Behind the Song: “A Walk Inside (Revamped)”
“A Walk Inside” quickly became one of my favorite songs to perform. It was also one of my favorite songs to write. I really tapped into my classical background for the melodies and chords throughout the song. Here’s a look at the songwriting behind the song.
On my 2018 debut EP, “A Walk Inside” was the opening track. I wanted to set the listener up for a different experience, especially for those who had only heard my classical piano music at the time. This song was really all about subverting expectations. I began with easy piano chords and calm vocals to elicit a simplistic quality. The transition from C Major toward A minor created the tension where I wanted the song to live, and thus we had the real beginning to the song which is the strong kick and bass. Out of nowhere, the listener gets hit with this syncopated rhythm that becomes the pulse of the song, even in the choruses. The rest of the song has other moments of this type of misdirection. My favorite are the breaks in the bridge. It’s those pauses that drive the chords forward and really push everything to the next level. I remember writing this section and thinking, “How can I create a new melody for this bridge that is related to the chorus?” I leaned into my classical composition side for this. Makes sense, I was in college at the time. I used a technique called inversion where the melody is flipped upside down to create a new one. This was the melody for the bridge, and it helped drive the theme home as we kept ascending. The whole song vocally was in a very comfortable range for my voice — bouncing in and around my passagio. I really wanted to subvert every listener who hasn’t heard me sing outside of choir and musical theater. So, this bridge leading up to the high E riff was my way of saying, “This is where I love to be” and I am always thankful I wrote it that way because years later when I revamped this song, that E became and a high A. I’ve felt that this song was my way of coming into my own and really pushing back on the voices saying guys should only sing low. That’s a whole topic for another time.
When I revamped the song, I wanted to elevate it to where I first heard it. This included taking out the calm opening that introduced the original EP. It was always supposed to be this heavy rock song with power chords and loud cymbal crashes. Starting off with the kick and bass was the way to start off within that rock genre. The only thing holding me back in my college years was my lack of recording knowledge and instrumentation. Even the additional vocals in the Revamped version were mostly from realizing that it was ok to try out new ideas when you record. Having an engineer like Irving Gadoury has been one of the best collaboration decisions in my career so far. I’ve been able to really explore my vocals in a whole new way with his willingness to just follow my lead wherever it takes us, and I am very appreciative of it. I’m amazed at the journey this song has taken and I will love putting it back into shows in this new and revamped way.
“A Walk Inside (Revamped)” is out now on all streaming platforms!
