This Year’s Comeback filled us in on how they formed as a band, what their sound is like, and what they’ve been up to recently.
Please list all band members:
We’ve got Brian, Ryan, Nick, Ken and Justin.
Where are you from?
We’re from a place called Toms River, New Jersey. If you’ve ever seen that old MTV show, Jersey Shore, it’s pretty much the same town.
How long have you been a band and how did you get started?
To be entirely honest, we really don’t know, but we do know that we opened up our Facebook page on Nov. 12, 2014. For a few months, we really didn’t do much of anything other than get together every now and again, play covers and just hang out. It wasn’t until March of 2015 that we posted a video cover up on YouTube under the name “Rivers.” Then, for another few months, we didn’t do much again until December 2015, where we finally played our first show at a little coffee shop.
After this, nothing happens for another few months, but March rolls around again and this time, we’re sick of it. After a steady flow of different guitarists and trouble finding a new name, the three of us, Brian, Ryan and Nick, decided to stick with This Year’s Comeback; it just made sense considering how long we had been a band and how long it took for us to finally start moving along. It was at that point that we finally started to find an identity as a band, y’know, with us as well as our own sound. Soon after, we ended up picking up Ken for the band; he’s been a huge help and a great friend. As for Justin, he’s always been on and off in the band but always there to help us out.
How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you before?
Jersey Shore Pop Punk Garbage. No, but really though, it’s definitely pop punk at its core, and it’s most evident when looking into our typical song structure. As for the sound though, it’s definitely an approach to early 2000s pop punk, but there’s also a lot of influence from emo and post-hardcore.
What was your latest release of music and can you talk about that a bit?
September 23 (Ryan’s 21st birthday), we released our self-titled EP. Our buddy, Jimmy, from another band, Harborland, helped out with recording the EP and even threw us a release show for it. We picked out a few local bands and it was a really rad time.
What is your writing and recording process like?
Alright, so, we’ve got a group chat for the band, more often than not, this is how songwriting will start. Someone’ll be like, “Hey, check this out” and send a short snippet of like, a verse, a chorus, a riff or anything like that and we’ll either be like, “Oh wow, that’s pretty neat,” or straight up, “No”. From there, usually Nick or Ryan will work off it and we might get together with writing in mind and actually throw an instrumental together. Most of the time, we’ll hate how it comes out, so what’s just one song to you, is like, the best parts from three separate songs for us. Once all of that’s taken care of, Brian will just throw words over the top of it.
As for recording, when it’s just us and we’re recording a little demo or a scratch track, Nick will be all over that thing. He’s the one working on it from the time we hit record, to the time we finalize the project.
What are current projects you are working on?
We haven’t been doing much of anything since Christmas, safe to say that we just needed a little break. From the time we got our act together and released the EP, it seemed like we were playing shows non-stop. But, this break is starting to overstay its welcome so we’re finally trying to write some new music, hearing how it’s coming along, all I can say is that it’s definitely a new direction.
In regards to shows, as for now, we’re going to try and play a few here and there, not as many as we had been, but as soon as the summer rolls around, we’re going right back into it, full steam ahead.
What are your goals for the future as a band?
We like to think that we’ve made a little name for ourselves locally (at least, we hope so). So, for the most part, we just want to keep up that momentum we’ve got going in the local scene. At the same time, we really want to branch out into Asbury Park, New Brunswick and Montclair. Then, of course, new music. We definitely need to write new music.
What music platforms can readers find your music?
You could check out our music on SoundCloud, Bandcamp or Spotify. We have a few things on YouTube, we plan on working on that sometime soon. Lastly, definitely check out our Instagram, @thisyearscomeback; that’s where you’ll see the most activity from us.
