Photo by Sarah Chavez.
Liz Anne Hill burst onto the music scene in June with her rock-tinged single, "The Fish Ain't Biting." She took the time to answer some questions about this quirky, but utterly relatable track.
Aileen James: Who did you write “The Fish Ain’t Biting” with and who produced it?
Liz Anne Hill: I actually co-wrote the song with my dad, and ironically enough, the concept was his idea! OC-based producer Richard Bredice produced the track, and played some of the guitars and slide on it as well. Fun fact, I recorded my first song ever with Richard when I was 7 years old.
What was the process of writing the song – did it begin with a particular lyric or melody?
My dad had the title/hook and the chorus riff first, and we flushed out the rest of the chord structure together. He let me run with the melody and the lyrics from there.
Where did the inspiration for the song come from?
The initial idea came when my dad was teasing me for my bad luck with boys hah! He said I kept reeling in the wrong kind of fish, or maybe the right fish weren't biting, and the idea clicked right then.
What were some of the influences for the sound of this track?
I wanted the song to be guitar driven, with a swampy, in-your-face, rock feel. Frank Reina drummed on the song, and Brad Cummings played bass, both are long-time family friends and we had a good time turning them loose and letting them do what they do best. I have roots in pop, rock, and country, my aim was to find the right balance, and I’m happy with the blend we achieved.
Do you have a favorite lyric?
The whole song goes back and forth between questioning “is it me or is it them?” as to why this whole dating thing isn’t working out… but I love watching people react when they hear the song the first time and get to the line “all I know is the fish suck”. It generally gets a pretty good laugh, and that’s what I was going for.
This is such a fun spin on a common problem of many young people: we just can’t find the right people! How did that specific idea of “The Fish Ain’t Biting” come to life?
The metaphor seemed like a good parallel to dating; fishing seems like something that in its own nature shouldn’t be that complicated, you can be doing everything right, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll catch a fish, let alone a good one at that! I’ve never been one for dating apps, (God knows I’ve had enough trouble without adding that in haha) but my friends have some pretty epic horror stories haha… pulling from my own experience and those of my friends made it easy to write this song.
Why did you choose to release this song as a single?
I chose this song as my first single because it is a bold statement sonically. There’s nothing shy about it, and I think while the sound is pretty in-your-face, the lyrics and the theme are super relatable. I see this song as an opening line to a larger story that I’ll be weaving with my music, and I'm excited to see the reaction its been receiving so far.
Liz Anne Hill: I actually co-wrote the song with my dad, and ironically enough, the concept was his idea! OC-based producer Richard Bredice produced the track, and played some of the guitars and slide on it as well. Fun fact, I recorded my first song ever with Richard when I was 7 years old.
What was the process of writing the song – did it begin with a particular lyric or melody?
My dad had the title/hook and the chorus riff first, and we flushed out the rest of the chord structure together. He let me run with the melody and the lyrics from there.
Where did the inspiration for the song come from?
The initial idea came when my dad was teasing me for my bad luck with boys hah! He said I kept reeling in the wrong kind of fish, or maybe the right fish weren't biting, and the idea clicked right then.
What were some of the influences for the sound of this track?
I wanted the song to be guitar driven, with a swampy, in-your-face, rock feel. Frank Reina drummed on the song, and Brad Cummings played bass, both are long-time family friends and we had a good time turning them loose and letting them do what they do best. I have roots in pop, rock, and country, my aim was to find the right balance, and I’m happy with the blend we achieved.
Do you have a favorite lyric?
The whole song goes back and forth between questioning “is it me or is it them?” as to why this whole dating thing isn’t working out… but I love watching people react when they hear the song the first time and get to the line “all I know is the fish suck”. It generally gets a pretty good laugh, and that’s what I was going for.
This is such a fun spin on a common problem of many young people: we just can’t find the right people! How did that specific idea of “The Fish Ain’t Biting” come to life?
The metaphor seemed like a good parallel to dating; fishing seems like something that in its own nature shouldn’t be that complicated, you can be doing everything right, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll catch a fish, let alone a good one at that! I’ve never been one for dating apps, (God knows I’ve had enough trouble without adding that in haha) but my friends have some pretty epic horror stories haha… pulling from my own experience and those of my friends made it easy to write this song.
Why did you choose to release this song as a single?
I chose this song as my first single because it is a bold statement sonically. There’s nothing shy about it, and I think while the sound is pretty in-your-face, the lyrics and the theme are super relatable. I see this song as an opening line to a larger story that I’ll be weaving with my music, and I'm excited to see the reaction its been receiving so far.
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