One Time @ Bandcamp With... Bastien Keb

Bastien Keb has been constructing his unique brand of digger inspired folk soul for a few years now. Across three albums (The Killing of Eugene Peeps out today!) you will find a vast array of inspirations and auditory explorations. 

Having spent years acquiring instruments and teaching himself the basics coupled with bill paying work as a TV advertisement and show scorer, his depth of musical ideas is exciting and leads to incredibly intriguing projects.

I’m not sure if it was Gilles Peterson or a Bandcamp article that initially placed him in my ears, but the name was popping up and upon actually dedicating some time to both Drinking in the Shadow of Zizou and 22.02.85 I was hooked. He encapsulates much of the genreless ideas being explored by so many young musicians today. These projects will take you on a journey, inspired by intricate concepts he sets the scene for a world unto themselves and allows you to escape via the music.

With The Killing of Eugene Peeps on the horizon (at the time) I was excited to pick the man's brain and see where his musical whims were taking him now. I reached out and here we are. Press play, sit with the music, allow it to surround you and consume you, it’s worth the attention and time. 

How old are you? 

Getting old now, man. 37

Where did you grow up? Is this where you reside today?

My family are from London, I was born just outside London then we moved to the Midlands, where I was brought up. Moved quite a bit when I was older, London, back to the Midlands, back to London, then down south, where I'm at at the moment. 

What's your first memory of music?

My mum banging tunes out in the fiesta. Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and my childhood favourite prog rock legends Sky. I got vivid memories of listening to “Ob-la-di ob-la-da” in the kitchen and “Waterloo Sunset.” 

Was guitar the first instrument you played? Are you self taught on all the instruments you play?

Yeah, I had guitar lessons for a bit when I was a teenager, everything else I just sorta got and worked out by trial and error. 

How did you get involved with writing music for TV & film? Can you name some of the projects you've worked on?

A friend of mine was having a lot of success making music for adverts, he liked my music and asked if I would play some live instruments on his music, so we worked a little together, then he recommended I make a show reel using my music on an existing ad and he gave me some contacts. I got some work out of it and it's still going now. Done some work for horrible histories USA, Cornetto, library stuff for corporate, nothing cool haha. 

Given this work, how did it inform the concept behind The Killing of Eugene Peeps?

Some of the briefs you get for pitches are fucking mental, they reference a hiphop track sampling an old soul track and you listen and think I gotta make a soul track and sample it etc etc, make it fit the cues and you end up having a bar or 2 or something at the end and end up having to make a mad arrangement all for a 25 second advert. I've learnt a lot working like that, mainly arrangements. 

Do you envision ever producing the film?

My first love was always film. I've scored some films and in the future would love to score some features, full orchestra etc etc. As for producing a film myself, I just ain't got the knowledge, just the love. Luckily some of my friends are very accomplished filmmakers, Giles Cahalane, Bailey Tom Bailey, Samantha Moore, I've worked with a bunch of them. Just hope when they get that big feature film I get the call. 

Behind each of your albums are very vivid descriptions of ideas brought to life, can you speak to your process of inspiration and the birth of the concepts?

I think they come through watching films, I find it more purposeful and enjoyable writing songs around a theme or concept. Honestly don't know if I could just write an album of just songs. Even if the concept is just in my head they'd be a story or theme behind the whole thing.

Has COVID impacted your creativity one way or another? Is being stuck at home a hindrance or a boon to the opportunity to let more ideas flow?

Lockdown was weird for me, I had just left a job working nights in a warehouse where I'd been for about a year. Before that I'd been a half hermit for about a decade, keeping mad hours and not really being out in the days, so lockdown sorta became a return to that lifestyle. I had just been put on some pills too so I was pretty relaxed.

Pre-COVID did you perform live? If so what did that look like, do you have a band to perform with?

Yeah, after the first album I played a few shows solo, looping up instruments but I didn't really enjoy it so got a band together. We had a lot of line up changes because of people's schedules then the last show we did I think we got the perfect combination. Looking forward to getting it up and running again.

With the myriad of influences present in your tunes, do you bother with trying to describe it or prefer it be sounds experienced?

I definitely want it to be sounds experienced but with the stranger influences it can be nice when someone clocks an influence and mentions it. 

Has hiphop and diggin culture played a role in your progression as an artist?

All my friends are hiphop heads, so being around that for years has led me to loads of great stuff, for that reason hip hop will always be a love of mine. Honestly if I find a track with a sample I love I do tend to just end up listening to the original though. Just wish producers would credit the sample, a lot of acts they're sampling never got big or famous and being sampled now should be a way of celebrating the original, not this 'no sample snitching' shit. Show the love. 

What's your soundtrack to 2020?

Old shit mainly, good old soul music that and general desperation with the state of the world.