INDUSTRIALIZEDMETAL.TK
by Gerardo Insua
link to interview
 

For the people who are not known with KeeN, could you please give us a short introduction about your band.
Kevin (keys): Keen is an electro-metal band from Italy. It consists in the right mix of melodies and aggressiveness, electronic noises and cutting guitar riffs all crowned by a penetrating voice.

How did things get started with KeeN?
Kevin: Well, I joined the band some years later, so since I wasn't there yet I'm not really able to answer this question.

What are your main influences? And how would you describe your music?
Kevin: >Our biggest inspirations are surely Rammstein! Next to them, some of the more important bands like Metallica, Marilyn Manson, Deathstars, Pantera, Oomph!, and many many others…

Your first release, called 'Love With Bile', was released in 2003. Looking back on that release, what do you think are the better and the lesser points of it?
Kevin: I wasn’t in the band when that CD was made, because I joined the band in 2005, but after I listened to the songs of ‘Love With Bile’ I immidiately understood that the guys I play with now, had taken the right way, because they were playing what I like the most.

With this demo, you participated on the so-called 'I.TIM TOUR FESTIVAL' in 2003 and 2004. According to your biography, the first succes of KeeN came here. What exactly is the 'I.TIM TOUR FESTIVAL', and how important do you think it has been for your further carreer?
Kevin: The Italian I-tim tour was the major thing that people could do at that time to promote their band, so reaching the second national position for two years in a row was very important, because even if you don’t win, people get to know you all over the country, and you may consider this an important starting point for a band’s career!

2005 brought us a new KeeN EP called 'Dying Life', which totally surprised me. What are, in your opinion, the major changes between 'Love With Bile' and 'Dying Life', and how do you look back on the 'Dying Life' EP nowadays?
Kevin: Dying Life is the first EP I recorded with Keen. It was a great experience because it containts some old stuff thats brought together with new stuff which in the end came out in a very interesting way. But we consider it as a growing period of the band, due to the natural transition after the line up change.

The 'Dying Life' EP was a huge success when it comes to the press department: it recieved a 'top demo' classification 14 times. But, what did the other people (audience, other bands, etc.) think about the release?
Kevin: We are very proud of what we’ve reached with that cd. The unexpected success forced us to work harder in shorter time, and offered our fans something completely new and interesting. We’re always at work and don’t want our fans to feel bored

Nowadays, you have your first full-lenght out called 'Dramas in Formaldehyde'. Since our review was one of the first, I can't really compare our review with different other press. But, what do you think of the album yourself?
Kevin: We love this record because it was born in a particular period of the band when all seems to be “stuck”, and we had a lot of new stuff but not again a contract with a label. All the feelings and rages of that period are inside this cd and I really think that in that way ´Dramas…´ is the most “true” Keen album. We can say that the evolved sound of ´Dramas ...´ is closer than ever to what we really feel.

What can somebody who buys the album blindly expect of it?
Kevin: We offer them 8 songs, each one made with passion and rage and it’s the best Keen cd ever done, a train in a box!

What is your favourite song of 'Dramas in Formaldehyde' and why? And what is your all-time favourite KeeN song?
Kevin: I love all 'Dramas ...' songs because each one is different from the other, and each one makes me feel a different emotion. I think that if people want to have an idea of what Keen is doing now, they have to listen “Dead In Vain” and “Stuntman”. There’s not really an all-time favourite song for me, I love all Keen works.

Now lets talk about your live show. According to the live pictures, you seem to have a quite powerful one. What can a stranger expect when he visits a KeeN live show?
Kevin: We always try to offer more than ´just´ a concert... A real show with many lights and special effects. We think that it’s important to satisfy not only the ears of our audience, but also their eyes! If you come to our concert, you have to have fun!

You already managed to become openers on an Italian Marilyn Manson tour date. How was it to share the stage with someone like him? Did he gave you any good feedback?
Kevin: It was a great experience to work with professional staff people and sound engineer on the Manson’s stage. We will never forget it. It was also ecstating to share with him 15.000 crying guys inside the “MAZDA-PALACE”. Then Manson told us that he likes our music and he has all our songs on his I-Pod, and that was great! We respect him and all his works! He is a very good artist.

Talking about the Marilyn Manson show, I've heard some terrible rumours about the audience at your gig, they were throwing rocks to the stage and stuff...
Kevin: It’s the Italian way to share love with you... Ahah!

Many Italian talented industrial acts try to find their luck out of Italy, because they had terrible experiences with the local scene over there. What are your personal experiences, next to the thing on the Marilyn Manson gig?
Kevin: You know, Italian love song dominate our country. Maybe people are not yet prepared to our music... and the metal-rock act is always underestimated.

What can we expect of KeeN in the year 2007?
Kevin: The only thing we can do is work harder and harder. And we are sure that in this way we will reach a label deal very soon!

The interview ends here, thank you for your time answering my questions. If you have some final words to add, you can do it here.
Kevin: Stay tuned! And if you feel an earthquake under your feet, maybe KeeN is coming!

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