Keelay and the Park With Ragen Fykes Interview: SXSW 2010
- Posted on Mar 3rd 2010 12:30PM by Steve Stav
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An up-and-coming San Francisco hip-hop producer. One of the Bay Area's most sought-after session/live bands. A songbird on the verge of stardom, with the pipes and presence of a seasoned veteran. The stars have aligned over the Bay to form Keelay and the Park With Ragen Fykes, a genre-defying recording/performance project formed in 2009.Producer Keelay (aka Kyle Pierce), the West Coast half of the bicoastal production team of Keelay & Zaire, is providing the glue for this collaboration -- while Keelay & Zaire's acclaimed 2009 CD, 'Ridin' High,' has yet to cool. However, the 28-year-old impresario wasn't too busy to spare a few minutes to talk to Spinner about his new project's upcoming appearance at SXSW.
Could you describe this collective's sound, at the moment? Are you finished recording?
We're about halfway there -- we've been recording for the past four-to-five months. My first record was definitely hip-hop; the Park has done nothing but what I guess you could call soul music; Ragen has been doin' R&B and soul music as well. We're mixing everything into the pot; it's nothing like I've ever done before, and I'd imagine the others would say the same thing. The sound has an old-school feel: The songs we've recorded have blues, rock, a little hip-hop in there.
'Ridin' High' definitely has an old-school groove rooted in the '70s. How long have you been a fan of classic R&B?
About 10 years now. I grew up listening to mostly hip-hop. when I started DJing, I started collecting records and getting into soul and jazz and all the music that makes hip-hop what it is. This project has been one of the most amazing things, for me: Working with the Park, I have access to people who really understand the [R&B] sound. It's been really cool; I'm such a fan of what the Park and Ragen Fykes do.
Ragen Fykes is the kind of person who radiates, lighting up a room by walking into it. How did you meet her, and how many more months before she achieves total world domination?
We have a mutual friend named Don Will, who's in a group called Tanya Morgan. He and I were working on some stuff for his solo record; one of those songs turned out to be a Ragen Fykes song -- just her on the track. I thought, "Wow, this girl is amazing!" We immediately clicked, and it all kinda came together with the Park.
Ragen's just an amazing person; she could do anything she wants. Like you said, she radiates. If she wants the world, she could have it. It's all up to her.
How are are you divvying up the chores, in terms of creation?
It's been pretty equal up to this point, as far as input on compositions. Ragen has written all the lyrics. She leaves me voice mails all the time, with lyrics -- there's been a couple of times where she's sung into the phone, and we've built tracks around those voice mails [laughs]. With the technology today, it's been crazy as far as being creative and being able to be in different places. We've done a few shows down here in the Bay, but SXSW is sort of going to be the official "launch" of the project.
How did you acquire your stage name?
I had a friend back in high school, I don't know if he was being funny or he just couldn't pronounce my name, Kyle. One day he started calling me "Keelay," and I don't know if other people thought it was funny or what, but it stuck.
A Stax-influenced band like The Park: They must be a commodity, like gold. How long have you been associated with them?
I've known the Park since college. I feel like I'm one of the luckiest producers around, to be able to work with these guys. I've learned so much. And they're such good people -- it's a win-win, right there.
You and Zaire were at SXSW last year. What was your craziest experience?
Oh, it's hard to pick just one. The whole experience is nonstop madness, I don't think I slept more than three hours a day down there. One night we did go to a great show at Fader Fort: Kanye West, Common, a lot of people there. It was pure mayhem.
What are some of your strongest influences?
Some of my earliest influences, as a child, were Dr. Dre, DJ Quick, DJ Premiere, Pete Rock -- Jay-Z, obviously. As I started to dig a little deeper, James Brown is one of my favorites. I love Curtis Mayfield, Barry White. It's funny -- cats like Brown and Mayfield, I fell in love with music that was sampling them for years.
The hip-hop community has been a modern DIY pioneer, especially in the realm of social networking. It's almost as if technology caught up with hip-hop! If you spoke at a music-biz seminar, what would be some of your key points?
In my experience -- and I'm still an up-and-comer -- I'd say, learn the inner workings of the Internet, and how you can use it to your advantage. Learn the proper ways to exploit those avenues on the Internet -- and just be a good person, and learn to network and work with people. Learn the ethics of networking: Some people are pushy, some are passive.
It's all about fitting the pieces of a puzzle together, figuring out how to help other people and how they can possibly help you out.
What's in your SXSW survival kit this year?
[Laughing] I'm bringing vitamins, supplements -- water! I'm buying a big case of water to bring! It's hard finding cheap water down there. I loved it down there; so much to do, so many people to talk to, but it's tiring. When you come back, you're wiped out for at least a week.
Steve Stav is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.
- Filed under: Concerts and Tours, Exclusive
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