The Story Behind the Song: Kate Miller-Heidke, “Are You Ready”

Kate Miller-Heidke’s song “Are You Ready” can make you rich. Well, that is, if you live in New York State, where the tune has been picked up for an omnipresent New York Lottery commercial.

We quizzed Kate and her husband, Keir Nuttall, who co-wrote the song, about how it all came together. “Are You Ready” is the lead single from the Australian singer-songwriters’ Liberty Bell album. Check out the imaginative video below.

How would you describe “Are You Ready” musically?

Musically it’s a very simple, cycling pattern. The real crux of the song, aside form the lyrics, is the compound arrangement, with new instruments joining with each new circuit the chords take. An idea I got from Bonzo Dog Band’s “The Intro and The Outro.”

What inspired the song?

It was simply that Kate and I were headed out for an evening on the town and I had been ready for fifteen minutes and kept asking her if she was ready yet. In the end I gave up hovering over her and sat down at the piano to kill some time. The song just came out in one big chunk, in the ten minutes or so I had to wait for Kate to be ready.

What was recording it like?

We recorded it at Hot Pie studios in Los Angeles. It was quite a simple process as we like to have very detailed demos, and we just replaced all the vocals, trumpet, string and drum loop samples with real players. The core of the demo –my backing vocals, keys, programming — stayed on the final version.

How does it feel to have it be featured in a New York lottery commercial?

We’re really happy that the song has been given a chance to reach so many people. How many people look beyond the song as a jingle and find an artist with several albums under her belt is another matter entirely. But we know it’s a lucky win in the songwriting lottery. It’s also an incredibly well constructed ad that enhances the song in the same way a good music video would.