Vroom at the Top: Keywest on the road

As far as timing goes, Keywest’s partnership with the Renault Twingo couldn’t have been more serendipitous! Right now, the five-piece are clocking up the mileage in a serious way.
“We’re keeping busy,” reports vocalist Andy Kavanagh. “We’re just off the road to Belfast – where we’re playing Mandela Hall on March 6. We're getting our new single ready. We’re doing a lot of touring. And obviously it's full steam ahead on the album too.”
For a group familiar to many as a reason to slow down during a Grafton Street shopping trip, there’s certainly been a major shift in gears. But, as Andy reflects, taking to the streets has been hugely instrumental in creating the follow-up to 2012’s The Message. “In truth, we found ourselves busking to keep things afloat,” he admits. “But it changed everything about us: playing for a few hours at a time, five days a week, for people who weren’t obliged to stop developed our sound enormously.”
Indeed, the lessons learned from busking were soon driving their studio sessions.
“For instance, we tried to incorporate the acoustic guitar that you’re reliant on, when you're on Grafton Street. We've emphasised those strong melodies you need when playing on the street, regardless of the production and everything else.”
The hardest part of preparing the album, Andy reveals, was whittling down the band’s enormous catalogue of material.
“It's a strange thought that some songs we’ve written may never be heard on an album. It’s been a while since we had a record out, so we’ve built up a lot of songs; even if we did two albums, the vast majority wouldn’t be released – and, in my experience, you don’t really come back to them either, if you manage to keep improving.”
Continuing to improve has been a hallmark of the Dublin band's progress, and has borne fruit in a significant way. Their quickly expanding fanbase has made them a real force to be reckoned with, never more apparent than when the band romped to victory in the Most Promising category of this year’s Hot Press Readers’ Poll.
“That was an interesting turn of events!” Andy laughs. “We’re really pleased: the timing is great, after what’s been a huge year for us.”
The latest venture in the band’s exciting journey sees them join forces with Renault, and the lads recently spent a day zooming around in the all-new Twingo: to say they were impressed with the city car would be an understatement.
“It's a great motor!” Andy enthuses. “We got to drive around all day in the Renault Twingo, playing guitars and singing songs – what more could you ask for?! It’s a lot more roomy than you’d think for a city car; it managed to fit four of us, plus our guitars and speakers. Gary is 6’3” and built like a rugby player, and Glove is 6’4”, so fitting those guys in comfortably is pretty impressive!”
And while the spacious interior was greatly appreciated, the small things didn’t go unnoticed either.
“Because it’s so new, and geared towards young people, Renault understand how important something like a USB connection is. Those little touches are really cool. It’s very sporty, too: it has a decent kick to it when you need a bit of speed.”
That, you feel, suits the boys down to the ground: as they plan ahead for an enormous year, Keywest are looking to set their own pace.
“Before, we got hung up on what we 'should' sound like, when people in the industry would ask what type of music we play. Some songs we’ve written are dark, gothic, Americana; others are very pop. But people have broad tastes; they judge you on the music itself, not on how you describe it.”
So does that mean we should brace ourselves for a Keywest techno record?
“We were almost there a year ago!” Andy laughs. “Genuinely, we’re big fans of synths and dance music – we had a big hand in Damo and Ivor’s singles, for example. When we started incorporating synths in our music, we just thought ‘No, it’s not time! People aren’t ready for that'. We’ll keep that for further down the road.”
Keywest are looking to the future with confidence. Never has the phrase ‘go anywhere, go everywhere’ been more appropriate…