Adelaide-based Iranian-Australian guitarist and YouTube sensation KEYAN is carrying the torch for the next wave of technical instrumentalists. After his conceptual 2022 EP Gradient and more recent single “Pulse”, the shred-lord followed up the offering with complex counterpart “Arrhythmia” last Friday.
With crushing guitarwork, intricate drumming and eerie soundscapes, the latest instrumental features a lead riff that carries the emotion and dexterity of vocals. As an equal opposite to “Pulse”, the two represent the highs and lows of life by sharing the patterns of a heartbeat.
We had KEYAN tell us more about the singles and how they came together.
Explain the theming behind your new single “Arrhythmia” and how it ties in with “Pulse”?
I’ve always enjoyed thematic motifs and reprisals across different songs whenever I’m listening to my favourite bands and artists. I always try to implement that in my own writing and releases. Pulse and Arrhythmia are no different, as they both revolve around the nature of a beating heart and how pivotal yet volatile a human heart can be. With that, I’m very confident in saying that Arrhythmia is the heaviest and darkest track I’ve written to date.
What does the name “Arrhythmia” represent?
The term arrhythmia refers to an irregular heartbeat, which I thought was a perfect fit for the song, as the main rhythmic motif is an irregular polyrhythm. When combined with the frantic, unpredictable and sinister nature of the track as a whole, I figured that Arrhythmia would be a good way to summarise all of those emotions whilst relating it back to the theme of cardiology. This is further strengthened through the reprised melody from Pulse that appears in the clean section of Arrhythmia, but instead played in minor key to fit within Arrythmia’s eerier soundscape.
What’s your dream guitar and amp setup?
My dream guitar and amp set up would be extremely impractical but it’s honestly not too far off what I already use now. I am extremely grateful to be a Jackson Guitars artist, and anyone who has seen any of my content over the years would recognise me championing their Juggernaut line of guitars. My dream guitar would be a USA Custom Juggernaut from the Jackson Custom Shop, which is currently in the works. I can’t say much, but I will say that Misha Mansoor of Periphery was kind enough to give me the green light to use his signature model as a custom shop with Jackson.
As for my favourite amp, these days I’m more used to digital modelers like the Neural DSP Quad Cortex rather than physical amps. This is mainly due to their size, consistency and practicality when touring and playing shows. However, if I was to have a dream amp, it would probably be one of the Fortin Meshuggah signature amps, or the Peavey Invective, combined with a broken-in mid 2000s 4×12 Mesa OS Rectifier cab.
Who has been your favourite collaboration to date, and what was that process like?
My favourite collaboration so far is very hard to choose as I’ve had such good experiences with all of the artists that I have collaborated with and have had on my YouTube channel. My most recent collaboration was with good friend Mike Stringer from Spiritbox. He appeared on an episode of Guitar Chat, a show on my YouTube channel where I meet up with my favourite artists and quiz them on the guitars that they are bringing out on tour with them.
I was lucky enough to hang out with Mike as well as the entire Spiritbox band and crew at their recent headliner Knotfest sideshow at The Forum in Melbourne. Mike is such a huge inspiration to me and it was great finally being able to catch up with him in person on home soil after trying to tee up this Guitar Chat episode for almost a year.
Who is your dream collaboration?
I would love to collaborate with Misha Mansoor of Periphery as he is one of my biggest inspirations both from a musical standpoint, as well as his approach on how to navigate the ins and outs of the music industry. I literally wouldn’t be answering this question right now if it wasn’t for both him and the band, as I learnt so much from them which I then put into practice in both social media content and my original releases as an artist.
What does 2023 hold in store for KEYAN?
At this stage 2023 is looking to be the biggest year of my musical career so far. I will still be producing content on both YouTube and Instagram as I have been doing since 2018, but there will be much more of a focus on actually writing music and playing shows around the country. We are well and truly in the transition phase of social media influencer to legitimate touring musician, and it’s a challenge that I am extremely eager to take on headfirst.
More than anything, I’m just keen to release more music, play more shows around the country and inspire upcoming bedroom guitarists to follow my footsteps and release their own music from the comfort of their homes, hopefully proving that it’s not as scary or daunting as it may seem. Translating all of that into a live experience that can be taken anywhere is something that I’m sure I’ll constantly be refining over the year and I can’t wait to do it!
A propulsive past year saw KEYAN join the Destroy All Lines roster, perform three showcases at BIGSOUND 2022, and collaborate with influential heavy artists on his YouTube channel. From content creator to touring artist, he has also been recognised by The Advertiser as one of South Australia’s ‘Top 30 under 30’ and endorsed as a Fender/Jackson Guitars Artist. If you don’t already follow the man’s travels, now is your chance to get familiar before he comes to a stage near you.
Stay connected with KEYAN on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates.
