The last year in electronic music has brought a new crop of crooners threading soulful scoops and R&B songwriting back into the bleepy landscape of drum machines and synthesizers. These artists are writing harmonies, big juicy hooks, bridges, breakdowns, and wrestling with the delightful imperfection of live instrumentation and their own vocal chords. They're breaking out of the machine, and damn is it refreshing.Look, we love the perfectly crystallized machine-worshipping gait of Berlin techno as much as the next guy, but we can't tell you how pscyched we are about the pop crossover jams we're hearing from stars like AlunaGeorge, Rudimental, and even The Weeknd. Enter Bo Keeney, a 24-year-old Californian living in East London who sings like a nightingale and knows how to pick his collaborators. The electronically-enabled singer/songwriter has teamed up with hotly-tipped UK producers Throwing Snow, Bobby Tank and Spectrasoul to build his Versus EP out on August 26 on Brew Box, and he's given us a remix from My Nu Leng to premiere exclusively on THUMP. Listen and read a bit about this rising star in today's NEXT HYPE.Hey Bo Keeney. Where are you from?
I was born in LA in 1988. I grew up in San Diego, then moved to England at 11. I'm now 24 and living in East London.One line about your hometown?
Blocks, blue skies, heavy heat, Mexican influence, shopping plazas, just built, Spanish buildings, fast food, American flags, ska metal, open 24 hours.How did you get your name?
From Bo Jackson and Bo Diddley. They were in a Nike ad together, where Bo Jackson is playing different sports and they're saying "Bo knows football, Bo knows basketball." Then he tries playing guitar, and Bo Diddley goes, "Bo, you don't know Diddley."What labels do you record for?
Brew Box recordings, Stranger records, and Maple Music Recordings.What is your favorite sound (or sounds) right now?
Mister Lies, Two Inch Punch, Short Stories, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Mac DeMarco. Right now, I'm into electronic music with realness and soul, and homage stuff with conversational lyrics. There's a lot of both around at the moment.What country is making your favorite music right now?
Right now I'm in a cocoon of British music. But I'm surprised when artists I thought were British turn out to be American, or French, or Canadian or Australian. There's a lot of great music I know of coming out of all of those countries right now. Germany as well and Scandinavia—there's great music coming from a lot of places. But music from this country is where I'm focused right now.What are your thoughts on this revival of the UK garage and jungle sounds?
It just seems natural. Since house and the music and culture of the '80s made this massive resurgence, it's predictable that jungle and the '90s would follow. 20 years go by and a genre gets this gloss of heritage and credibility. As far as garage is concerned, it was a cool sound in the first place, it just got a lot of pop and saccharine layered on top of it. And it had to evolve because it dated fast. So it's working it's way back into prominence. I think that's a good thing.Name three creative passions outside of music.
I draw, but it's always obscene, demented stuff. Either that or just curved lines or shapes in repetition. That's where I work with my freak side. And I cook a lot. I put a lot of time into cooking. It's a really strong tradition on my mother's side—her father is Italian, so everyone cooks. And I'm racking my brain for a third. Really, I'm too busy all the time with music to put my creativity elsewhere.Who is one up-and-coming artist you think we should look out for and why?
Mister Lies has a great sound, it's really rich. Cashmere Cat is a creative guy. The Sow Revolt, he's nowhere near how big he should be. As a producer and singer, he's got a lot going for him. And Fryars—same thing (apart from the new track, which I'm not into). And Mac de Marco. That's five.What's next for you?
I've created this whole hard drive of music, with thousands and thousands of blocks of sound—verses, choruses, melodies, licks, all sorts. And I've got eight full productions that haven't been released. I'd like to put out the originals from Versus as a "before" shot to Versus' "after." That was the idea for the cover—a before and after photo. And with the new material, I want to collaborate, to turn my isolated sections into structured demos. Then I want to turn those into an album, really instantly, and put that out. And within the year, put the rest of the unreleased, finished stuff out, as special EPs possibly, maybe as a side project or something. That's what I'm thinking just at the moment. I've also got live gigs finally functioning the way they're meant to—it feels natural. So lots of touring is coming. For the live shows I'm focused on singing now, so my mind isn't in a million places. I leave the instruments in the studio and just use the MPD on stage. I've got two genius guys supporting me up there. And there's a secret project I'm working on, which is where I'm really going to make my mark on the universe, for good or ill. But I'm staying quiet about it right now. I don't want anybody swooping in on it.
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I was born in LA in 1988. I grew up in San Diego, then moved to England at 11. I'm now 24 and living in East London.One line about your hometown?
Blocks, blue skies, heavy heat, Mexican influence, shopping plazas, just built, Spanish buildings, fast food, American flags, ska metal, open 24 hours.How did you get your name?
From Bo Jackson and Bo Diddley. They were in a Nike ad together, where Bo Jackson is playing different sports and they're saying "Bo knows football, Bo knows basketball." Then he tries playing guitar, and Bo Diddley goes, "Bo, you don't know Diddley."What labels do you record for?
Brew Box recordings, Stranger records, and Maple Music Recordings.
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Mister Lies, Two Inch Punch, Short Stories, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Mac DeMarco. Right now, I'm into electronic music with realness and soul, and homage stuff with conversational lyrics. There's a lot of both around at the moment.What country is making your favorite music right now?
Right now I'm in a cocoon of British music. But I'm surprised when artists I thought were British turn out to be American, or French, or Canadian or Australian. There's a lot of great music I know of coming out of all of those countries right now. Germany as well and Scandinavia—there's great music coming from a lot of places. But music from this country is where I'm focused right now.What are your thoughts on this revival of the UK garage and jungle sounds?
It just seems natural. Since house and the music and culture of the '80s made this massive resurgence, it's predictable that jungle and the '90s would follow. 20 years go by and a genre gets this gloss of heritage and credibility. As far as garage is concerned, it was a cool sound in the first place, it just got a lot of pop and saccharine layered on top of it. And it had to evolve because it dated fast. So it's working it's way back into prominence. I think that's a good thing.Name three creative passions outside of music.
I draw, but it's always obscene, demented stuff. Either that or just curved lines or shapes in repetition. That's where I work with my freak side. And I cook a lot. I put a lot of time into cooking. It's a really strong tradition on my mother's side—her father is Italian, so everyone cooks. And I'm racking my brain for a third. Really, I'm too busy all the time with music to put my creativity elsewhere.Who is one up-and-coming artist you think we should look out for and why?
Mister Lies has a great sound, it's really rich. Cashmere Cat is a creative guy. The Sow Revolt, he's nowhere near how big he should be. As a producer and singer, he's got a lot going for him. And Fryars—same thing (apart from the new track, which I'm not into). And Mac de Marco. That's five.What's next for you?
I've created this whole hard drive of music, with thousands and thousands of blocks of sound—verses, choruses, melodies, licks, all sorts. And I've got eight full productions that haven't been released. I'd like to put out the originals from Versus as a "before" shot to Versus' "after." That was the idea for the cover—a before and after photo. And with the new material, I want to collaborate, to turn my isolated sections into structured demos. Then I want to turn those into an album, really instantly, and put that out. And within the year, put the rest of the unreleased, finished stuff out, as special EPs possibly, maybe as a side project or something. That's what I'm thinking just at the moment. I've also got live gigs finally functioning the way they're meant to—it feels natural. So lots of touring is coming. For the live shows I'm focused on singing now, so my mind isn't in a million places. I leave the instruments in the studio and just use the MPD on stage. I've got two genius guys supporting me up there. And there's a secret project I'm working on, which is where I'm really going to make my mark on the universe, for good or ill. But I'm staying quiet about it right now. I don't want anybody swooping in on it.