Growing up in Northern California, Keller started playing piano as a teen, eventually teaching himself to read music so that he could play Debussy. This early fascination with Impressionism would later influence Keller’s “ambient chamber music.” But his gateway into electronic music came when a friend introduced him to the sounds of Kraut rock legends Tangerine Dream, synthesizer pioneer Klaus Schulze, and the ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno.
Keller says, “Albums like Phaedra and Mirage and On Land–they’re unflinching in their exploration of darker themes. They drop you into this otherworldly place and you never get out, you’re stuck there. You’re free to travel around in it, but you won’t get out. It’s dark from beginning to end, and maybe once in a while you might see a ray of sunlight popping through.That’s the music that got me excited back in high school. I made sure I was home every Saturday night to hear that week’s Hearts of Space show. That’s how I discovered all of those artists. I think of this as music for solitary exploration. The kind of music where you put on headphones, close your eyes and go away. And maybe what you’re doing is accessing Timothy Leary’s ‘eighth circuit of the brain.’ the non-terrestrial quantum consciousness.”
Now in his third decade as a recording artist, Keller has become a favorite on both Hearts of Space and Echoes, with his albums being named “CD of the Month” and winning two ZMR Awards for “Best Neo-Classical Album”. Beyond that, he regularly receives commissions from ballet companies, and has recently moved into the field of film and television scores. Keller has also worked with cellists Clarice Jensen and David Darling, as well as Kronos Quartet and the JACK Quartet.
Looking ahead to Keller’s future explorations, he says, “I’m beginning to think that maybe the best way into the next project is for me to step out of the way. It’s okay to be in research mode right now, like, ‘What can I do with the Phrygian scale?’ but at a certain point I need to step aside and let it happen. Instead of taking weeks, or months maybe, to write a piece of music, I sit down one day and begin playing with sounds and let them lead me to something -and maybe that’s better than being so pre-planned about it. That allows the subconscious to come in.”
For more information, please visit www.kevinkeller.com
