert McCracken of The Used via Photo Finish Records. (Photo by Madeline Leary)
Co-written by members Sean Foreman & Nathaniel Motte with fellow hitmaker Bert McCracken, “Vampire’s Diet” features 3OH!3’s signature blend of edgy pop production, cheeky lyrics, and nostalgic synths with a topline vocal performance from The Used frontman. The pop-punk banger showcases the duo’s unique ability to blur the lines between genres, as they continue to create novel music that captures the scope of their artistry that they’ve honed over the past decade.
Speaking of the song’s creative inspiration and working with 3OH!3, McCracken says, “I was excited to hear that they wanted to collaborate and when I heard the track I was smacked in the face with joy and nostalgia! At the time I had been rereading David Foster Wallace’s first novel The Broom of the System and felt the story being told in ‘Vampire’s Diet’ had parallels and reflections in the character Patrice Lavache and her interviews from the sanitarium. To me the track felt like an exploration of our connection to humanity in the age of data and information technologies. I hope that you love it as much as I do.”
“You know the type of song you hear and remember where and when you first heard it? I was in my mom’s Plymouth Voyager (magnet flame decals on the sides) driving a van full of friends to a party in the mountains of Colorado when The Used’s ‘Taste of Ink’ came on. What a song! Now every time I hear it I am transported back to the glory days of my youth. When we eventually met Bert from The Used on Warped Tour I was Starstrukk (see what I did there?). But seriously, there are few artists that embody the full spectrum of a performer and he was it. Offstage he came across as a curious, humble scholar, but as soon as he put on his fingerless gloves and grabbed the mic, he became larger than life,” states Foreman. “Recently Nat sent me the start of a song he was producing and mentioned that it reminded him of a guitar riff from our unheard-of-college-dance-rock band (called Weightroom; we played one show to one person.). I loved the instrumental immediately, reminding me of bands like The Faint and Bloc Party, bands that inspired us. My pen hit the paper and the first line I wrote was ‘I can’t stand Morrissey.’ Why? hahaha I really don’t know, but it felt appropriate for the song. After that we spoke with Bert about collaboration and played him the start of the track, he was instantly inspired by a passage he read by David Foster Wallace and penned his verse. It fit perfectly on the song! From Australia, he sent his recordings and we all corresponded as one does in the new era of e-conferencing. And summoned from the coffin was ‘Vampires Diet’!”
Motte adds: “The energy of The Used set is all-encompassing and all-welcoming – something that we’ve always tried to do with our music and our live shows as 3OH!3. When it became possible for us to collaborate with Bert on ‘Vampire’s Diet,’ we were thrilled. We stayed in touch over text (us at home in Colorado and Bert at home in Australia) and Bert hit us with his David Foster Wallace-inspired verse. Big man recorded it on his own and sent us the parts to make it a true collaboration. We’re honored and so very stoked to have been able to work on the song with Bert!”
“Vampire’s Diet” follows a string of recent releases from the duo including “LAST BREATH” featuring the trademark drums of clown from Slipknot, “I’M SO SAD,” and the highly anticipated release of 3OH!3’s first new music in over five years, “LONELY MACHINES” (feat 100 gecs), last fall. The track gives fans another taste of what’s to come from their highly anticipated record NEED, arriving later this summer. While the duo retains their penchant for making music that’s simply fun, NEED will also showcase the scope of their evolution as artists in the 10+ years since their breakout success with hit singles like “Don’t Trust Me” and “STARSTRUKK” (ft. Katy Perry) – music that laid the groundwork for the 2000s, emo-pop renaissance today.