Nic Cester, singer, songwriter
We weren’t signed when I wrote the track. Nobody knew who we were. We were playing pubs around Melbourne and no one was coming. The Strokes and that whole scene hadn’t hit yet and people weren’t interested. I had a little shed in my back yardwhere I’d sit with an acoustic guitar and write. I’d take my ideas to the band and we’d flesh them out. All the stuff for Get Born, our first album, was written there.
The catalyst for Are You Gonna Be My Girl was the Strokes releasing Last Nite. It was cool hearing another rock’n’roll band doing what we were doing. Last Nite was a rock song you could dance to. Its rhythm reminded me of Motown – songs like You Can’t Hurry Love. Back then, I was fascinated by the stop-start dynamic the Who used in My Generation. I remember playing the song live, in its very first incarnation. There were about 20 people there. I didn’t have any lyrics, so I just mumbled some nonsense in a way that sounded like words. I got away with it because the venue’s sound system was terrible.
The first draft of the lyrics was quite negative. I’d had a bad experience at a nightclub and ended up walking home alone. In one of the music pauses, I went: “She’s just like every other girl.” I showed it to the band and they said: “Dude, it’s so negative. How about, ‘Are you gonna be my girl?’” It was a good idea, so I went home and wrote everything in about 30 seconds flat. It’s a basic song, but I guess that’s also why it resonates. It’s very direct in its delivery. There are no tricks.
When the song was released in 2003, the iPod was new and Apple wanted to use the track as part of its promotion. The ad’s imagery looked a lot like our music video – I’ve always wondered if it was connected. The early 00s was a fun period. Before that, electronic music had been reigning supreme. Suddenly, the kind of rock’n’roll we were making became fashionable: the old felt new again somehow.
Twenty years on, Are You Gonna Be My Girl has stood the test of time. I remember demo-ing the song before we recorded it. We were courting the producer Rick Rubin, who told us he’d listened to it with Tom Petty. “Wow!” Tom said. “Now that’s something you don’t hear every day.” Just thinking about that gives me a buzz.
Cameron Muncey, lead guitar, backing vocals
The whole garage rock revival scene had a swagger to it. There wasn’t that massive gap between band and audience. You’d go out and drink with fans after the shows and have a good night because everyone was on the same page.
I remember Nic bringing the song to rehearsal, saying: “I have this rhythmic idea. It’s like a chant.” We built it one brick at a time, starting with the tambourine, then the bass and the drums. Once that big riff kicks in, you’re off. We’ve always had an overarching sonic aesthetic: jangly, Kinks-y guitars, nothing too heavy.
I don’t know how the iPod ad happened, but our managers wanted to do everything to make the song a hit. We said: “This isn’t very punk, all this commercial business.” But they convinced us and history probably vindicates them. There was this groundswell and, once enough people heard it, it had its own momentum.
Are You Gonna Be My Girl has obviously been very good to us. I feel like we – somewhat but not totally – avoided the pitfalls of being a one-hit wonder because our debut album had other big songs on it. Fans of the band love the album, not just that song.
People talk about the song’s similarity to Lust for Life. It has that rhythm – but so do You Can’t Hurry Love and Town Called Malice. I’m not bitter though. You’ve got to be able to take that. As for the words, they may not be deep lyrical poetry, but they serve the rhythm. And if a song does that, it’s fine. Lyrically, Are You Gonna Be My Girl is quite innocent. It’s more I Want to Hold Your Hand than WAP.
• Jet tour the UK from 4-12 October
