Title: “Bad Influence”By: Mutual Addiction
From: Debut Album (Coming Soon)
Release Date: January 18, 2014
Length: 4:47
Format: Digital Download, Weekly Airplay
Recorded: December 2013 - Half-Moon Studios, Las Vegas, Nevada
Genre: Rock, Post-Hardcore
Label: Chaos Records/Songs to Love and Die By
Writer(s): Alex Simms, Julia Volkova
Producer(s): Alex Simms, Julia Volkova
“Bad Influence” is the debut single from collaborative project ‘Mutual Addiction’, it’s a song written and performed by post-hardcore newcomer ‘Alex Simms’ and alternative rocker ‘Julia Volkova’. The song has been chosen as the lead single from their forthcoming debut album, reportedly titled ‘This Is A Wasteland’ and expected to be released in February 2014. “Bad Influence” was written during the studio sessions between the two artists which took place in December 2013, it was chosen as the lead single by the pair as they felt it best represented what their debut album was all about. The track is filled with all of the traits of classic rock n roll mixed with modern day punk-rock/post-hardcore elements. It’s been heavily rumoured by Culture Uncut that the songs title bears a certain amount of truth, with Julia reportedly leading her younger cohort to a lifestyle that he wasn’t really involved with, leading him astray to a certain extent. Whether true or not, remains to be seen, but the two spent a large amount of time together during the creative process of their debut album, it’s also been said by an insider that the record was “influenced by certain moments between the two”.
2013 was a big year for both musicians, Julia Volkova was already an established name in the alternative scene of the music industry, but in 2013, she released her sophomore album ‘Haunted’ which helped push her to the very top of the rock scene. She became the most recognizable female rocker in the industry with her vampire influenced rock opera. Selling millions of copies worldwide and headlining her own tour in some of the most respected venues around the world. Alex Simms on the other hand had no real reputation at the beginning of last year, it wasn’t until he was signed by Amy Meyer to her record label that people started to hear about him, his debut single was unexpectedly popular and his debut album ‘Enigma’ became one of the stand-out records of the year, giving the young musician a very quick trajectory towards the upper-echelons of the rock scene, by the end of the year he had already sold over five million records worldwide with ‘Enigma’ and his E.P ‘One Life to Live’, he had also worked with a string of names that included Jennifer Armstrong, Nadia Berry and Julia Volkova, the latter led to a friendship which grew into ‘Mutual Addiction’.
“Bad Influence” will be the leading single from ‘Mutual Addiction’s’ debut album, ‘This Is A Wasteland’, it’s a highly-anticipated release from both musicians fanbase as well as an industry that hasn’t often seen two separate musicians come together in such a way. The track has been teased by Julia Volkova on social media sites and rumours circulating seem to be indicating that this could be the start of an interesting partnership. The track was written between Simms and Volkova when the rock chick was on the Reckless Infinity Tour and was recorded in December at Half-Moon Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada and it was produced by both Alex and Julia. The single will not be offered through streaming services and will not be available as a physical single, it will only be available through Digital Download (iTunes, Amazon) and through Airplay. It will be distributed by both artists labels Chaos Records (Julia) and Songs to Love and Die By (Alex) and the track will be available worldwide from January 18, 2014.
Song DescriptionThe song begins with a powerful electric guitar riff, the sound of drums can be heard in combination to the guitar, giving the introduction an added power. The opening vocal arrives before the ten second mark as Julia inhales a deep breath and fires out the opening verse to the song in her trademark smoky rock voice,
“Ooooooh, I gave in/I drank the beer and confessed my greatest sin/I took a long drag from my cigarette/Spoke about the things I’ve done that I just can’t forget.” it’s sung with a sense of confidence and attitude that you’d expect, there’s a brief instrumental break before she continues to sing the rest of the opening verse,
“You poured me another drink/I’m sure it had some poison in/But you knew I needed something more/Something to ease the pain.” and the sound of a bass guitar can be heard joining into the mix, it’s a powerful track that feels like a throwback to classic rock and roll, inspired by the type of bands that thrived on destruction, the likes of Guns N Roses and Led Zeppelin are clear influences on this.
The guitars continue as the spotlight shines on Alex Simms for the second verse of the song, he opens up the second verse with a more modern rock vocal, his voice mixing the tenderness of his high-pitched vocal ability with a rapid and aggressive post-hardcore pace as he fires out the lyrical retort with confidence,
“Darlin’ I can lock the door/We can do some things that we’ve both done before/We know that sex, drugs and alcohol can be a deadly combination/But it can put an end to your pent-up frustration/I can be your release/Your saviour from these bed sheets.” he says with an arrogance before continuing in confident fashion,
“Just lie back and let me take you there/I’ll put an end to your pain/Darlin’ I’ll make you feel beautiful again.” he says, which will no doubt continue to keep his growing female fanbase happy with such a line that mixes passion with tenderness.
The song continues in a similar style, with the guitars and drums clashing around in the background highlighting the vocal prominence of both Alex and Julia as her whiskey rock vocal combines with his high-pitched rock delivery. Mid-way through the song, the pair sing in unison,
“Here we are in a state of grace/Two naked bodies in an unshakable embrace/The pleasure builds to its final moments/We hold on to each other tight/A devilish smile is enough to ignite/And we’re burning like fire/Body’s rubbing like friction in a moment of desire.” which covers the passion between the two, fictional or not. Julia then follows that up in a moment of vocal trade-offs as she screams out,
“I can’t hold on any longer.” while Alex replies with a quick-fire calmness,
“Bite your lips, move those hips, darlin’ be a little stronger.” she screams out once again passionately,
“I can’t take it anymore.” Alex again offering a calmness,
“Put your hand on my chest, take a breath and ingest, this will be like never before.”The song shows a certain amount of passion within the lyrics and vocal combination between Julia and Alex, it has been described as a taster of what is to come from the full album by the pair, it will be interesting to see where things go. But with the guitars continuing to give the song a giant rock feel we hear one final pre-chorus, which arrives before the song ends on its initial statement as the title states, the pair once again sing together in harmony, their voices mixing extremely well as they sing,
“I’m a bad influence on you/You make me do things I shouldn’t do/Bad influence on you/Ooooooh, yeah how I want you/Bad influence/Take away my innocence/Bad influence.”CommentsQuote:“I think “Bad Influence” was the first song to actually born, after Alex stopped by the Reckless Infinity tour to meet his friends, the funny thing is that I was not his friend, well I am his friend now, but it was so surreal when we met again that we started to joke with each other that we were like bad influences for one another. I mean he’s 21, I’m 27 and people tends to think that I would be the bad influence in this situation, but believe me, after I got to know Alex better, I found out that he’s the one badly influencing me to do things I didn’t want to, LOL. Let this massage tease all your nasty heads, but talking about the music again, so the lyrics is about this influence people have over others and sometimes it can be for a good cause or for a bad cause but I think the point of this track is about self-satisfaction, so it’s not a literally “bad influence” you know what I mean. I like the old school hard rock sound this song has, does that make you wanna dance? It certainly does with me and its sexy at the same time, well a lot of other tracks in this album are sexy, but this one is like, damn, I wanna have sex! This is the main propose with this project, to bring the old sex, drugs and rock and roll style back, I know it’s a tough task, especially if we want to hit the mainstream market, but there are people out there longing for rock music and we’re feeding them with it.”
- Julia Volkova
“People have already tried to interpret this track, before they’ve even heard the track! It was like, oh yeah, Alex and Julia are releasing a song called ‘Bad Influence’ and they look at the title and think, I know what’s it’s about. It’s funny though, I haven’t been in the industry long, but I’ve already learnt that when the media doesn’t have a story, they just think f*ck it, let’s make one up! But hey, it’s all part of the nature of the beast, right? The fact is that this song isn’t about some younger dude being seduced by somebody older, it’s about two messed up individuals that prefer to replace real feelings and emotions for something a little more destructive. We’ve all been there before, we’ve had the sh*tty relationships that just emotionally drain you and sometimes you just want some sort of a release, and to me, that’s what this song is about, it’s about having a release and having somebody feel that same way.
We didn’t plan any of this, we worked together last summer, it was crazy, but we just hung out a couple of times and recorded a track together. Months later we happened to be at the same place, we chatted and spoke about meeting up after one of the shows and we did. We wrote a couple of songs together, but we didn’t know what to do with them and we hung out a couple more times and ended up with more songs, we just sort of said, “f*ck it, let’s record an album” and that was pretty much it. We went into a studio as soon as possible and recorded an album.”
- Alex Simms
LyricsJulia Volkova – PurpleAlex Simms – Dark BlueTogether – Black“Ooooooh, I gave in
I drank the beer and confessed my greatest sin
I took a long drag from my cigarette
Spoke about the things I’ve done that I just can’t forget
And you poured me another drink
I’m sure it had some poison in
But you knew I needed something more
Something to ease the pain
Darlin’ I can lock the door
We can do some things that we’ve both done before
We know that sex, drugs and alcohol can be a deadly combination
But it can put an end to your pent-up frustration
I can be your release
Your saviour from these bed sheets
Just lie back and let me take you there
I’ll put an end to your pain
Darlin’ I’ll make you feel beautiful again
I’ve finished my drink and taken some pills
I’m looking for those late night thrills
I can feel our bodies embrace in a state of grace
I don’t want this feeling to pass me by
When it’s just you and me
I know that’s enough
Place your hands on my chest because it might get rough
Screaming for more because you’re just so tough
I’m a bad influence on you
Bad influence on you
Bad influence
I need all of you tonight
Not sure if I can hold on tight
I can feel my knees turning weak
And I can barely speak
All I can do is scream your name in the throes of passion
Feel my body tighten in climactic fashion
I can feel your body shudder and shake
Your screaming voice echoes with a trembling quake
Sweat is dripping and hearts are beating
This is a cycle of pleasure that needs repeating
Here we are in a state of grace
Two naked bodies in an unshakable embrace
The pleasure builds to its final moments
We hold on to each other tight
A devilish smile is enough to ignite
And we’re burning like fire
Body’s rubbing like friction in a moment of desire
I can’t hold on any longer
Bite your lips, move those hips, darlin’ be a little stronger
I can’t take it any more
Put your hand on my chest, take a breath and ingest, this will be like never before
I’m screaming out your name
My body’s moving like never before
I don’t think I can take this pleasure
But I can’t resist
I want more
Your wildfire body pressed to mine
I can feel you tighten for the final time
Your eyes glaze over in a moment of ecstasy
Scream in pleasure about how this is everything you wanted it to be
I’m a bad influence on you
You make me do things I shouldn’t do
Bad influence on you
Ooooooh, yeah how I want you
Bad influence
Take away my innocence
Bad influence”PersonnelAlex Simms – lead vocals, bass, lyrics, composition, production
Julia Volkova – lead vocals, lead guitar, lyrics, composition, production
Josh Kingston – drums, percussion
Sound AlikeThe Pretty Reckless – Hit Me Like A Man
