In Conversation With Mississauga's Matt Zaddy on His New Single, What Comes Around

A deep dive with Mississauga’s Matt Zaddy on his new single and video for What Comes Around.

1. What inspired “What Comes Around”?

The song is about the struggle to do what you love, with hope on the horizon. I was thinking about how when the busy work of the day is done at the end of the day, that's when my mind goes to the big questions: 'What am I doing with my life', 'What's the meaning of all of this?', things like that. It's in that moment where I take a deep breath, try to focus on why I started doing music in the first place, get a good night's sleep, and wake up the next day ready to try for another day. It feels like a conversation with myself, with my wife, or maybe both. I think anyone working towards something they care about can related to that.

2. What was the creative vision for the video?

The idea behind the video, aside from performance, was of dreams to come. Hammerson Hall is the biggest and more fantastic performance space in Mississauga (home), and although it's clear the theatre is empty in the video, it's an aspiration of to fill it one day. I also wanted it to be a little more than just a performance. I wanted it to be fun, to be ablet just enjoy the song, hence all the dancing haha! Most people who've seen the vid tell me that dancing is their favourite part of the vid.

3. There are strong hooks here; describe the music-writing process

I always operate better when I have a deadline. I was working towards recording in February and had a few tunes ready prior to going in to record. I had this great guitar melody line that reminded me of Leon Bridges that I was working through, and these chords starting beautifully shaping it. Then came the vocal melody, and the bridge came comfortably from that.

The verse was interesting. I basically went in the studio with a really solid chorus and bridge, and a verse that was a little too similar to the verse. My producer and I messed with it, and I decided I had to get out of my own way - keep it simple. I think I was channelling Otis Redding's In the Midnight Hour with the verse pattern, and it felt so good.

4. Walk us through the lyric-writing process?

Lyrically, I was listening to the song idea thinking about the hard times that any artist faces trying to make their original creation something that can sustain them. It evolved out of that. I also thought about where I've been to get where I am, and the process of one step at a time. So far so good, I thought, but still miles to go. They flowed from that, along with the natural direction a song takes when recording it.

5. What's on tap for the balance of 2023 and 2024 for you recording-wise?

I'm planning to write as much as I can this fall for a 2024 full album recording. It's still tentative if it'll be early or 2024 to record (funding is also something to sort out), but that taste of the studio in February has me hungry to get back and make something special. I can't wait.

mattzaddy.com