Father John Misty on Beyoncé writing credit: "I was mostly kind of in the dark..."

26 April 2016, 11:17 | Written by Laurence Day

(News)

(Father John Misty) (Beyoncé)

Father John Misty's shed some light on how his collaboration with Beyoncé came to be.

The seemingly unlikely team up resulted in "Hold Up", a Yeah Yeah Yeahs-sampling which also features input from Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig and Diplo. It appears on recently released surprise LP LEMONADE.

Speaking in a statement, Misty explains just how it all came together:

"About a year and half ago, my friend Emile Haynie played Beyonce some of my music, along with some tunes I’ve written for other people, back when she was looking for collaborators for the record…Pretty soon after they sent along the demo for “Hold Up”, which was just like a minute of the sample and the hook. I’m pretty sure they were just looking for lyrics, but I went crazy and recorded a verse melody and refrain too that, unbelievably – when you consider how ridiculous my voice sounds on the demo – ended up making the record – right between picking up the baseball bat and decapitating the fire hydrant.

"I was mostly kind of in the dark, my involvement with the record kind of ends with me just sending off the demo, it wasn’t until she came to my Coachella set in 2015 and told me personally it had made the record that I really had anything concrete with which to convince my friends that I hadn’t actually gone insane."

He also slid swiftly back into character for social media:

Woke up this morning in an unmarked car with a band aid on my temple, a slight metallic taste in my mouth and a Beyonce writing credit
— FATHER JOHN MISTY (@fatherjohnmisty) April 24, 2016

For those wanting to know my involvement in "Hold Up" - I make ends meet taking the occasional session playing airhorn...
— FATHER JOHN MISTY (@fatherjohnmisty) April 25, 2016

I was in Studio B at Ocean Way, listening to some playback of a recently completed job for a cereal I am not at liberty to name here...
— FATHER JOHN MISTY (@fatherjohnmisty) April 25, 2016

Next thing I knew I hear this virtual stampede of footsteps from Studio A...
— FATHER JOHN MISTY (@fatherjohnmisty) April 25, 2016

Most airhorns you hear on contemporary recordings are samples, they lack the roundness and articulation of a live performance...
— FATHER JOHN MISTY (@fatherjohnmisty) April 25, 2016

The oscillation between neighboring harmonics is audibly palpable in a studio setting, particularly with the wide range of iso rooms at OW
— FATHER JOHN MISTY (@fatherjohnmisty) April 25, 2016

TBH I'm something of a dilettante when it comes to airhorn, and I required quite a bit of guidance (and extensive comping) to nail the take
— FATHER JOHN MISTY (@fatherjohnmisty) April 25, 2016