Interview: KEYWEST, Nashville Meets London, Canary Wharf

I love finding serendipitous moments when it comes to music, and my most recent experience with that was at Nashville Meets London (my review of which you can read here), where I got to see a band I’d caught by chance many years before busking on the streets in a different country! Lots has changed since then, and Keywest have made a name for themselves and are now headed for success in the UK too. Read on to find out what they think about playing in the UK, updating their Wikipedia page, and sharing the love for a fellow NML artist.

Ciara’s Country (CC): Welcome back to Ciara’s Country – I’m joined today by Keywest at the third Nashville Meets London here in Canary Wharf! The last time I saw Keywest was playing on Grafton Street in Dublin many years ago so I’m thrilled to be here with you guys today! What a ride coming from busking to playing on today’s stage. What’s that journey been like?

Kav (K): It’s difficult, but getting the opportunity to come over and perform is great. That’s the payment at the end of it all. We hope to continue to do shows like this and expand and travel as much as we can.

CC: The only way is up for you guys!

K: That’s where we’re aiming! We’re going to keep on going, keep writing music and if people keep listening to it then hopefully that’s the direction we’ll keep going.

CC: How’s the year been for you guys so far?

K: It’s been a very busy year. Lots of festivals, lots of shows. We have a lot of obligations in Ireland because the band has established itself there. A lot of touring and of course the release of our new album True North which we spend a lot of time travelling around and promoting in Ireland. We’re going to knuckle down now and get working on some new music and try and get ourselves back over to the UK soon to establish ourselves here.

CC: You’ve been fairly popular in Ireland, winning a couple of awards – hopefully you’ll be able to emulate that in the UK as well.

K: That would be amazing. It’s not what we’re thinking about, we’re just focused on making more music and getting it out there, but if that leads to an award, happy days!

CC: I’d say after today you’ll have gained a lot of UK fans as well. Everyone seemed to really enjoy your set.

K: This is why we do it!

CC: On days like today, is there a song you love to perform live?

K: I mean it changes from performance to performance. Today I enjoyed performing the last song which is called Somebody To Love cause it’s got nice energy and everyone got involved.

CC: So your Wikipedia page describes you as rock/pop and yet here you are at a country music festival.

K: Yeah, we started out as rock/pop and we just haven’t updated Wikipedia!

Harry (H): I’ll do it when I get home!

CC: Would you say you have country in you then?

K: The thing is we’ve kind of evolved on the street since that Wiki was written. On the street we only have the instruments we have, which is mainly acoustic guitar driven and rhythmical with the drums. We’ve evolved to become what we are now which is a pop/folk/country cross of everything.

CC: I think as well a lot of country music is about the lyrics and songwriting and you certainly have that kind of vibe to you.

Glover (G): Yeah, I hope so. Hopefully the stories are getting across.

CC: Would you say your backgrounds have influenced the music you’ve come out with?

K: Not necessarily. I definitely always listened to country and Glover listened to a little bit of country but I don’t think individually that happened, I think it came about because of a joint effort and the influence of performing on the streets. We’ve grown to understand the music and enjoy making it.

CC: What’s been your highlight of those years playing as street performers?

K: There’s no one stand out but as I said on stage earlier on, we’ve had a number of proposals and one particular proposal was particularly elaborate. The guy waited for a year with his ring and proposed to our song. Everyday they were in town they were hoping we’d be there, so that was nice, the effort that he went to and what the song meant to him. That was a nice moment.

CC: How lovely! Any chance we’ll be seeing you guys back on Grafton Street?

Jimmy (J): Maybe at Christmas! With U2 too, if Bono ever answers my phone call!

CC: Well it’s great to have you here. Festivals like this are a great opportunity for up and coming artists to play. Is there a lesser-known artist you think people should listen to?

K: The Adelaides were on today, they’re very good.

CC: You know they actually cited you as their answer to a similar question!

All: Aww!

K: I mean we’ve crossed paths a few times so you get a good feel for what they’re doing. We’ve watched them grow in terms of their sound. I always enjoy them, really good harmonies. Nice bit of love there!

CC: Hopefully we’ll see the two of you back another year.

G: Hopefully, yeah!

CC: So to finish up, what’s one question you’ve never been asked in an interview but wish you had been?

K: Never been asked but wish we had been? How about ‘do you want to join our threesome?’ Is that not allowed?

CC: I wonder why that’s never been asked!

K: How about ‘do you want this million dollars in the case that I have?’

CC: And what would your answer be?

K: I’d have to say yes to that. Yes I do want that million dollars.

CC: I’ll see about bringing it along next time. Thanks for answering my questions!

All: Thanks Ciara!

What lovely fellas to chat to! I hope you enjoyed today’s interview, if you did make sure to leave me a message in the comments below and follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry for plenty more interviews and reviews coming soon, including from other Nashville Meets London artists – stay tuned!