Australia’s very own Jackson guitar virtuoso KEYAN has stopped by WoS HQ to share his thoughts on the best of the year that was 2024, his involvement with the prog-tastic Monolith Festival, the reception to his own single (feat. Marcus Vik of Invent Animate) and a look ahead at what’s to come…
TOP 5 RELEASES OF 2024
5 – The Story So Far – I Want To Disappear
4 – Alpha Wolf – Half Living Things
3 – ERRA – Cure
2 – Intervals – Memory Palace
1 – Northlane – Mirror’s Edge
TOP 5 SONGS OF 2024
5 – Thrown – ‘backfire’
4 – Bring Me The Horizon – ‘Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd’
3 – Thornhill – ‘nerv’
2 – Spiritbox – ‘Soft Spine’
1 – Invent Animate – ‘Sleepless Deathbed’
WHICH AUSTRALIAN BAND DO YOU HAVE ON REPEAT?
Right now I have Thornhill on repeat since they dropped their brand new song ‘nerv‘. I really enjoy that song and as someone who is a fan of all eras of Thornhill, it feels as though that track in particular is the perfect marriage between all of them. That song being recently released has spiralled into me going back into their catalogue again.
BEST GIG YOU PLAYED THIS YEAR AND WHY?
My favourite gig this year was our support set for Intervals in November at Stay Gold in Melbourne. It wasn’t our best played, it wasn’t the biggest, but it was definitely the most fun. I love the Intervals guys not only for their awesome music but also for their friendship. It’s not often that I get the opportunity to play shows with acts who are both extremely influential on my music but also great friends, it had always been one or the other up until that point. Stepping into a venue at soundcheck and already being on the same wavelength as everyone in the building ended up creating a very relaxing and lighthearted environment, which I think definitely translated into the show and the experience for the crowd watching us that night.
TELL US ABOUT A SURREAL CAREER HIGHLIGHT YOU HAD IN 2024
The Monolith Festival run was by far the biggest career highlight for me in 2024. Travelling around with some of my favourite bands ever and having the opportunity to not only perform my own workshops, but also facilitate workshops with Periphery was something that I definitely did not have on my bingo card for any time in any year. Being able to spend that time, share spaces and create memories with my biggest influences who I am now able to call friends is something that I will never get over or take for granted.
WHAT WAS THE RECEPTION LIKE FOR YOUR NEW MATERIAL?
The reception for ‘Arrest’ has definitely been the biggest out of all my releases so far! Working with Marcus (Invent Animate) was fantastic and I am glad that we both spent as much time on it as we did. Rather than being an instrumental track with his vocals slapped over it, we spent a good amount of time chopping and changing pivotal moments of the song to really make sure that it felt as true of a collaboration as possible. The result is a song that we BOTH feel really good about and proud of, and I think that has translated from the reception we have received so far!
ANY SNEAK PEEKS OF INBOUND PLANS NEXT YEAR?
Next year will be filled with more music and more shows! In January I’ll be heading over to NAMM in LA to perform at the Bare Knuckle Pickups booth, as well as filming some content with Jackson Guitars and hosting a masterclass at Musician’s Institute in Hollywood while I’m over there.
I am also working on a split record between myself and Connor Kaminski, and we have recruited some very heavy features for that. I can’t say too much more than that for now, but Connor and I are both so excited to be able to finally share that with everyone.
BEST ADVICE GOING INTO 2025?
Be kind.
Written by KEYAN @keyanhoushmandlive
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