The Struts‘ breakout hit “Could Have Been Me” was first released 10 years ago in 2013. While the song has become one of the English rockers’ signature tunes, they weren’t exactly huge fans when they first wrote it.
Speaking with ABC Audio, frontman Luke Spiller recalls a candid conversation he had with guitarist Adam Slack about “Could Have Been Me” while they were working on it.
“Me and Ads sort of snuck out the studio to have a cheeky cigarette,” Spiller explains. “It’s normally a good time outside of the studio … where you can sort of, like, be a bit honest with each other.”
“With a song like ‘Could Have Been Me,’ at that moment in time, myself and Ads weren’t exactly, like, aligned perfectly with that song,” he continues. “There were a couple of other things which we felt represented us way more authentically.”
Still, “Could Have Been Me” caught the ears of listeners across the pond. The Struts then made their way to the U.S. and rereleased the single alongside a new video in 2015. “Could Have Been Me” is now certified Platinum by the RIAA.
“As a song, it’s really, really, strong, but at the time, we just couldn’t really sort of see that,” Spiller laughs.
And as “Could Have Been Me” lit up the States, those back home started to take more notice.
“They were, like, ‘We heard a demo of this song before, right? This is a totally different, revamped version?'” says bassist Jed Elliott. “And we were, like, “Nope! It’s exactly the same master you were hearing, just with different ears and a new perspective.'”
“Maybe that was the time for it,” he adds. “Maybe that was more authentically aligned with where we were at.”
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