This “Ready For Your Love” remix is snappy and emotive, with instant appeal.
Between Josh Morris’s evocative lyrics and songwriting, and Greg O’Keefe’s crisp, adroit remixing, the tune “Ready for Your Love” has become a cruise-worthy, danceable romanza. Here’s how it happened:
Two musicians once met at The College of Saint Rose: a songwriter (Morris) and a producer (O’Keefe). Morris loved O’Keefe’s production, and O’Keefe dug Morris’ latest. The musician’s goal was to make something together that you could put on in the car, or dance to at a club.
They called it: an experiment.
We call it: a bop.
Greg O’Keefe is a musical artist and producer from New York and holds a music degree. He is experienced in EDM and Pop, and eventually found a sweet spot between the two, resulting in a pleasant rounded yet hype hybrid-pop genre of his own. Josh Morris is a musician and songwriter from Albany. He has experience writing for and playing in several bands, and his primary instrument is the drums. He pairs on-the-nose lyrics with melodious. pure vocals and hypnotic rhythms.
The original version of the song starts out with clean electric guitar, and syncopated guitar hits- Giving a sort of pop-reggae-songwriter feel akin to that of MAGIC!’s songwriter- Nasri. The bassline of the original RFYL had this funky running eight-note line bubbling underneath the surface. O’Keefe took that groovy feeling and propagated it inside a sonic greenhouse.
The first lyric begins with a chasm…
“17 and going on 23, being young and in love ain’t what it used to be”.
We get the feeling that he is begging… to feel something, and be free…but also, he’s not quite ready to dive in yet. The lowered key and vocal production give a breath of fresh air and depth to the line. And it still manages to keep the lighthearted, forward-moving feeling of the original. This “Ready for You Love” remix is radio-ready- to say the least. And the religious allegory brings Hozier to mind.
“Tell me why you’re swimming in church tryna set it all up in flames? (on a Sunday)
Jesus don’t mind I repent my sinning ways”
There’s a chorus of pulsating synths is a current below it all, and the electro-chords are nearly vocal in quality…But are directly contrasted by the club-ish electronic claps and snare hits.
As the song makes it to the ¾ mark, we get treated to locked-in vocal harmonies. Then the B section comes around, and RFYL becomes soulful in quality.
This version of “Ready for Your Love” ends much earlier, phasing out suddenly- giving the same effect as the sonically unresolved original. We can only hope that this creative powerhouse will collaborate again- because we are ready for their love…I mean music!
Q&A
Josh, in RFYL, is the character singing actually ready for the love, or does he just think that he is? There seems to be some hesitation in the beginning.
So the song overall is a journey around this characters perception of what love actually is and what it means. The story in the song is tied very much to my evolution of understanding love and releasing that it’s way more than just a word. At the beginning of the song, there are hints of desperation, immaturity, and naivety in the lyrics. The second verse focuses more on the journey to self-awareness and actualization. Then by the end of the song, we’re finally ready to accept and understand love. Everything gets put into context an the rose colored glasses finally come off. It was a painstaking journey in the song, and in my actual life as well.
Greg, What’s your key to taking vocals down to a lower key while making it have so much richness?
Josh’s vocals are incredibly smooth so I knew that they were going to be a blast to work with. I started with the synths in the back, and had them at that lower key that the remix is in. Those pumping synths mixed with the bass just hit right for me. Once I tuned the vocals down to match, it felt that “that was the key”. Something tonally about the vocals in that key and the synths sounded unique to me, so I ran with it and built the rest of the track around that. I added a chorus effect from Valhalla DSP’s Supermassive which gave it that larger than life effect that you can hear during the drop. I think that effect is the key to adding the richness of the vocals in this remix!
Josh, Did you have a framework for what you wanted Greg to do with your single, or did you give him the creative reins for RFYL?
I honestly didn’t want to give him too much in terms of what I wanted. I’m not big into the world of house music, trap, or EDM, so I really wanted him to take the reins. All I sent him was a couple references for vibes that I like, and told him that I wanted people to put it on their gym playlists lol.
What’s the key to making a sound good for the club or for cruising? Do you think there’s a sonic combination that lends to that?
I think there needs to be a perfect balance between a punchy low end and a catchy and melodic top line. The key to it sounding good in a club setting is to really nail the mix of the low end with the kick. If your sub is too low or your kick is too loud, it won’t have as much power in a live setting. Same goes with a sub that is too loud, it will drown out the rest of the song. Having a tight low end mix also helps when cruising in your car and listening through car speakers!
Who do you both take inspiration from, music-wise?
Josh: I definitely take a lot of influences from indie/alternative rock and 80’s pop. I have so many musical interests and so many genres that I love, so I can’t definitively say that those descriptions are gonna be my sound forever. But at this moment in time, that’s kind where I’m at.
Greg: Main music influences: Jon Bellion, Zedd
Do you guys have any plans to release another song together?
Don’t have any plans as of now but it’s definitely a possibility haha.
LINKS:
https://www.joshmorrismusic.com/
https://www.tiktok.com/@josh.morris.music
https://www.instagram.com/joshmorrismusic/
https://www.facebook.com/heftylefty97
https://www.tiktok.com/@gregokeefemusic
https://www.instagram.com/gregjokeefe
https://soundcloud.com/greg-okeefe