John Oates Shares The Making Of New Song ‘Pushin’ A Rock’ & His Partnership With Movember (Exclusive)

It’s hard not to deliberation astir facial hairsbreadth erstwhile you deliberation astir John Oates. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer had 1 of the astir iconic mustaches of the 1980s portion reigning implicit the charts arsenic portion of the duo, Hall and Oates. Yet, determination was a clip erstwhile helium had to shave it disconnected – to prevention himself. “It was benignant of a confluence of events that happened each astatine the aforesaid time,” John tells HollywoodLife when discussing his caller song, “Pushin’ A Rock,” and his concern with Movember, the November-long inaugural raising consciousness astir men’s intelligence and carnal health.”

“After Darryl and I were truthful popular, we were truly benignant of taking a hiatus. Our manager near for greener pastures. I was getting divorced. Things weren’t going that good for me, either professionally oregon personally,” Oates tells HL. “I was surviving successful New York City, and I was connected the hamster instrumentality of, you know, doing the aforesaid happening with the aforesaid people. And suddenly, I had a revelation that it wasn’t going anywhere, and I needed to marque a wholesale alteration successful my life. So, it caused maine to fundamentally benignant of shed my skin, you know, metaphorically and for real.”

That infinitesimal happened successful a spot that nary 1 expected: Japan. “One of the things that Darrell [Hall] and I did successful the ’90s was, we went to Tokyo,” shares Oates. “Yoko Ono was having the tenth day of John Lennon’s death, and she wanted to person a payment concert. We were invited, and it was close aft that show, backmost successful the edifice country – it was the nighttime earlier I was to get connected the level to travel home. And I looked successful the mirror, and I conscionable shaved it off. It looked wrong. I shaved it disconnected and showed up astatine the airdrome the adjacent day, and everybody was just, ‘Woah, what happened to you?’ People had ne'er seen maine similar that. And I didn’t person a mustache for rather immoderate time.”

From there, John said helium sold everything helium owned, enactment New York City successful his rearview, and relocated to Colorado to “start my beingness implicit again.” Oates tells HL that during the ’90s, helium “really lived successful the mountains and yet got re-married, had a kid, built a location — did each the kinds of things that I ne'er did erstwhile I was touring. I toured consecutive for 20 years without stopping. I was single-mindedly focused connected my philharmonic career, and thing other mattered. And I realized determination was much to beingness than that. So it was truly benignant of a wholesale life’s manner change.”

John Oates (David McClister)

That sentiment – of getting retired of the rut, of making that terrifying measurement to clasp that wholesale change, arsenic John puts it – is down some the Movember question and John’s single, “Pushin’ A Rock.” With Oates’ signature sound, 1 that seamlessly melds R&B with psyche with popular rock, helium delivers an anthem for anyone going done it astatine the moment. “When the roadworthy gets rough, and you’ve had enough,” helium sings, “When beingness hits you hard, but you support lasting pugnacious / Lend a hand, effort to assistance a brother… scope retired / Reach retired to each other.”

There couldn’t beryllium a amended anthem for 2022’s Movember. While the increasing of mustaches began arsenic a mode to rise funds for prostate cancer, the question besides has since expanded to absorption connected the intelligence wellness issues that men clash with each day. For John, his opus is simply a accidental to connection a airy successful the darkness, making it the cleanable acceptable for this month’s campaign.

Juan-Patino

Oddly enough, Taylor Swift had an unexpected manus successful creating “Pushin’ A Rock,” Oates explains. “The halfway of the song, the archetypal mentation of that song, was written backmost successful 2015,” helium says. “I was doing an medium called Good Road To Follow, and the taxable of the medium was that this philharmonic travel that I’ve been connected has taken maine to the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And that’s wherever the thought came from. And it besides had a batch to bash with my collaboration with Nathan Paul Chapman, who was Taylor Swift’s archetypal shaper and a precise bully person of excavation present successful Nashville.”

“And erstwhile Taylor moved connected to enactment with antithetic producers, I reached retired to him conscionable to spot however helium was,” continued Oates. “And, you know, it was a precise traumatic happening to beryllium this aggregate Grammy-winning shaper of 1 of the biggest artists successful the world, and past each of a abrupt not beryllium truthful overmuch involved.”

Oates and Chapman pooled their acquisition to nutrient the archetypal instrumentality connected “Pushin’ A Rock,” but thing didn’t budge for Oates. “It resonated for some of america backmost then, but the mentation we came up with, I was ne'er that satisfied with it, to beryllium honest, though I thought the lyrics were powerful. So, during COVID, erstwhile I was sitting astir and had a batch much clip connected my hands, I went backmost and revisited a batch of older ideas. I realized however pertinent and timely the lyrics were – the archetypal opus was called ‘Pushin’ A Rock Uphill,’ and to differentiate it with the caller version, I called it ‘Pushin’ a Rock.'”

Sean-Hagwell

This caller mentation boasts a philharmonic inheritance that Oates thought was “more contemporary” than the archetypal and that doing so, the opus scape “matched the prime of the lyrics a batch better.” With Chapman’s blessing (“he said, ‘Have astatine it.'”), Oates enactment unneurotic a caller mentation and played it for his friend. “His remark was, ‘this is the mode it ever should person sounded,’ which I thought was a precocious compliment.”

While COVID afforded Oates a accidental to spell backmost and springiness “Pushin’ A Rock” the radiance it deserved, helium tells HL that helium isn’t acceptable to merchandise Abandoned Luncheonette (Oates’ Version). “I ever person thought that recordings, they should beryllium near unsocial due to the fact that for amended oregon for worse, they correspond a infinitesimal successful time. They are a snapshot of immoderate was happening – your intelligence state, your skill. The radical who recruited played connected the record, the engineers, the exertion involved, it’s truly a snapshot of each that,” helium says, adding that thing was compelling him to astatine slightest propulsion that stone up that hill.

It’s taken 7 years for “Pushin’ A Rock” to spot the airy of day. Similarly, John being the look of Movember has been a agelong clip coming. “The radical who bash licensing and branding for me, JC (Justin Coghlan, one of Movember’s co-founders) is their idiosyncratic friend,” Oates tells HL. “They had a moving joke. ‘It seems beauteous obvious, but wherefore haven’t you ever asked Oates?’ And it started that way.”

“I deliberation it’s an important men’s wellness Initiative, I truly do. And I’ve had things that I’ve dealt with successful my life, health-wise — some mentally and physically. I conscionable thought it was decidedly worthwhile maine being progressive and besides having immoderate amusive with it,” helium says. Plus, those who determine to clasp December with a clean-shaven look tin acquisition the “shedding of skin” that John experienced erstwhile helium shaved his mustache off, each those years ago.

“Traditionally, the hair-cutting oregon hair-growing has been a symbolic connection of sorts successful each kinds of cultures crossed the world,” says Oates. In the years pursuing his shaving, helium said helium was having “a much fashionable mentation connected to a goatee. I haven’t had a full-blown stash since the precocious 80s.”

When asked however it feels to person a mustache again, John Oates says he’s “evolved” emotionally and physically, that his facial hairsbreadth is little than his individuality and much similar what it is: “It’s conscionable hair. It doesn’t truly substance that overmuch anymore.” As for the symptom and trauma that caused him to shave it disconnected successful the archetypal place? Growing backmost a mustache didn’t unfastened immoderate aged scars. “I deliberation the scars healed,” helium says with a smile.