While not the only Joey-fronted song on K.G., it's hard to argue that this is not the fan-favorite of his contributions. “Intrasport” is a house song at the center of the album focused on bloodshed and transformation. While the title is striking, it is not an actual word. Instead, the title is a combination of intra (inside or within) and sport (competition, game). The title could then explain the song’s purpose: hunting your own kind or even yourself. Given the murderous lyrics, it makes a lot of sense. It was the last song from K.G. to be released as a single before they moved on to L.W. but it still holds a soft spot in many hearts.
Joey’s inspirations for “Intrasport” come from all over the place. For a Consequence of Sound explanation of K.G., he wrote that it was “my attempt at writing a Bollywood inspired, early 2000’s Housey-cum-RnB banger. It was definitely fun to experiment with the vibes found on this track. Britney… duet? 2021? It’d be a dream come true tbh.” In Gizzymail 7, Joey explained the song like this: “I think my idea for ‘Intrasport’ was a Turkish version of a 90s house song — It gets me one step closer to a duet with Darren Hayes from Savage Garden.” He would also cite Darren Hayes (alongside isolation) as an influence on the song during a November 2020 Reddit AMA. In that same AMA Joey said the gruesome lyrics were inspired by the dark web.
The COVID-19 pandemic largely influenced the creation of K.G., considering how everyone was recording and writing on their own and “Intrasport” was largely created by Joey himself (he has the sole mixing credit), while also being presented late into the album’s creation. Ambrose said: “‘Intrasport’ came about because Joey was at home and none of us were around him. He went free for all. He was listening to Savage Garden and guilty pleasures like that, although he wouldn’t call it a guilty pleasure. He wears that shit like a badge of honour. He also wrote ‘Minimum Brain Size’ which I absolutely love, but ‘Intrasport’ came late to the game. He’s done that a few times where he came late with a track and everyone’s like, ‘fuck’s sake, the album’s done’ and then he shows us the song and it’s really good. So then we cut one out and replace it with his. I remember hearing his ‘ah! ah!’ heavy breathing on ‘Intrasport’ and loving it, it’s really grown on me. It’s definitely the odd one out on the album.”
The creative process behind the song was detailed by Cavs in the previously mentioned Reddit AMA: “Joey had made the track with samples and then I drummed over the top. It's mostly Joey's editing and mixing that gives it a nice blend.. was very fun to play!” In the end only Stu (clavinet/synthesizer/Mellotron), Joey (vocals/guitar/synthesizer/Elektron Digitakt/percussion) and Cavs (drums) would play on the track, based on liner notes. “Intrasport” was released as part of K.G. on November 20th, 2020. Stu said that Joey was ecstatic about the track as it tapped into his long standing interest in electronic music. “Joe’s joke is that ‘Intrasport’ is his, like, government sanctioned electronic house track or whatever… Joe is pretty stoked about being able to take it to this place, for sure.”
In a Gizzymail newsletter promoting the concert film for Live in San Francisco ‘16, they showed a video of an apartment with green lights coming out of the windows. The caption read “we just shot a music video in this haunted house.” The video referenced was for “Intrasport,” which would be released on November 19th, 2020 — a day before the release of K.G., making it the final video for the album. It was directed, edited and shot by John Angus Stewart and features the band completely still in various poses while Joey sings the song. At the end the band begins to dance one by one while undressing. Stewart explained the video like this: “The Clip was shot in my tiny studio apartment. For the main reason that it’s the smallest place I know that someone lives in. The aim was to find the 50/50 split: feeling lonely at a party but surrounded by people. Feeling like you are the only one there and that nobody really understands you (but you still have to bring it). I used 35mm anamorphic to give the small space as much panoramic effect as I could muster. Sometimes the smallest of spaces feel huge when you are partying, why do you think everyone always gathers in the kitchen or bathroom?" On the walls of the apartment are posters from the 2019 European tour. The main one featuring the three cats listening to headphones is from 2019-10-16 at X-TRA in Zurich while the other depicting a King Gizzard board game is from 2019-10-02 at the O2 Academy in Leeds. Prints of the video were sold by PHC Films in late 2020.
While the song ended up being a fan-favorite from K.G., it was absent from setlists for years and became one of the most highly anticipated debuts. Before the Remlinger residency in 2023 the song was supposedly soundchecked, though there hasn’t been any evidence to support the claim. That said, the band has stated multiple times that the song will eventually see time on stage. In the live chat during the premiere of the music video for “Dreams” it was said that the band would play the track one day. Joey and Lucas have also mentioned playing the song live.
During the band’s show on 2024-08-28 Joey confirmed that they were working on it and said it might appear in the coming performances. This was further hinted at on 2024-09-05 when “Intrasport” was listed in a poll of highly anticipated songs. After being thrown a shirt with the song’s title on it during their show on 2024-09-14, Stu said it wasn’t going to be played. However, he did promise that it would be played on the next tour. Joey followed that statement with a quick tease of the song’s main riff. They would tease the debut again on October 7th, this time through an Instagram story which showed Stu singing the title over heavy drumming.
Before the band’s show at the Vina Robles Ampitheatre in Paso Robles on 2024-11-03 “Intrasport” was soundchecked extensively. According to fans in attendance the rehearsals were twenty to thirty minutes long. Word quickly spread across the community, though some had doubts about it as “God Is In The Rhythm” had been reportedly heard in soundcheck the night before but wasn’t played. While the show started with a microtonal section, “Intrasport” was not played until around halfway through when the synth table was brought out. Fans began yelling its title in the audience and the band obliged by giving “Intrasport” its live debut after four years of waiting. The song, with Lucas on guitar and Joey on tambourine, ended up transitioning into The Silver Cord track “Set.” Later in the show Joey admitted that he was nervous to play the song live but the rest of the band celebrated the achievement.