Behind The Tracks: Keeper - Come Around (Single) (2023)

Come Around all started with Jon Cass.

I got a message, roughly a year ago, asking if we could make a Pop-Punk track.

Avril Lavigne had just released her new album, and I’m guessing Cass had gone on a listening spree. I’m always down to make pop punk. I love it, it’s probably about time I had a track in that style anyway. All the years I’ve spent playing in Pop Punk bands have left me with a real nostalgia for the genre, so, I was completely and utterly down to make some good ol’ Pizza music.

Unfortunately, I was pretty busy at the time.

Overtime at work had taken up what little free time I had.

I had promised our mate, another of Cass’s artists, Synsy, that I’d go down to his gig on Friday in Camden.

I was working Saturday Morning, so I would’ve had to leave early, and I didn’t want that. Plus, Cass had a space on Sat morning.

So why not try to shift swap? Go see Synsy on Friday, stay around at Cass’s, and then work a late shift.

I called up a co-worker, who was more than happy to swap a Saturday night shift, and then I bought the gig tickets.

The gig was sick.

Bvdlvd’s collective, Love Sept with Hen$haw was headlining, Dope set. Ended up supporting BVDLVD later on.

Pezzhead played, they were awesome.

Met a videographer called Sorin, who ended up filming Here We Go a few months later. Had a quick chat with TMDistant, who is actually hopping on the next release.

Synsy was amazing. The dude killed it. Mad to see how well he’s been doing since then.

It was a super important night.

Goes to show, you’ve gotta step outside and talk to people. You never know what's gonna happen.

The gig finished, and then I hopped in an Uber with Cass and his mate, Finn.

Ended up staying in Cass’s guest room.

Apparently, I snore. Like BAAAAD snoring.

He said he got a text from his brother asking what the weird sound from the end of the hall was.

When he told me that, I died.

I didn’t know!!! No one’s told me before, and then I go and hear I sound like an undead bear!

So embarrassing.

Morning came along, (quickly enough for me... Not sure about the other guys) and we got to work.

I basically showed Cass all the pop-punk riffs I’ve written over the years.

He really liked the one I’d been messing around with for ages, so we ended up using that for the bridge. Essentially, we thought, what would Simple Plan and Newfound Glory do - and it worked!!

It got to a point where we had just a generic pop-punk song. 

And that was great!

But it wasn’t Keeper.

We needed to spice things up a bit.

Cass and I were both super into our hyper pop by that point, so we grabbed a Sophie sample pack and just went to town.

We tried to keep the original theme and skeleton, but just make it more interesting.

Since writing Here We Go, we’ve only got better at this. Both Come Around and Here We Go are a little safer than this new stuff we’ve got lined up. We’ve really pushed the boat out with this next few.

Come Around is a perfect tie-in. It creates a nice gradient into the proper whacky tunes.

That’s why it’s the first release of the EP.

It’s become a good spot to build from.

It took ages to actually write lyrics. Boy was I struggling.

Everything I wrote sounded boring and rehashed, even my sister had to say, “Didn’t you already use that?”

The answer was yes, yes, I did.

I got to the point where I was sending the beat off to other artist friends for help.

They were sending me back melodies for inspiration, just some singing-in-the-shower type stuff, with a bunch of random words and nonsensical sentences.

But nothing really clicked.

It wasn’t until my buddy, Cherryrizzla, sent me a delightful little tune that the gears really started turning.

Cherry had helped me finally work out a chorus melody, and once I had that, I was golden.

Everything started fitting into place nicely, and an hour later, I had it. The song was written.

It was such a pain in the backside, but I’m so happy with the results.

The song’s such a good fit for Keeper, and because it's more band focused, it makes the live show so much more interesting.

It was a great experience getting outside of my comfort zone and learning to ask for help.

The whole process, from the gig to the writing sesh, and then onto the collaboration with my mates, was amazing.

There are a bunch of really good memories there.

Then we even managed to step it all up again with the Music Video, which, I won't lie, is one of my favorites.

It's hilarious. There’s nothing quite like watching your friends get smacked in the face.

I'm so glad you can finally check out the song! Hope you all enjoy it