Inside The Track: Captain Highside on Madness Rising
- Editorial Board
- 10 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Songwriting under pressure, basement demos, and turning pandemic solitude into a powerful statement.
For our October edition of Inside The Track, we sit down with Captain Highside, who not only wrote and performed much of Madness Rising but also co-produced the track alongside Goathead Records’ in-house producer, ASTRØMAN. A song born in Nashville during the quiet devastation of the pandemic and finished three years later, it’s a striking blend of 70s psychedelia, restless bass lines, and deeply personal lyricism.
Roles and Responsibilities
Highside didn’t just write the song, he lived inside it.
“I was the composer, songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, and played bass, guitar, keys and some of the drums. I also co-produced. It was a very personal project from the start.” he adds.
The Origins: From Nashville to 2025
The first sketches of Madness Rising go back to 2021–22, written in Nashville when the pandemic still loomed large.
“The song was finished as a demo in 2022, but I buried it for a while. It didn’t resurface until June 2025, when I pulled it back out and worked with ASTRO to bring it to life.”
Vision & Themes
The concept of Madness Rising is tied inseparably to the pandemic experience.
“It came from loneliness, paranoia, and the desire to escape being trapped inside for days on end. The ‘madness’ is that creeping dysfunction from isolation. Musically, that emotion lent itself to something psychedelic and 70s in style—layered harmonies, a Wurlitzer line, and bass grooves that feel slightly detached from reality. I wanted the production itself to mirror dissociation.”
Workflow & Process
Ideas came unannounced, sometimes in dreams.
“I’d wake up with a bass line or a vocal melody in my head, then rush to my makeshift studio—at first in my office, later in a corner of my basement. It’s really bare-bones: a two-input interface, a rotating setup between guitar, bass, and keys, and GarageBand on my iPhone. The simplicity actually helps me; fewer tools mean fewer distractions.”
The writing method is fast and immersive.
“Lyrics are never written down—they pour out live. I’ll do 20–30 vocal takes and spot-edit until it feels right. Most demos are finished in three or four days, about six hours of real work, before I lose the energy of the idea. Healthcare shifts make time scarce, so I need to capture songs quickly before they fade.”
From Demo to Final
The initial demo was largely complete, but Highside knew it needed polish. That’s where ASTRO entered.
“My demos are dense—I hand engineers more than enough material. But when I heard the dulcimer tones and string line ASTRO added at the start, I knew it was going to be elevated. He turned coal into a diamond.”
Tools of the Trade
For all its psychedelic sweep, the song was built on modest tools:
DAW: GarageBand (iPhone)
Mic: Shure SM58
Bass: Hofner Paul McCartney model
Keys: Casio keyboard (set to “60s EP” Wurlitzer patch)
Guitar: Squier Stratocaster
Interface: PreSonus One
Drums: GarageBand’s built-in drum machine
“It’s a really basic setup. But if you know how to coax the right emotion, you don’t need much.”
Building Blocks & Layering
The writing order varied, but for this track the spark was the keys.
“The Wurlitzer chords came first, then bass, then vocals, then guitar to embellish. Each part harmonizes with the others—I don’t like doubling lines. That comes from my love of 70s progressive rock, where each instrument has its own voice but works symphonically.”
Collaboration Memories
Isolation shaped the writing, but collaboration gave the song its wings.
“Loneliness is in the DNA of the song. But ASTRO showed me how much further it could go. His ability to clean up my rough, amateur takes and still keep the emotional grit intact was huge.”
Proud Moments
For Highside, pride lies in how the elements mesh.
“The overall structure, the way everything blends into something symphonic—that’s the part I’m proudest of. To see a track sit unfinished for three years and then emerge like this, it feels like resurrection.”
Advice for New Songwriters
Highside leaves with pragmatic wisdom:
“Trust your gut, but also listen back with your inner critic. Confidence matters, but don’t let it blind you to necessary feedback. And above all—listen to more music. The broader your intake, the sharper your instincts.”
Closing Thoughts
The weight of pandemic life is still audible in Madness Rising—a time capsule of anxiety, frustration, and longing. For Highside, who lived through that period as a healthcare worker, the emotions are not theoretical.
“Everything I wrote then was saturated with the reality of working in a hospital during COVID: fear, restlessness, and uncertainty. This track holds all of that, but it also holds survival.”
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