KEO: “I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER FEEL MUCH BETTER THAN THAT, IT WAS PRETTY INCREDIBLE”
Keo: Press Shot
INTERVIEW | FINN KEOGH – KEO by Morgan Hermiston
At this point, we’ve all heard of Keo, and perhaps even managed to catch their audacious live sets a couple of times. They’ve been building a formidable fanbase since before the release of singles like their debut ‘I Lied, Amber‘, and most recently, ‘Bird On The Wire‘.
Ahead of the release of their debut record, Put A Smile On For Me, I spoke to Keo’s frontman Finn Keogh. We chatted about this upcoming record, set for release on 25th September, as well as highlights in their career so far, and what brings their impressive audiences together.
Headlining and a Huge Scale of Growth
My first question to Finn touched on Keo’s intense festival season this year, and how they’re inputting these efforts into their headline shows. They’re playing venues like Glasgow’s O2 Academy on 27th October, and remaining tickets for this tour can be found here. I asked Finn how this huge escalation in popularity has been for him.
“Yeah, it’s been, as you can imagine, in times a little bit overwhelming“. He added, “I think we kind of, you know, we’ve spent our whole lives working towards this point. So, it does feel right in a lot of ways“.
Connecting With Their Crowds
If you’ve ever been to one of Keo’s shows, or you’ve seen any videos/photos, you’ll notice that they never fail to bring the most energetic and lively crowds. I asked Finn what he thought this predominantly younger audience was connecting to so intensely.
“I wrote a lot of these songs about kind of characters and life experiences I had when I was sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…in those kind of more dramatic years of your life when nothing feels like nothing feels as real“. He continued, “maybe…they feel like there’s a mutual understanding there because they’re going through similar things“.
“I think it’s also just like the lyrics being honest. Yeah, I think people need that right now. And yeah, I think people just want something that they feel is their own and isn’t a million miles away from their own reality as well“.
Non-Traditional Routes to Success
We then chatted about how Keo’s journey to these heights was done in a less traditional sense, compared to the number-seeking virality that now seems to be the norm. The band’s emergence came through word-of-mouth, which has proven to be a useful utilisation. I asked Finn if this was intentional, or perhaps a happy accident.
I emphasised that I meant non-traditional in today’s world. Finn said, “It’s actually, funnily enough, I think it’s the real traditional way of doing it. It’s not the current way of doing it“. He carried on, “Yeah, it was intentional. We have made a lot of, kind of, intentional decisions to step away from the beaten track in terms of how it’s meant to be done, and break the rules a bit. It’s paid off every time“.
“It’s quite comical actually…how doing the opposite of what you’re meant to do works out so well, you know?“
Reflecting on the Debut Record
Keo’s debut album, Put A Smile On For Me, is out this Friday, 25th September. I was keen to know if there were any moments from the record that Finn was especially fond of.
“Yeah loads! I’ll try and think of my favourite…I wonder what my favourite moment is“. He sort of pondered for a moment before saying, “I like the first chorus on ‘Spent On You‘. It has this, kind of, relaxing feeling about it. It’s like a deep breath. Yeah, I think that’s probably one of the highlights of the record for me, ‘Spent On You’ in general. That’s the final track on the record“.
That’s also my favourite from the album, so we talked a little about our shared admiration for that song.
Career Highlights
In the relatively short time they’ve been around, Keo have played some of the UK’s biggest festivals, and have achieved some things a lot of bands only dream of. Finn and I spoke about what the most rewarding point has been in his career so far.
“Playing Leeds [Festival], I think was probably the most insane feeling ever. I felt super confident up there, and comfortable because, you know, we’d done Reading the day before. But it’s just, I still had that real kick from the adrenaline. It just felt pretty mega to [see] that view. [It] never got old, you know, seeing the whole field of people“.
He concluded, “that’s got to be the moment for me, at the moment. I don’t think I’ll ever feel much better than that. It was pretty incredible“.
Dream Festival Lineup
For my final question, I asked Finn who his dream headliner(s) would be if he could design his own festival.
“I would have Radiohead headlining,” he began, “who doesn’t want to see that? That would be incredible“. He carried on, “They would have, like, Radiohead on the Friday, Bruce Springsteen on the Saturday, and then…I don’t know, something really left field“. Finn thought for a moment, “there’s so many good ones. Maybe…I’d probably have, like, Ben Howard somewhere on the lineup. I’m not sure if he’s a headliner“.
“I’m, kind of, imagining Glastonbury here. I don’t know if they still play, but there’s a band from the eighties called The Blue Nile. I would love to see them live; I’ve been listening to them today non-stop. So that… yeah, that’d be cool“.
I asked if he’d put Keo on the lineup. “No, I don’t want to fucking see those guys,” he joked, “I’d put us on after Radiohead“. I pointed out that they’d then be headlining above Radiohead, “yeah, yeah, technically“.
You can pre-save Put A Smile On For Me as well as pre-order too. Keo are also embarking on a run of intimate shows to celebrate the release of this record too. Find out more about these shows below.
