This is Keithian.
Keithian, could you tell us a little about how you got into music?
I grew up in a music family.
Both my grandfathers played jazz music and my parents were both in choir.
My mother was also a dancer and choreographer; so I was kind of surrounded by music and naturally I started playing instruments.
My grandfather taught me how to play the saxophone and I started singing in the gospel choir.
So, doing that all led to me joining groups; boy groups/bands and I recorded for a few years with them doing that.
Then we got a deal and we were kind of like the mall kids; you know, recording and touring around malls with small tours and really just a lot of cool stuff.
I learned a lot in that.
Then we broke up.
I was solo and in New Orleans.
So, I started producing records with a production partner and then I got a record deal.
It was a solo deal with a major label which ultimately brought me out to LA.
I was signed to them for a little bit, but they really were all over the place.
They rarely put out any music and I was kind of shelved.
But after that, I got a chance to write for a lot of other artists and produce during that time.
Most recently, I pretty much broke out of that label deal and started doing it all myself.
Now, I’m actually putting out my EP really soon.
I’m still doing shows and doing everything I can do.
I was actually supposed to do a lot of shows and festivals like Broccoli City, but now with this pandemic I’m still figuring things out.
But, I’m definitely pushing my new single “Pillow Talk” and some of my other singles that are on my upcoming EP called ...To My Pain.
I’ll probably release it late June or sometime in July.
Yeah man, its kind of cool though being an independent artist.
I really get the chance to do everything myself and its just like a new world; more control, a little stress but a different type of stress like creative stress, marketing stress, stuff like that but it's really fun.
I’m really enjoying the journey so far!
How would you describe your style & sound of music?
So, I call my music “gumbo music.”
I’m Afro-Cuban and also influenced by jazz (growing up in Louisiana & Texas).
I also really got a chance to be involved in a lot of areas of music from Spanish to salsa music (I actually sing in Spanish) to jazz & gospel.
My parents were really into music, so I grew up with a lot of influences.
But really, my style is just “gumbo.”
Sometimes, I hear people call my sound pop soul or like, R&B/R&B pop, alternative?
I don’t know man!
Tell us more about your single, "Pillow Talk" going viral on TikTok through the #PillowChallenge!
Yeah, so this thing went viral randomly, its really cool!
I had a friend who asked me if “Pillow Talk” was on TikTok.
I definitely knew about TikTok because I have friends that are influencers but I never really indulged into it as much.
So, I put "Pillow Talk" on TikTok, not really thinking about anything, and in about 2 weeks a friend was telling me how people started using my song to the #pillowchallenge.
I knew what the #pillowchallenge was after seeing everyone like Halle Berry post pictures of themselves doing the challenge, so it sort of just dawned on me and thought I should get in front of this.
I kind of embraced it and said let's do this!
People are always asking me to do challenges because just being an artist in general, people tend to cross over into the viral lane.
It's kind of difficult to do that if you ask me, because there is just so much out there.
But with this, my song “Pillow Talk” combined with the #pillowchallenge, it couldn’t be anymore perfect.
Its honestly crazy because I wrote the song a year ago about a relationship.
You never know what to expect; things happen man!
I’m enjoying that right now and this challenge.
I partnered up with the homie from Chicago who owns this custom pillow company and I'm doing a giveaway.
People are sending me pillows from all over the world man, it's really cool.
Do you have anything new or upcoming that we can expect to see from you?
I’m pushing my singles “Pillow Talk,” and “Eye Candy” slowly.
I’m not really trying but its out there and people are loving it.
It's funny, one of my friends hit me saying that people are trying to play it on the local radio stations here in LA, and I was like, “Alright, dope!”
I guess we’ll see how it goes!
I’m looking to release an EP pretty much around June or July.
In the meantime, I'm going to just keep making music and prepare to tour.
But definitely expect more music!
Follow Keithian:
Instagram: @keithian
YouTube: Keithian's Channel
Spotify: Listen here
Apple Music: Listen here
Soundcloud: Listen here
FanLink: https://fanlink.to/Keithian
