ON OUR RADAR: KEEP IN TOUCH
Keep In Touch are here to tell us all about how two childhood best friends came to be the wonderful pop duo that they are now.
Introduce yourself!
James: Hey! I'm James.
Jad: I'm Jad.
James: And together we're 'Keep in Touch’, a pop duo from Toronto.
How would you describe your music to a potential listener?
James: If you like songs you can cry-dance to, you’ll probably like our stuff.
Jad: We love writing very poppy sounding songs on the surface, but if you follow along with the lyrics, things get a bit dark sometimes.
Since STARTING IN MUSIC, do you feel it has grown in the direction you hoped for, or has there been any setbacks?
Jad: It’s definitely exceeded our expectations in terms of the online reach. When we launched in August, we were really going for a ‘soft launch’ type of thing, and pretty much wanted to see how much traction we can get online organically, just by word of mouth. Because of the pandemic, we didn’t have a whole master plan with music videos and marketing strategies… we wanted to see what we could do with just our music and personalities haha.
James: Yeah, we started recording songs for Keep in Touch in early 2020, without any specific date in mind for launching. We were just trying to find our sound, so we were recording a full song every week with our producer Sung Jun Park (aka Dvii). We never sang before this project, so he’s been there from the start, really pushing us to develop vocally and helping us shape our sound. Once the pandemic hit, we had to stop, but at that point we had 8 songs that were done, so we figured we may as well do a “soft launch” with those songs and see how they react online. The reaction definitely exceeded our expectations, but the “casual” roll out plan itself was definitely not what we had in mind when we started out.
Which tracks are you most proud of to date and why?
James: ‘Doubt Myself’ has a special place in my heart. I'm happy with the melodies and the storytelling and imagery. But I think both of us want to keep putting out better and better songs.
Jad: Yeah to be honest, once a song's finally recorded, mixed and mastered, I'm usually thinking about the next song. I’m proud of all of our songs, but I try not to get too attached to any of them in particular. Once they’re done and out in the world, they’re really no longer ours anymore haha. It’s really only in the creative process that I’ll get super attached/obsessive over them.
Where do you feel you fit in in an ever changing and demanding music scene?
Jad: I’m honestly not sure if we do fit in anywhere. When we try to submit our music to more “pop” oriented things we get told we’re too “alternative” and when we submit our music to “alternative” things we get told we sound too “pop/commercial.” At the end of the day though, we just love making music first and foremost, and it’s something we would be doing regardless of whether or not there was a scene or an industry or whatever. We’re just vibing and if people are down to vibe with us, then that’s great.
Do you have any tips for keeping your mental health in check throughout this period of time?
James: If possible, find healthy outlets. And be forgiving towards yourself. Your feelings are valid and shouldn't be bottled up or a source of shame.
Jad: Healthy outlets are definitely super important. Another thing I’ve really started to understand recently is the importance of taking breaks. I often feel guilty taking some time to myself and tend to say “yes” to everything thrown my way, but I’m starting to look at breaks as a necessary part of any process, and not just a luxury.
What issues are important to you? How do you use your music and platform to communicate these?
Jad: Well one the main reasons we called ourselves 'Keep in Touch' was because the two of us have been friends since we were 9 years old and music's kept us connected all these years. We value those genuine relationships now more than ever. It’s really hard to find people who genuinely care about you in this world, and our society doesn’t seem to value those types of connections for whatever reason. People seem to look at you in terms of what you can immediately provide for them, and that’s not really the best way to form healthy relationships and live healthy lives. It’s super dehumanizing and is one of the worst aspects of our society in my opinion. Empathy is a strength, not a weakness.
James: That's why we try to reply to everyone who messages us. It's also why we built a community on Discord called 'Pen Pals' so that our listeners have a place where they can support and connect with each other. If everyone had at least one person who actually cares about them and is there for them, I think the world would be a different place. So that’s the type of energy and message that we try to put out there.
What are your top three albums at the moment?
James: To be honest, I usually just listen to individual songs that catch my interest but I have been listening to a lot of Machine Gun Kelly's latest album Tickets to My Downfall. It was stellar hearing an artist completely switch up their style and try something new (and be rewarded for it). Plus the songs just slap.
Jad: I’m really obsessed with songwriters personally, and a lot of my favourite songwriters contribute to so many different albums, so it’s hard for me to pick just 3. Since it’s still very fresh in my mind though, I will say Jon Bellion’s writing on the new Justin Bieber album is definitely a current obsession for me.
What’s one song you wish you could have written?
Jad: There’s so many, but let’s go with ‘Can't Feel My Face’ by The Weeknd, ‘Shape of You’ by Ed Sheeran, and of course, ‘Dynamite’ by Taio Cruz.
James: I think you forgot to mention every Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, and Benny Blanco song ever. I don’t know if I’d want to take credit for any of their songs but just being able to sit in on those writing sessions? Dream come true.
If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?
James: Fletcher so I could jam to her songs backstage.
Jad: Holding out for the One Direction reunion tour tbh.
What should your fans be expecting from your band in the near future?
Jad: We've got basically an EP that we’re referring to as an ‘audio scrapbook’ of all the songs we've put out so far (plus a few new ones) coming out sometime in April. Like we said before, these songs were recorded at the beginning of 2020, and although we don’t think they’re cohesive enough to be ‘an album,’ they’re definitely a snapshot of where we were then and we found the term ‘scrapbook’ to be a better representation of what this collection would be.
James: We also have a music video in the works that should be coming out in the next few months so keep a look out for that! Huge shoutout to our creative director Ziyaad Haniff for helping put all this together and being the genius mind behind all our artwork to date.
Stream Keep In Touch’s latest single ‘Doubt Myself’ below.