Singled Out: Stacked Like Pancakes' Hollow

Stacked Like Pancakes singer Kellen McKay tells us the story behind their new single "Hollow" which was produced by Matt Squire�(Good Charlotte,�Selena Gomez,�All Time Low,�Panic! at the Disco, and�Taking Back�Sunday.) Here is the story:

It's hard to tell a story behind a song when there really is no story to tell. Not of mine, anyway. Oftentimes when I write a song, I like to give myself a specific challenge. I believe that being cognizant of a challenge in the back of my mind while writing and creating keeps my music fresh, keeps me engaged, and helps me continue to grow as an artist. So one challenge that I really enjoy is making a story up from scratch.

I understand that's not an unheard of thing, and not even close to being unique - it's merely fiction. But it can really be more than that to me. It can be real to me if I can pretend to come into a different state of consciousness. But sometimes when I create, instead of pretending to be someone else, I feel like I am someone else.

This character I become in "Hollow" is troubled, to say the least. In terms of the setting, I don't know if he's in a jail cell, or an insane asylum, or in a scientific experimental ward, or in his own bedroom, but I sense it's a small room with not much in it.

With the lyrics, I deliberately gave each line or so a sense of ADD. The thoughts are jagged; each one is short and simple, with little correlation to the lines surrounding it. Comparisons and similes are almost elementary or clich�: "I'm like an old dog learning new tricks." How many times have you heard the exhausted idiom before? How original of him. To me it seems like he has been psychologically numbed in some way. It almost sounds like the verses could be a monologue in a one-man play.

And while he may be troubled, he's also hurting. If there is any linearity to the lyrics, you could pick out a sense of longing with a word like "love" being subtly repeated, mentioning "her" several times, describing her skin in an obscure way while wanting to go on a date with her� to a fair of all places? Not a movie or a coffee first? How old is he? And are these actual memories, or memories he wish he had?

And finally, the chorus. When he wakes up and realizes he's alone in a room. Again. And again.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and learn more about the Kickstarter for their new album right here!

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