Dec 28, 2020

Single Spotlight: Dillon Carmichael 'Hot Beer' Interview

A couple of days ago we got the chance to catch up and talk with Dillon Carmichael about his new single ‘Hot Beer’ written by Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson, Hunter Phelps, Mason Wilson Hardy (HARDY) and produced by Jon Pardi & Ryan Gore.

‘Hot Beer’ starts off with the girl in question “getting all dolled up” and arriving at her ex-boyfriend's house seemingly to apologize for going crazy the other night, cheating, and wrecking his Ford. The girl tries to play it off by saying she’s just there to “collect her stuff” but she ends up crying and trying to move back in and restart. Typical guilt treatment.

The situation unfolds in a savage fashion, “I’d rather drink a hot beer” followed by numerous dreadful acts that he would rather do than get back with this girl. The song is essentially a big Would You Rather game with the latter option always being “get back together with your ex”.

Here’s a list of my favorite things Dillon sings he’d rather do:

“Drink a hot beer” (downright unpleasant)
“Work a Saturday just for fun” (who would do that)
“Burn all my fishing gear” (expensive)
“I’d even pop an O’Douls over you” (gross)
“Take a big swig of Uncle Bubba's old dip spit” (internal suicide)
“Go hunting with an empty gun” (that’s called exploring)
“Set sail in a hurricane” (death)

Phone Interview With Dillon Carmichael:

How did Hot Beer come to fruition?

Well, so during the quarantine situation, in March, April, Jon Pardi and I started discussing working together and creating music, and he would be producing. We were looking for songs, and a good, great songwriter friend of mine gave me some good advice.

He said, “Dillon man, don't be so prideful to where you only cut songs you wrote. Elvis didn't write all his songs you know, some of his biggest hits were written by other people. So always keep your ear open for great songs. Even if you did not write them.”

So hot beer was that song that was written by a lot of people who are familiar with Hardy, and he was actually on the demo. When I heard it, I just knew you know, because nobody likes hot beer. Except for this one guy named Brian that I know in Ohio who loves hot beer for some reason, but other than that, nobody likes hot beer. And, uh and, man, I just knew it was gonna speak to people. Not only that, I love the melody. Also, I'm friends with Hardy. Pardi is friends with Hardy. It just came full circle man. Those full circle moments are organic and they speak to me. I was like, man this is it. So we recorded the song and the record label loved it and here we are, having this conversation.

What's your favorite lyric from the song?

Uh, the one that really got me was “Uncle Bubba's dip spit”. I don't know if you've ever drank dip spit but… basically, this guy is going, I will never get back with that girl. That witch of a woman, I'll never get back with her ever again. Drinking dip spit is such a great portrayal of that feeling.

When did you first hear the song?

It was back in the summer. I was at my tour manager/drummer's wedding. Jon Pardi sent it to me, and he's like, “I think you're gonna love this”. He was right.

Hot Beer was written with Hardy. I've known Hardy since 2011, when I first moved to town, he's one of the first people I met. So, um, you know, having that connection with him for that long is really cool.

Jon Pardi joins Dillon Carmichael on stage for 'Hot Beer'

What other information would you like to tell me?

Well, we were talking about TikTok earlier. I've got a sound on TikTok for Hot Beer. I wanna encourage people to use that because it's a fun tool. You know, it's a great way to connect to country fans.

You know, we'll start touring again eventually. I know a lot of the big live performance companies are talking about shows in the summer, being that this vaccines coming out. So y'all please, come see us live because that's my number one thing if you like my music. If you like my brand and you like everything else online, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, then you're gonna love the live show. That's what I focus on. That’s my bread and butter. We'll play songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and we’ll play Delbert McClinton talking about the Texas folks. We love some Dell and we get on it.

That's awesome. Are you working on any new music?

Well, no, not right now. I mean, I'm always writing new music, so the answer to that part will always be “Yes”. I'm always creating new music, but we won't be in the studio for another year. I've already recorded about 15 songs that will come out in the next year and a half. So there will be a lot of new music coming out. It's all in the bag, ready to be released.

A music video will also happen. I'm not I'm not sure when, but it will be soon.

What’s your favorite beer? (cold of course)

Oh, man, I go back and forth, and it sounds horrible. This sounds like a little sissy beer to drink. But I love Michelob Ultra. I love my Mick Ultra.

But, you know, I really like them all. It's kind of like trucks. I've owned a Ford, Chevy, Dodge. They’re all great trucks. Right now I might be on Chevy, last year on the Ford, a couple years from now I might own a Dodge. Same with beer man. I might go on a Miller Lite kick, might go on a Coors Light kick, but right now it’s Michelob Ultra.