Welcome back to Origins, our recurring series that gives artists a space to break down everything that went into their latest release. Today, Ben Kweller takes us through the making of his most recent single, “Optimystic.”
Ben Kweller experienced a parent’s worst nightmare with the sudden death of his 16-year-old son, Dorian Zev, in February 2023. Through his passion for songwriting, however, the Texas musician found he still had a non-physical relationship with Dorian — a discovery that helped carry Kweller through the making of his upcoming album, Cover the Mirrors.
Now, he’s released the music video for the first single “Optimystic,” a bittersweet track that recalls the beginning of his journey through grief. Over guitar riffs that Kweller describes as a “proggy version of the Ramones,” he sings, “Happiness, wanna die, death kiss/ Get high, stay high, close your eyes.”
“‘Optimystic’ in a lot of ways, is me going back to my teenage roots,” Kweller tells Consequence. “It’s a full-circle thing because Dorian was 16 when he passed and he was a lot like I was at that age — being a teenager, sitting on the bed playing your guitar, writing songs about the life you’ve lived so far. Dorian released music under the name ZEV and I had a grunge band called Radish.”
He continues, “[It] is an ode to that feeling of being young and having zero responsibilities. It’s the feeling of falling in love with rock ‘n’ roll for the first time and making your own rock ‘n’ roll creation. Another tip of the hat to my ’90s roots is the breakdown at the end that slowly builds into this explosive outro that I can’t wait to play live when I hit the road in April.”
Check out the music video for “Optimystic,” which features animation from Mystery Matter, and read Kweller’s full Origins breakdown below.
Cover the Mirrors is set for release on May 30th to coincide with what would’ve been Dorian’s 19th birthday. Physical pre-orders are ongoing at Kweller’s website.
Kweller will head out on a supporting tour beginning on April 15th, with dates in Nashville, New York, Chicago, Austin, San Francisco, and more. Tickets can be purchased here.
Optimism vs. Pessimism:
Ben Kweller and his son Dorian, photo via Instagram
I’ve always been an optimistic person. Some people see the cup half empty, some see it half full, I’ve always seen the cup teetering over the edge and spilling onto the table. As I’ve gotten older, my optimism has been colored by reality though. I guess these days I’m cautiously optimistic as they say… But still, my natural state is to see the bright side.
When my 16-year-old son, Dorian, died out of the blue in 2023, it sent a shockwave through my entire being. I was stunned and robbed of the ability to see beauty and happiness anywhere I looked. As the months went on without him, I realized that beauty was still around me and happiness was something I could find again. I found that Dorian was still with me, it’s just our relationship was a different kind of relationship now. A non-physical one. Of course, I’d prefer the physical, but I’m working with what I have here and now.
My lifelong love of songwriting helped me carry on. I started writing songs without any vision or direction. Complete flow-state stream of consciousness. I ended up writing an album called Cover the Mirrors and it’s coming out on what would’ve been Dorian’s 19th birthday: May 30th, 2025. “Optimystic” is the most aggressive song on the album but it demonstrates the beginning of my grief journey when all hope and positivity was lost.
Staccato vs. Legato:
When I think about the track sonically, it’s kind of like a proggy version of the Ramones. Rush was never a favorite band of mine but I have a huge appreciation for what they did for rock music and pushing the genre forward. My recurring guitar riff in “Optimystic” is this staccato quarter-note thing that feels like something Rush might’ve done on their 1974 debut. The bulk of the other guitar work on “Optimystic” is straight eighth notes all blending together à la Ramones, which just makes every guitarist feel like a kid again.
The ’90s:
Speaking of being a kid again, “Optimystic” in a lot of ways, is me going back to my teenage roots. It’s a full-circle thing because Dorian was 16 when he passed and he was a lot like I was at that age — being a teenager, sitting on the bed playing your guitar, writing songs about the life you’ve lived so far. Dorian released music under the name ZEV and I had a grunge band called Radish.
In a lot of ways, “Optimystic” is an ode to that feeling of being young and having zero responsibilities. It’s the feeling of falling in love with rock ‘n’ roll for the first time and making your own rock ‘n’ roll creation. Another tip of the hat to my ’90s roots is the breakdown at the end that slowly builds into this explosive outro that I can’t wait to play live when I hit the road in April.
The Paradiddle:
The paradiddle is a classic drum rudiment that beginner drummers often learn. The pattern starts on one hand and ends on the same hand forcing you to start the next phase with the opposite hand. It goes like this: left-right-left-left / right-left-right-right, and so on. This snare drum pattern was famously used on Buddy Holly’s song “Peggie Sue.” I always thought it would be cool if a rock song incorporated this pattern on the whole drumset using the feet as well. While writing “Optimystic”, I realized that this was the song! Something about the tempo and groove, lent itself to my paradiddle drumbeat dream so this is what we did: kick-snare-kick-kick / snare-kick-snare-snare, and it pretty much repeats relentlessly throughout the track.
Lo-fi vs. Hi-fi:
As I sit here thinking about writing “Optimystic” and how the song makes me feel, I can’t help but notice that the recording process makes perfect sense and was completely unplanned. I’m an indie-DIY artist through and through and for me the most important aspect of a recording is the emotional feeling that I get from it. I don’t care if it’s captured on a Tascam cassette 4-track, Pro Tools, or an iPhone. If the performance moves me then I’ll use it.
When I wrote “Optimystic,” I put down a super rough lo-fi sketch with an electric guitar and a drum machine. I sang the vocal into a shitty dynamic mic and moved on. When we started pre-production for the Cover The Mirrors album, I found the OG demo and loved how raw the vocals were. We decided to use the demo as the skeleton to build the final master on. We overdubbed the drums, bass and a pair of new rhythm guitars. I tried to re-sing the lead vocal on an expensive Neuman microphone and, yeah it had better fidelity, but I just couldn’t beat the realness of the demo.
Instead of replacing the lead, I tripled it with the “nice mic” which softened the sharp edges of the original without losing the energy. The whistle part in the breakdown is all from the demo and the guitar solo is as well. It’s a true collage of lo-fi and hi-fi which is very me I guess. I’m a Gemini which they say is “the twins.” Dorian was a Gemini too. Us Geminis love it all. Salty-sweet, happy-sad. Even the Ben Kweller iconography is the Skull and Strawberry. I just have so many interests and things that I like.
Now with Dorian physically gone, I’m open to anything. Spiritual and tangible. I just have to look around and find beauty in all the things… Naturally this brings us right back to the beginning to that optimistic personality of mine. If I didn’t move forward like this, I’d be forever miserable and probably live out the lyrics in this song which are pretty grim.