Artist Spotlight: KeepVibesNear
‘I’m bare jolly’ states KeepVibesNear though drags of his zoot over our zoom call, and it’s hard to disagree. Relaxed, composed and charming, it’s gorgeously baffling that Romford lad Kevin’s good vibes persona translates itself sonically into the dingy, brooding and emotional R&B sound of KeepVibesNear.
It’s impossible not to cascade, immersed, in the striking melodic depth and thematic facility of the singer’s sound, with his heartfelt lyrics resonating through the soul of all the sad bois out there. Many artists enjoy labelling themselves as unique, but for KVN it’s less a label and more an artistic manifesto; self-discovering a sound that the world of UK R&B didn’t even know it was missing.
Last year saw KVN fully announce himself to the scene with his eclectic and emotional EP Now That We Know, and since then his stock has been rapidly rising. With collaborations with the likes of R&B starlet Safiyyah on Days Like This and everyone’s favourite sad lads Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn on Late Night Drive augmenting his discography, it became clear to me that the self confessed music obsessive has the talent, work rate and personality to skyrocket himself into mainstream and critical adoration.
Me and KVN delved deep into his self-defined ‘Noir R&B’ style, his recent Late Night releases, and what it takes to be an artist and a man in 2022.
Who’s been influencing you?
I’ve had a really wide range of influence. Frank Ocean was a big influence on me growing up, Odd Future, Daniel Caesar. I grew up listening to a lot of guitar based music, a lot of John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Lauryn Hill - that was the first black person I saw playing guitar and singing and that was how I kind of got into music to begin with.
How has your childhood and origins shaped you as a musician?
I grew up in Romford, so I was living on the in-between. I had the contrast, a black boy in white ends. It shaped me in a way that my influences were just a bit different in general. I also always had the influence of my older brother and my Nigerian background.
You’ve described your sound as Noir R&B, what does that mean to you?
When I had my first few label meetings, A&R’s always used to ask me how would I describe myself as an artist and I always used to give some long winded, confused answer. I went away and realised that I needed to find a way to define myself to set myself apart and be marketable. Most of the songs that I’ve released and that I’m sitting on fit into this pocket of melancholic R&B and it just stemmed from there. It’s a genre that describes me in a way that I’m comfortable with. I just thought it fitted with the sound that I’m trying to portray. It’s actually going to be the name of my next project as well.
I admire the fact that you’ve found a lane for yourself!
When you’re an artist, it takes a lot for you to find yourself. When I was first starting making music, the hardest thing was finding my sound because you hear so much music and have so much inspiration, it’s so easy to just replicate what everyone else is doing. When you find your pocket it really helps define you. There’s something about having an artistry that only you can replicate. That’s why I don’t care too much about my vocal being perfect. I don’t think I’m the best singer or writer, but when I write a song it’ll sound like me, it’ll be a piece of me in the song.
Yeah, all of your songs consistently hold a mood, especially last year’s EP. Looking back on the release, is there anything you’d have done differently?
100%. I think the project was really good for me, it came at a time when I really needed to put out a body of work to define what I’m trying to do. It’s a perfect little showcase of what I bring to the table. It came at a time when I was impatient, and it helped me to get a little recognition.
Looking back, I think I would have taken a bit longer to drop it. I think I would have pushed the singles for a bit more time. In this day and age, you feel so much pressure to be seen, which was one of the issues that I had with the project. Before it was released, everything was a bit stagnant, I wasn’t getting any shows etc, but the EP changed that.
How do you think your sound has progressed since then?
I was sitting on the project for like a year, and I felt it was a good illustration of where I was at and a good introduction. I’ve grown so much since those songs in terms of my musicality, the music I make now makes me not able to listen to that old music, which is a weird experience; writing songs then outgrowing them. I’m the ultimate demo artist - I’m always gassed about the song that I made last week. For me, writing is like my journal, a lot of the time I write stuff that I haven’t fully realised and I’m still processing. I’m really excited about the new music that I’ve got coming out. I try and keep the music chronologically so it’s still a story for me.
Your music is often quite moody and introspective, but you are such a happy-go-lucky kind of guy!
Trust! It’s kind of ironic, and that makes it unique. I’m bare jolly. Masculinity is often seen in a way where men aren’t introspective, but I’m a very introspective brother, I’m a gemini, I’m an emotional person. That’s what I related to. I’ve had a pretty chilled upbringing, my parents worked their arses off, I wasn’t coming from the hood. So the things I always relate to is girls. I’ve noticed that since I’ve started making music bare man like my shit, more so than women. It’s interesting because toxic masculinity is built into society in a way that we aren’t supposed to acknowledge our emotions outwardly. My songs are often from my view point about how love is consumed, which I think is an interesting perception. Showing emotions is something that I like to champion, because every man goes through these emotions. I think an issue that a lot of men have is that they hide their emotional side that doesn’t allow people to know how to treat them or deal with them. We shouldn’t shun our emotion; mandem cry, let’s all just admit it and listen to my music.
How can we make it more socially acceptable for men to talk about their emotions?
A lot of men keep a certain part of their emotions to themselves. If we admit that and talk to their bredrin it would be normalised. Man have so much anxiety about what their mates will think of them if they are crying or upset so they bottle it up. It isn’t about dealing with stuff on your own and then manifesting it. The more you talk about it, the more you deal with it and process and are less reactive. It’s therapeutic.
With the new one Late Night Drive, what are you trying to convey?
The song is like a feeling for me. It’s one of my less introspective tracks, it’s a more playful sound. It’s a song I wrote about a moment. You see when you are about to go link a ting, and you’ve got that feeling like ah it’s about to be lit! When we made it we knew it was a vibe, it’s a catchy one. Same with ‘Late Night Link’, it was nice to play a bit more with tempo and mix things up from the moody sound. The two tracks are like a little refresher before I go back into my project which is going to be darker. I’m trying to go dark for the summer.
How did the Frankie Stew collab come about?
Over lockdown, Frankie reached out and we’d be meaning to work together since then. I originally didn’t know whether to write a second verse myself or to get a feature for it. I posted LND on my story one time and he wanted to hop on it and I wasn’t sure at first. He sent me a verse one day and it was too good so he had to hop on it. They added a bit more production to it and it just came together sick, proper elevated it. It’s always nice when artists who are bigger than you hit you up and appreciate you.
Who would you love to collaborate with?
I’ve spent the last year and a half getting a load of collabs in my archive. It’s been nice to work with other artists and see their process. It’s good to be thrown into a different environment. In terms of who I’d like to work with, I really like this American artist called Orion Sun.
If you were introducing yourself to a listener who has never heard of you before, what track would you play them?
SRS. Out of the songs that I’ve released, it’s the track that shows what I’m all about in the best way.
What else is to come from you?
A lot! I’ve been working like a mad man, I’ve got a few projects done. It’s nice to be in a position where I’m lining stuff up and not having any pressure on writing or finishing it. I think I’m in a good position, we’ll see what happens.