It always makes interviews easier when you can find some common ground. Keith and I both share a history of wandering the same downtown streets of Knoxville, TN. While I was born there, Keith attended the prestigious University of Tennessee. Born into a family of performers, the spotlight is nothing new to the talented vocalist/guitarist. 

Joining Breaking Benjamin with the reconfigured lineup in 2015, the band went into a long run of commercial success. Now, a little over a decade later, he has the room to work both on band and solo projects. Keith is starting over when it comes to garnering an audience. Taking the opportunity to enjoy the scenes he may have missed on the climb up. Retaining an appreciation for the small wins is no easy task, but he remains just as thankful. He took some time to reflect on his journey as a solo artist with us.   

You’ve got some solo single releases and some with Breaking Benjamin. What are the biggest lessons or standout experiences for the year so far? 

Being a solo artist is hard. It is hard. I think lots of people might think that, oh, you know, you’re also in Breaking Benjamin; that probably helps you. In some ways, maybe a little bit, but in most ways, it’s pretty much just an undertaking from the ground up. And you know, you just kind of start from the ground and work your way up the mountain. It’s a climb. It’s a real climb up the mountain, and you have to get out there and put the work in and play the shows, but other than that, you know, when you get into music, you don’t necessarily get into this kind of thing, thinking about the money. What am I going to make? How much money am I going to make? You do it because you love it. And I liken this whole kind of solo experience and project back to when I was first starting to play in bands and first getting in a van and, you know, going out of town and playing a show for the first time. It’s kind of like that, but 25-some years later, so I’m, like, a little—I’m a lot—bit older and more experienced, and it’s definitely different, but it’s also kind of the same in a way, but I love it. You know, we do it because we love the music, and we love to play, and so that’s what it’s all about. And then hopefully, someday the money might come.

With the knowledge from Breaking Benjamin, do you feel like a veteran, or do you feel like you’re in that starting spot again, where you’re truly at the bottom, starting to build your way up?

It really is a funny thing. I don’t know if there are many artists that are in quite this kind of position as me, because I’ve played music for a long time, over 25 years, and so I feel like a veteran. And obviously my experience and time with Breaking Benjamin is just like we’ve—I’ve seen the top of the mountain, and I’ve seen just like, all the just great shows and humongous shows and venues that we’ve played. And I’m still experiencing that. Every tour we do, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it’s amazing. But then, when that’s over, I go back to my, my solo thing, and it’s just such a different, more intimate experience. I kind of feel like I’m just a brand-new artist but trapped in an experienced, seasoned vet. So it’s kind of a mindfuck in a way, but I try and just take all the best aspects of both experiences and just lean into it and enjoy it. Just know that, hey, look, I have an opportunity to sing and play guitar tonight, no matter what stage it is, whether it’s a 200-cap venue or a 20,000-cap venue. I’m able to do it. Really, that’s kind of one of my main reasons for doing it, because I know there’s going to be one day when I’m too old to do it, and I won’t be able to sing the same. Well, my hands won’t work the same. So I’m grateful to just be young enough to be able to do it. That’s kind of where I’m at. But it’s a very odd situation, in a way. But, yeah, I’m just kind of working toward getting the solo thing, at least just a little bit closer to the other projects. Yeah, I don’t have too much time on my hands. I guess time’s running out in a way, because I’m getting older, and so I’m just going to do my best and keep going for as long as I can.

Do you think there are some things that you might not have forgotten on the climb up, that you’re kind of getting to experience again, that you’re kind of seeing with a new light?

The little wins, the little wins you get. They really are just special, even all these years later, just showing up to a venue you’ve never been to before, you’ve never seen, and you don’t know what to expect. Having people come out and support you. You never know. You never know who all is going to come out. You know, there are so many things that people could be doing with their time and their money. And I mean, obviously the world is just so much more expensive than it used to be, and people are trying to save their money here and there, you know. So, the fact that people still come out and support, I mean, granted, even if it’s not as large of a crowd as a Breaking Benjamin concert, the people that do come out there, they’re all in and all gung-ho and supportive, and that kind of feeling is just, it’s just irreplaceable. It’s better than any drug that I’ve ever taken, you know, so it’s still special, and I think that’s why I keep doing it, because it really is a magic feeling.

I saw there were some comments about you “taking away time” from Breaking Benjamin with your solo career. How do you kind of deal with those remarks and then also kind of respond to that? How do you find that balance in between both?

I think anytime someone is unhappy with a band or any kind of thing in their life, they have to lash out in some sort of way and say some sort of thing. I’m pretty available and pretty easy to get ahold of on social media, so I’m an easy target. But that being said, me being on tour and doing my solo music, it’s like it doesn’t interfere with the way the band writes or the way the band does things. We all have our own projects, and we all still work together, whether it be remotely or anything else. So me being on tour doesn’t affect that. So if that can, you know, quell any criticism on the internet, hopefully that helps. Probably not, though, but I’ll just keep doing my thing. I keep focused on the things that I want to focus on. You try to be as positive as you can. There’s no pleasing everyone, you know. And no matter what, there are going to be people that are never satisfied. No matter how perfect or how on schedule and how great things are going, there will be someone that will find fault in something. So I try not to let it get to me. Yeah, and honestly, there are way worse things that people say to other people on the internet. So if that’s the worst I’m getting, then whatever. I’m trying!

You dropped your sophomore solo album last year. Are there any themes or messages that you want your fans to take away from it?

Gosh, honestly, any message that I would like to just send out to fans, obviously, just starts with “Thank you.” Thank you for listening. Thank you for caring. Because, gosh, there are so many other things for your attention to be captured by, so I’m really grateful for that. But other than that, I think just music-wise, it’s like, I think the goal of an artist is to not write the same song twice, not have the same album twice. Try to grow and evolve in a genuine, authentic way. I’m going to continue to try and do that, and some of the songs that I’m working on now are probably a little bit different than those, but that’s okay.

Some of your interests, beyond music, are golf, video games, and spending time in nature. Do you find that these hobbies intersect with your creative process, or are they kind of like a reprieve? 

Yeah, I don’t really play as many video games as I used to. I started feeling guilty playing video games. I’d be sitting there, and I’d be like, “I could be writing songs or doing something constructive,” so I don’t do it too much anymore, but hiking—maybe I can kind of just walk and hike and clear my head, maybe think of some lyrics or something. But honestly, I think some of the side quests of my life are more just that—just kind of like a reprieve from music. There are times I’ll come home from a tour, and I don’t even want to look at a guitar, and you just kind of want to take a break. You need time to recharge a little bit, at least for me.

Both a solo career and Breaking Benjamin can get to be a lot sometimes, so I feel like taking a break is always nice to kind of refresh.

It’s kind of like I’m doing overtime a little bit. But again, I love it. I love it. But sometimes it’s like, all right, I need to, like, take a chill pill for a second.

If you had to pick three non-rock metal covers for your live set, what would they be?

I’m a child of the 80s. So I just love, just like the old synthy kind of stuff, like Tears for Fears and stuff like that. Probably, probably stuff like that. I don’t know, maybe, maybe a Shania Twain song that could be kind of changed around a little bit. She’s got some good stuff. But, yeah, I love the 80s, all that stuff. I feel like it’s just great.

Speaking of the cover of Avril Lavigne. What was the inspiration behind making that song?

Especially if you’re a new artist, sometimes you have to kind of capture someone’s attention with a cover. And it’s so hard to pick the right cover. And I think the 2000s era and genre of music are making a real comeback, and, oh, it’s having its own moment now. And I don’t know, I just felt like that was kind of a song that I felt like I could pull off. I’ve always liked that song. I always liked that album. Obviously, she’s a great artist, and it’s very nostalgic. I don’t know; I think it was like, “Yeah, let’s give it a shot.”

What’s one song from your current set list that has evolved the most since it was first written?

I would probably say The Wolf or Crush Me. These are songs off of Infinity Now, and I just sing them a little differently live. There’s one thing when you’re in the studio and you’re recording something for the first time. You’re not necessarily sure of how you want to sing it. So you’re kind of just trying it and singing it for the first time. And I think after singing it and playing it show after show after show, year after year, it can evolve the way you sing it, where you’re breathing, in the way you’re kind of throwing a melody out. It kind of can change a little bit. So I’d probably say those two; I kind of doctor them up a little bit.

​​Is it like a thing where you’re like, “I’m going to change it for this show?” Or is it just kind of like in the moment? When it feels right.

Yeah, completely in the moment. Lots of things I don’t even think about. I plan on just singing it how it’s supposed to be sung. But just sometimes in the moment, I’m just like, “I feel like I can do a little something here or over here.” That’s just something I love about performing. You kind of get lost in the moment. If you’re not totally in that moment, in that song and that lyric and that feeling, you know, what’s the fucking point? So might as well just be completely immersed in it. 

Headspace holidays quickly become a fan favorite from infinity. Now, as you release new music for either your solo or breaking. Benjamin, is there a song on the album or the EP where you’re like, “This one’s going to be the one that resonates the most”? Or does it kind of surprise you?

I mean, honestly, I’m just waiting for any of them too. It’d be nice if any of them resonated. I think you have hopes of something maybe resonating more than the other, but ultimately the fans kind of decide that. So yeah. I mean, I think at this point with my solo career, the goal now is to just keep releasing music, putting it out there, doing the whole social media TikTok thing, and just hoping that something can connect with people. 

How would you say marketing has changed from when you were starting with Breaking Benjamin to now? Are there any big differences where you’re like, “This is hard for me to wrap my head around,” or is it kind of just learning the process? 

I heard something one time, and I’m not sure where I heard this, but basically, someone was saying, “Every artist in the world is under-exposed.” They’re not completely exposed and marketed as much as they should be. And I’m just like, how does that make sense? Well, it’s like, has everybody in the world heard of The Beatles? Well, you would think yes, but maybe not. So if that’s true of the Beatles, then it’s definitely true of me and other artists that aren’t as well known as the Beatles or whatever. I, at least, hope for myself that I’m just not exposed and marketed enough or known about as much, because if everybody in the world did know about me and there still wasn’t kind of a buzz or success. Then, then you got problems. But if no one has heard of you, then that’s half of it, you know, because I feel like most people that have heard of me, they like it generally. They generally like my music. And I can tell because I do have some fans online that I see, and they’re not just fans; they’re super fans. So I don’t know; I think the hope is to just get myself out there and get exposed more. And I mean, as far as the difference between back in the day, when I first started with breaking Ben to now, the whole thing is just constantly evolving. Back in the day there wasn’t TikTok; obviously, TikTok is everything now. It’s, like, the single most important marketing tool that a band can have at this point. I think a lot of labels—that’s kind of their advice. They’re like, “Well, what is it? How do we get this band big?” They just have to get viral on TikTok. And that’s it, which is crazy, you know? It’s like, “Well, what are you doing?” So I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see what things will change for the next five years. Maybe TikTok will be around. Maybe it’ll be some other kind of shift to something else that we don’t even know about yet. So yeah, it’s all changing.

Do you find that there is a lot of overlap between fans from Breaking Benjamin, or are you getting a lot of new fans from different parts of the world/internet?

Yeah, I would like to think that there’s some overlap, but not as much as you would think. I think some people were introduced to me through Breaking Benjamin. But then, they’ve made a conscious decision to be like, “You know what? I like his music, and I’m invested in his music also.” I’m sure there are plenty of people that love Breaking Benjamin. But my music is not their thing, which is fine. I think that comes with everything, you know. Everybody’s got different tastes and stuff, but, yeah, I don’t know. I think it’s just like, whoever you can get, and whoever you can get to come along for the ride would be great. But I do feel like I still believe the one-song theory. I think, you know, it just takes one song to really connect. Especially if you have a foundation of super fans, I feel like it takes that one song, whether it’s on the radio or TikTok or whatever, to connect with people, to get some of the other more casual listeners and fans to be into it, and maybe, hopefully, they can develop into more super fans. But I think that one thing kind of helps, and that gives me hope to keep going, because it’s just, you’re only/you’re always just a song away from having a career, you know? 

What’s the biggest difference between writing music for your solo work versus collaborations or for Breaking Benjamin? Or is there a difference?

I mean, the similarity is just like, “Hey, just try to write the best song you can.” I think that’s a no-brainer. But the difference is, every band and every artist has a different kind of voice, a different message, a different kind of thing they want to say, and a different way in which they kind of want to say it. So I think that, with my stuff, I don’t really think about it too much. I don’t know. I don’t have to think about, like, how do I want to say this? Because I’m my own artist, you know. Writing with different artists, you know, it’s really all about their vision and their art and how they want to say it. And so that’s something I really hold high up there, as far as, like, the importance; you really want them to be able to express themselves. And I think if I’m writing something with them, I want to help them get their message out, and hopefully, just try and make it cool and something that they’ll like and feel cool and good about. 

When you’re writing for the bands, do you try to separate yourself from it, or do you try to be authentic in it as yourself? Instead of writing just for another band, or more of a collaborator?

Yeah, I think, I think there’s kind of a little bit of both. I kind of put myself in the position of, how would I want this song to go if I was in the band? If I were in this band, and this was something that I was putting out. And I think I look at it like that. How do we make this the best thing we could make? I kind of just put myself in that kind of position. 

 What can we expect from you for the rest of the year?

For the rest of the year, obviously, we got this tour. I’m out now with Breaking Benjamin, and we have this tour with Three Days Grace until October, and then I get home. There was talk of maybe doing another solo tour, but I don’t know. I might stay home and just recharge a little bit. I’ve been pretty busy this year, so it might be good to just hang and help my wife plant some stuff in the garden. Maybe the garden will be over by then. I’ll drink some pumpkin spice lattes at home.

Are you a fan of those?

I haven’t really had one, but my, my guitar player that plays in my solo band, Cowboy. He’s just like, “I can’t wait for fall.” He’s like, “I can already taste the pumpkin spice.” And I’m just like, “I’m with you with fall,” but I might, I might need to try out the pumpkin spice to see if it’s good.

Nashville, TN, (11:15 pm)

I met with Jean outside Bridgestone Arena. He comes off the bus with shades, metallic earrings, and a vintage Deftones shirt that most people my age would sell their kidneys for. The thing that stood out the most was his smile, a kind but firm one. Leaving no room for doubt, the person he presents on stage is not just that. The crowds of people lobbed compliments his way. He returns them with honest gratitude. Without pause, he would respond to the person passing us, then flow directly into the latter half of the answer to my question. He treats both the fans and me with a level of sincerity that far surpasses what would have been acceptable for an artist who had just opened for Linkin Park.

I’m going to give you some anime characters, and you tell me what you think their favorite song or genre would be. 

Saiki k-: Ambient 

Tetsuo: I’ve seen footage of Death Grips 

Kakashi: When Doves Cry, Prince 

One piece of media you think everyone should watch, read, or listen to?

“Everybody should listen to and read Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s a great audiobook; I think the author is Matt Dinniman, but I could be wrong. (he is correct.)  Everyone should listen to the soundtrack to Max Richter’s 2004 opus rendition. (cannot find a 2004 version, but there is a recording from 2020). They should watch Summer Wars.” 

One album that got played the most at home as a kid?

“What’s Too Short’s second record? The one where the second one is in a player? (he asks his long-time manager, who he labeled as a big brother figure.) Players– sick.”

In a lot of articles, everyone asks you about genre; it’s a very common thread that may be a hard question to answer. I know I’m now one of those people, but do you find genre discourse important? 

“Sure, in the same way when you go into the grocery store, you’re looking for cucumbers, and you’re not going to go to the pillow section. Or you’re in Target and you want to find a fucking phone charger; you’re not going to look in this other section. So, for the ease of categorization, genre will always be important. I think I’m the product of a generation that’s had every type of music available at our fingertips. I was born in ’95, so by the time I was 10, I had my first MP3 player. With that being said, for me, I’m more concerned about era jumping than genre bending or genre confinement. I want to explore what the 70s are. I want to explore what the 80s were. It’s like I’m borrowing nostalgia and mutating it while also preserving it. So yeah, for the sake of you wanting to find something and you wanting the ease of finding it, I think definitely genre is important. But I think it shouldn’t dictate what you like; it’s just words.” 

Speaking of the availability of music, in a Lollapalooza interview, you mentioned the encyclopedia of music we have available today. As an artist, do you think fans expect more because they hear more or are more open to hearing new things? 

“I think for a long time music has been bottlenecked, right? Access to being able to put out music was limited or confined to knowing someone who had the proper tools and resources. Now, in the generation we have and live in, kids have BandLabs; they have all these programs they can use to make music. So now you are getting a full spectrum of people echoing one another in an echo chamber. But also coming up with new ideas. I think people are always going to be looking for something to score a moment of their life. Music has served that purpose for generations, since music began. I think now, one of the biggest/most important things we have is a bridge to that. That gets way too nuanced. You like shoegaze? What about the shoegaze from Delaware or the shoegaze from Milwaukee, or rather, New Jersey? You can get really granular about the things you like and how they influence you. I think people are more open to finding what makes them tick. So more music is better, in my opinion.”

A lot of times, you talk about wanting to be a supplement to people. Where did the idea start from, and who would you say was a supplement to your life in the way you want to be for others?  

“Do you take vitamins? I think the study is that you only keep 5% of the vitamins in your system. I could be misquoting, but the rest you piss out. That’s what we are as musicians; you take the 5% of the thing that helps you get by. I don’t idealize or idolize musicians. They’re just fucking humans, but I do think the impact they have on the world in general supplements a generation of sound and supplements a generation of truth. From person to person, it will change, but for me, other musicians have supplemented me a lot more than 5%. That’s just because I live and breathe it. It sticks to my ribs a little harder. I have a lot, all of them, every musician who has come before. Music doesn’t come from me, but through me. So I think I’ve been supplemented by everything.”

I like that more; it feels more complete.

“Yeah, my inheritance makes me a nepo baby. As in not that my parents are rich, none of that. I have none of that in my family. I was the first person in my family to make art. I’m not the first person who’s been an artist. So my nepotism doesn’t come from wealth that will buy you a car, but the wealth that supplements the soul. Every musician has impacted me, whether I listened to them or not.”

Before Glimmer of God dropped, you talked about being on the precipice of your “opus.” Is that a feeling of motivation? 

“Yeah, I said it before: I hate absolution. Opus is absolution; it’s like this is the best thing you will ever make. My opus will be my children; they will be the best creation I’ve ever made. Now I don’t have children, nor is anybody pregnant around me, but that’s the only absolution I like. We live, we die; everything in the middle is wishful thinking. So if I’m always chasing the unattainable goal, I think it will make my work better.”

What is one stop on the tour that really stuck with you? 

“This show, Nashville. You can feel when people are surrounded by music. You know, walking around, whoa, there’s a dude singing his heart out on the corner. The audience—they are open to music; when you feel it, it’s pretty undeniable. Whenever I play in Minneapolis, it’s just the influence Prince had on me that always feels special, too.” 

Speaking of Nashville at this show and your last time here, you covered James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s World.” What was the reason for that, and was it a stop-by-stop thing or when it felt right?  

“When it feels right. If there’s no James Brown, there’s no Michael Jackson. If there’s no James Brown, there’s no Prince. You can kind of say if there’s no James Brown, there’s no Hendrix. If there’s no Larry Graham, there’s no Prince. It’s just kind of an homage to the people who came before me. In a way, it’s like the spirit still lives. It’s why I want to do Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”; that’s the same feeling for me.”

Does it feel like a passing of the torch? 

“I wouldn’t say that unless they gave it to me themselves. What I will say is I don’t want people to forget. I think now in music we are impressed with 15 seconds. That’s all we get to figure out if we like something. I’d rather make music that lasts 15 generations, not 15 minutes, 15 seconds, or 15 years. I want 15 generations of people. Not for my own fucking stature or whatever. Really, from the idea that if I did one thing, and some kid from the middle of nowhere is like, ‘I like that thing.’ Then I want to utilize that thing because we are all tools for the next. Every musician is nuanced from the musicians who came before them. I just want to do my part of leaving little breadcrumbs of ‘Hey, man, you can do that.’ There’s nothing that says you can’t.”

A lot of your creative ideas are complex, multi-layered music, visuals, videos, and characters. How important is it that the people around you don’t need to understand but just trust your creative vision

“It’s definitely important that my team has a lot of trust in me. I call my manager, who’s like my older brother (Greg Mateo). I’ll call him at 3 am, being like, ‘I have this idea!’ He wakes up, and he’s like, ‘okay.’ He needs to say something. I need to tell someone, or I’m going to explode, and he listens. I’m like, ‘Look, I want to do visuals.’ When I did Chaos Now I wanted to do a chapter book like a kids’ novel. I want it to be inspired by this one single quote: ‘It’s no fun when the rabbit has the gun.’ So the rabbit for me is like, ‘Fucking, how deep do you want to get?’ Not understanding yourself is why it was chaotic. Chaos Now was written in crayon. Not literally, but that’s what it felt like. It felt like it had to be written in crayon. It has run-on sentences. He’s like, ‘I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about, but I trust you; it’s going to sound fine.'”

You’ve toured with a lot of cool artists. How important is the variety of experiences, for example, Quadeca versus Linkin  Park? Different collaborators like A$AP Rocky and SZA. How do you go about choosing that, and what do you take from those experiences? 

Are we ever going to get a Spanish album? 

“Absolutely, but it’s got to be great. In order for it to be great, it has to find its identity. I didn’t want to do something that’s contrived. I wanted to do something that’s of my influences and how I push them forward. In a way where I’m taking things, mutating them, but also preserving what they mean to people already. I really want to do an imitation of a song called “Payaso” by Javier Solis. It’s my grandfather’s favorite artist and song. I’ve tried to do it like a hundred times, and every single time it’s wrong. When I find a way that’s right, we will get there. “

How important is inspiration from that love from the person in your life that made you feel that? That leads to a song or moment? 

“It’s everything, man. “The Boy and the Swan”, it’s one of the most important moments in my life that has ever happened. It happened in front of an audience of a thousand people. I played a show in Vegas; it was the first time my mom and dad were in the same room together since I was a child. They got divorced or whatever. I’m singing “Power Freaks”, and I’m coming off stage to give my mom a hug. While the song is still playing, I give him a hug, then I’m like, “move, you’re going to make me cry.” Then I go around to the other side, and my dad gives me a hug. I feel both my parents hugging me, and I feel like I’m in my mom’s womb. The boy and the swan is about that specific moment. After that show, I couldn’t talk for an hour. I had to sit by myself. My parents don’t talk to each other or communicate, but in that moment, they both gave me a hug. They were hugging each other, and I felt like a baby. Those moments that feel like love are few and far between. When they do happen, they are really important.“