Exposed Vocals just caught an exclusive interview with ‘The Keymakers’ – talks new single “Burning Me Up’

‘Burning Me Up’ is the third single from The Keymakers and shows another side to the varied sound the duo are working to create. The song captures elements from electronic music and combines them with a more urban vibe as it develops. “It’s about that feeling of wanting something so bad that it hurts,” said Rome, one half of the duo. “That tension – that intense desire – that’s something we tried to capture with the track”. This song represents the first release that the brothers, now living together in Boston, collaborated completely on from start to finish. While searching through old projects one night, Rederic found a melody he had jotted down between classes in college and showed it to Rome – from there, they started developing and expanding the idea.

“It was such a fun journey making this song,” said Rederic. “Finally being in our own studio together instead of in different cities sending things back and forth, we were able to take our time with the track and coalesce on a vibe we felt really good about.” From there, they brought the track to their team, and got some production contributions from their good friend and AMAG team member, Pdub, in the team’s studio in Canada. “This song had me experimenting with my voice a little more than I have in the past – taking it to different places and bringing out some different tones – so that was a lot of fun, too”, said Rome. The Keymakers have been eager to get more of their music out into the world, and are excited to continue to add to their catalog as the year goes on.

Check out this fun track and add it to your summer playlist!

https://soundcloud.com/thekeymakers/burning-me-up/s-BNZbZ

“Burning Me Up” is available for purchase on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and other e-commerce sites and for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services.

To learn more about The Keymakers and follow them on social media, visit their website https://www.wearethekeymakers.com/

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

We are The Keymakers, two brothers born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Although Rome is two years older than me (Rederic), we attended the same schools up until college when we both went out of state to St. Louis and Indiana. Music has always played a huge role in every part of our lives. From just listening to music with our parents as kids, to branching out and exploring new sounds and genres growing up, to finally picking up instruments and creating music of our own we’ve always felt that music was something much deeper than notes, rhythms, and lyrics. We actually both created music on our own for a few years before we started collaborating. As our collaborations continued to develop, it was clear to see that both of us together could create a sound that was truly unique from what we had done in the past. After that, The Keymakers were born.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

We haven’t exactly cracked the code yet – we’re still learning every day and we have a long way to go to get where we want to be. Having said that, there are some things that have helped us get where we are. 1. Grinding – if you’re not willing to work harder than the people around you, it will always be hard to get a break in this industry. 2. Growing – Always be seeking feedback and grow from it. Also never stop challenging yourself. No matter how good you think you are, you can always improve. 3. Ad finally, you have to be engaging. Connect with your fans, find out what sets you apart from other artists and hone in on that. You have to give people something they aren’t getting elsewhere and that they’ll keep coming back for.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

It seems to us that the one of the most important things to keep in mind is that a great artist never stops developing. It’s often difficult to find the balance between being perfectionists while also respecting organic imperfection. We both obviously want everything, especially in a performance, to go perfectly but we both also recognize that sometimes music that’s perfectly on time, perfectly in key, and perfectly in sync loses it’s human elements. Sometimes it’s the natural human imperfection that gives music life, it’s a game of balance. With that mindset, mistakes are easier to tackle both in practice and during an actual performance.

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

We haven’t begun touring yet as the duo. So far in our short time doing this together, we’ve been focusing primarily on the content and growing as musicians. We can’t wait to get started later this year though, and I’m sure we’ll have some interesting stories then!

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

In our current set-up, we’re working with two keyboards (Komplete Kontrol 61 and Yamaha Motif 6), an Apollo Twin MKII, a microphone, and two Rokit 5 monitors. We work mostly out of Ableton on our laptop a laptop. We are always continuing to develop and refine our studio as we grow as artists. We actually just made some pretty nice upgrades in our home studio by getting a new mic, a new computer, and a new audio interface. So far it’s been a game changer for our workflow but we’re already excited to upgrade some other elements in the future.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

At the end of the day self-promotion is the biggest tool. You have to believe in yourself and believe that every person you meet needs to hear your music, and they have to believe it as well. We’ve found that face-to-face engagement can be one of the most powerful promotion tools. Beyond that, social media is a great tool. At the end of the day, people will be drawn both to the music and to the people behind it. Finding ways to interest people in what you’re doing outside of music will help get them interested in the music itself.

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

We’ve dreamed of performing in so many different places and on so many different stages that it’s hard to narrow down. That being said, it would be absolutely surreal to play a show at Red Rocks outside of Denver. On a more sentimental note, The Sinclair in Cambridge is one of our favorite venues not only for the venue itself but for the incredible artists we’ve been able to watch there and the memories we’ve been able to make. It would be a dream come true to step out onto that stage as well. As for other artists, something really special could happen by combining two due acts on one stage. Keeping that in mind, performing with the electronic duo Odesza would be a guaranteed good time.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

We’re most excited about our newest single, ‘Burning Me Up, which came out June 6th. We’ll be releasing more music before the year is done, but we haven’t yet decided what that will look like. The best way to stay updated is to follow us on Social Media. We can’t wait to share what we’ve got planned!

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

At the risk of this being a cop out answer, we’d be doing whatever we can to work in with music. The business side, the management side, maybe even try to open a venue. I think it’s safe to say it would be pretty tough to pull either of us away from music entirely.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in the next year or so?

Outside of our future 2018 releases, fans should look for chances to catch us performing live! We plan on starting to perform in the later months of 2018. Additionally, we’ll be shaking things up a lot with our social media and providing interesting content to our fans based on what they want to hear. Follow us and reach out to us on Social Media and we promise to always give you something to get excited about.

Exposed Vocals: Any Shout-outs?

Absolutely! First and foremost we want to shout out our family. Our parents and older sister have been the ones we always have been and always will be able to count on for support every step of the way. We wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are today without them. In addition, the AMAG collective and our manager Jesse Cristophr believed in us enough to let us into what has now become our second family. Their guidance, support, and wisdom had pushed us to develop into the artists that we are and will be in the future.