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Ben Novak’s debut single Turn Your Car Around is just ‘one of those songs’. From its captivating vocal delivery to its huge chorus, the first single from Novak’s debut album One Floor Down, is, he says, what great pop music is meant to be about. “I really wanted to write a song that fired people’s emotions,” he says. “That’s the kind of music that’s always moved me – a great melody, a memorable chorus – and then to cap it all off, a story that grabs people from the first line and keeps them listening until the end.”
Where It All Began
Novak’s musical journey began like that of many others – via an older sibling’s record collection. “My sister always had great albums when I was growing up,” he says. “There was all the big hits like Bryan Adams, Cheap Trick and Kiss, and then what was considered quirky stuff at the time, like the Psychedelic Furs and The Cure. In the 15 minutes after she got home from school I could hear Cuts Like A Knife, Sister Europe, I Want You To Want Me and Boys Don’t Cry – and as a foundation for somebody who would aspire to write great songs later in life, I don’t think I could have asked for musical beginnings any better than that.”
From his teens to his early twenties, a career in bands followed – and like many musicians, Novak ultimately moved to writing about music – contributing artist interviews and reviews for local magazines – and eventually becoming an occasional correspondent for music industry bible Billboard. Occasionally he would pick up his guitar and write a song.
The product of one of those sessions was Turn Your Car Around. Novak says the time he’d spent as a music journalist had unforeseen benefits as he prepared to record the song. “I had interviewed so many artists over the years,” he explains. “Everyone from Shania Twain to Blink 182, Elvis Costello, Radiohead and Oasis. And what I got from those conversations was an understanding of how important it was to do your absolute best for every song. It ran contrary to the low-fi way I had recorded in the past, but I wanted to share Turn Your Car Around with as many people as possible, and I knew I had to assemble a world beating production crew to do that.”
Fortunately for Novak, the right people were available. “Aside from me,” he says, “everybody who performed on the song was a multi-platinum seller. For example, I asked the rhythm section from Bic Runga’s first album Drive to play,” he says, “and then Stellar* members Chris Van De Geer and Andrew Maclaren came on board for percussion, guitars and overall production. Together they came up with a ‘million dollar’ sound – but at the same time didn’t lose the unique qualities of the song that grabbed people’s ears when they heard the original demo.”
Novak’s debut album One Floor Down is out down - downloadable from iTunes
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