INTERVIEW: Keeana Kee
Keeana Kee
The Photo Ladies Interview
Although she loved music as a child, it wasn't until a modeling career exposed her to the world and gave her the confidence and income to pursue her dreams that Latvian-born artist Keeana Kee decided to pursue a career as a singer.
Having written her first song in Latvia at the age of 10, she grew up idolizing artists such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and later on, Rhianna and Sia. She spent her teen years in London, pursuing her modeling career and honing her singing and songwriting skills as part of a cover band. Her modeling career then took her to Milan and Paris before she relocated to New York in 2016. With a breezy, tropical vibe the radiates throughout her music, Kee's first hit came in 2016. A collaboration in Miami with famed Latin Grammy Award-winning producer Maffio resulted in her tropical, breezy hit "Coconut Rum and Coke". Although she was discouraged to do so, Kee came out as gay and emphasized the importance of staying true to herself. Her video for "Coconut Rum and Coke" showcased a woman as her love interest and established her passionate support for the LGBTQI community. Her indomitable spirit to empower others to be their true selves, even if it goes against the expectations of others, is a mission for her. Kee has also worked with some of the leading DJs, remixers and producers in the world, including Dirty Disco (“Shoot Me Up”), Yence500 (“Genius”) and Luca Bisori (Deep Vibes remix of “Coconut Rum and Coke”) as well as featuring Latin rapper Kid G on “Open Arms.” “I have great relationships with producers and DJs, so we keep on working on new projects together. It’s like a family,” she says. Just as important to Keeana as her music is giving back to the community, especially her membership in ISINA, Inc., a music talent search and mentoring program with producer Walter Afanasieff, Kenny G., Humberto Garcia and Paul Oakenfold. Turns out Afanasieff, who famously worked with Mariah Carey, heard her song, “Let’s Make Love” and wanted to be introduced to Kee. “Meeting Walter was unbelievable. He’s a legend and I was so honored to be part of it. I may not be a great example right now, but I hope my determination and hard work, never giving up, is inspiring to anyone who wants to make it in this business,” says Kee. Recently we saw the premiere of Kee's latest single and video for "Sweet Heaven", which offers a veiled critique of the US's harsh immigration border policy. Shot in the beautiful and serene desert of Joshua Tree, CA, the video portrays a Latin American father who is deported but finds a way to get back across the border to reunite with his daughter, offering spirituality in the guise of three tribesman – one woman and two men -- accompanying Keeana’s guardian angel, who provides guidance as she oversees those making the pilgrimage. With plans to release more songs and music videos, Kee is definitely an artist to keep on your radar. You can connect with Keeana Key via the following links:
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | SoundCloud | iTunes/Apple Music | YouTube | Deezer | Bandcamp
You were born in Latvia and have said that you loved music as a child but never really had the luxury of pursuing it when you were younger. What was it like for you when you were finally able to pursue that dream and why do you feel you were more drawn to more heartbreaking and emotional music rather than happy and uplifting music?
It was a long journey for me, actually, to accept the fact that I was really going to go for it. Nobody in my family was really encouraging, and even when I went for it they were like "Oh, it's just a hobby and she just loves music". It was up to, I don't know, just a few years ago only when they actually were like "Oh, she's actually going for it". I don't know...it was on and off. I was really feeling like I wanted to become a singer, a professional singer, and then something would just discourage me. Like, I don't know...someone would say something. Even my first vocal coach, a lady I went to in Latvia when I was still in Latvia, said "You know how long the journey is. You need to be prepared...". She was saying a lot of things, perhaps just Russian mentality. She was saying all of this stuff to me, like "Oh my god. You have no idea. It's such a long journey. Don't think it's just one year and you're going to become a star." It was like that. I was listening to this and was afraid and thought maybe I should stop, because it was also very expensive. I would always support myself with my own earnings. I would wake up a week later saying that I couldn't live without the music. I really wanted to sing and was going to go for it, and then it would continue like for, I don't know, maybe a couple of years, that something would not happen for me. I would try to sing a song and it would not work and it would be very discouraging. But because of my love for music, I would always wake up one day and say "No, I can't live without it."
You have said that where you are from, people don't really have those aspirations to dream big and pursue those dreams. What do you think gave you the courage to do so? Did you always have that mentality of pushing forward or was there a particular person in your life that gave you that confidence to dream big?
I think, honestly, that it was when I started traveling for my modeling. I started traveling for modeling and went to Paris and Milan. I think because I was so independent at that moment already, I really already knew that I had to take it into my own hands. Nobody was going to help me. Maybe meeting new people that were outside of Latvia helped. Latvia is like a closed box where you can't believe in anything and you have to do what everyone is doing. It's very grey, you know? Everyone is the same color, you know what I mean? I think I started coming out of this box and feeling like there was life outside of it and I could dream and actually do it all myself. I don't need some person helping me. I could actually pay for it myself. The first money I earned, it went to my family...I was helping my mother...and then I also had some money to support myself in my achievements and so I went for it. I guess it's because I was traveling. That's what opened the doors in my path, you know, believing in myself.
How did the opportunity to model come about for you and how do you feel that it has helped you to pursue your dream of music? Do you see them as separate careers or do you see them as connected in your life?
Yes, well the first dream I had, actually, was modeling. I remember sitting with my grandmother a long, long time ago and watching a catwalk on the tv. I remember it really, really well. I said "I wanna walk like that. I wanna be there." And even with that, my mother did not believe in all of that. It was not taken seriously, this profession...entertainment and modeling and all of that is not taken seriously, at least in my family and circles. She actually gave me...she signed me up with a modeling school so I could feel more confident about myself. That's what she was thinking. Not to actually pursue it as my career. She was just thinking it would help me to become a woman and mentally be more confident and, I don't know, grow up. That was my first career target, if I can say that. If you can call it that. The singing was just something in me all of the time. It was there all the time and I was writing my songs. I wrote my first song in English when I was young. I didn't really speak English but I did write it somehow. I always loved it and that has withstood my modeling career.
You spent your teen years in London studying and working as a model while also performing live in a cover band, before moving to the US. What were those early years of performing like for you and what do you feel that you learned during that time that has helped you in your career now?
Oh my gosh! I learned so much and I was so shy. It was very funny, because I would do the catwalk and modeling and I would not be shy at all or be nervous coming out on the floor and walking. But then I would take singing so seriously and be like "Oh my god! I have to sing well", and was actually covering Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston and those kinds of songs. Even people that know me were like "Oh my god! What are you doing?". Even some music/singing teachers, when I would say "Here's a song I want to learn" and they were like "What? Whitney Houston? Let's try something else first". I would leave the teacher and wouldn't stay with the vocal coach, because I would only go to the vocal coach that would work on big songs with me. I was going for it and didn't want to sing anything, like, little and easy. It was always my target to go for very, like, top notch music, you know? My inspirations and my idols. So I was changing vocal coaches and all of that was in London already, when I moved to London, and just changing these vocal coaches taught me a lot. People already didn't believe in me, or themselves, because that was their mentality, right? For me, it taught me to believe in myself, I guess. And then I started performing and I was, of course, really nervous. It took a lot for me to just overcome that stage fear, and it's a different stage fear, you know? As I have said, when I was modeling, I was not afraid of it. It was a different side of me, I guess. It was a lot of experience and I'm still getting experience. I'm still not where I want to be, so I still have a lot to do and to work on.
Your music has a very fun, tropical vibe to it and you have said that style of music is more popular in Florida and the West Coast. What led you to move to New York instead of California and Florida?
I don't know. I'm always traveling. Yes, I'm based in New York but am always traveling to Florida and LA, so it's three of my homes. I don't really feel that I am just in New York. My home is in New York, but sometimes I spend more than half of the year in LA.
Your first big hit came in 2016 when you collaborated with Latin artist Maffio on "Coconut Rum and Coke".
That was in Florida, and it's a very sunshine and tropical song and that's how it all started for me. I spent a lot of time in Florida and wrote a lot of songs there after "Coconut Rum and Coke" and then I moved to LA, which is where "Let's Make Love" came to life. All of those tropical, sunshine vibes were an inspiration for me, with the ocean and palm trees, I guess.
Having that experience of collaborating with Maffio, what kinds of opportunities do you feel like that opened up for you? You have since done a lot of collaborations with DJs and producers, so what can you tell me about the opportunities that opened up for you and what you enjoy about the collaborative process?
I absolutely love Maffio and am so grateful to have done that song with him. I love it. It's my favorite song and it taught me a lot as well. It was my first song recorded in the US and everything here is going a very different way. Maffio's style of recording and all of that was crazy. We would only record at night. We would only go to the studio and work there at night, so it was very different for me but was also very much like me. I have more inspiration at night. Most of my songs were written at night, actually. I don't know why. In the studio, working with him, everyone was having so much fun and it was very easy. We were all enjoying it. It was like going to a party and you are actually just having fun. You're never going there to work. It doesn't feel like that. It taught me that you can be very relaxed and just go to the studio and have fun and dancing. There was always dancing. There was so much positivity there and fun. It taught me to relax more, I guess, in the studio and we came up with several songs on the spot right there. It was so amazing. I really loved it and the people I worked with were so professional and so talented. It was incredible. I'm extremely grateful for that cooperation.
You have talked about facing discrimination in the music industry for being gay but have stayed true to yourself regardless. Having been told that it would be a risk to present yourself as non-traditional and that it could be fatal to an artist's career, what has it been like to be your true self in the face of that discrimination?
It was very hard in the beginning, because I was new here in the US and everyone was telling me their opinions about that and we were filming a music video. I was kind of listening to them and would be scared because I was new here and thought maybe they were right. I thought maybe I shouldn't and maybe I should, I don't know, film a straight music video and actually have a guy there. In the end, I was just...it's my music. Even if it won't go around as well as some commercial agencies think it should go, at least I'd be true to myself and will not regret not being what I want. I was just listening to my heart, I guess, and that's my life. That video, especially, for "Coconut Rum and Coke", is the story of my life. How can you go wrong with what's real, you know? This is a true reality, so how I regret what's actually happened in my life? It was my first song in the US, my first single, and I thought I should be true to myself and show people who I really am. If people love me, they love me and if not, sorry. Someone else will love me.
You have said that the industry has gotten better for gay artists. What role do you feel that social media and the internet have played in the changing attitudes and musical landscapes? How do you feel that being an independent artist has allowed you the freedom to pursue your music on your own terms?
I think social media gives people full power to choose their own podium. People can choose. If they don't like you, they don't have to follow you. If they like you, they'll be the real people that were not forced to like you. They will genuinely love you for who you are and for what you show on your social media, or how you present yourself. It's real fans. People that like me are like "Oh my god. You actually helped me to come out. I actually came out and feel more comfortable". For me to hear something like this is like "Oh my god! Wow!". I changed somebody's, at least, one day in life, and maybe their whole life. It means a lot and staying true to yourself is my target goal, to help people just believe in themselves. So yeah, people follow you and love you for who you are and for who you want to be and you don't have to force anyone to believe in something else. And on social media, it's your real life and you share the reality of your being and people can live with you. It's like living with you. You know, it's like a reality show, if you think about it.
You had the opportunity to perform at last year's Pride Festival in London. What was that experience like for you and how did you celebrate Pride this year?
Oh my god! That experience was absolutely incredible! That Pride I think was the most amazing Pride in Europe that I ever went to. There were so many people and everyone was so, I don't know. You know what I love about it? There were so many straight people. It's not only gay people there. There are so many straight people supporting the LGBTQI community. It was a great experience. I was with DIVA Magazine and it was amazing. And then I was performing on the DIVA stage with some other amazing LGBTQI artists and it was one of the most incredible experiences for me. But this year, it wasn't fun for me because I was literally staying home. Unfortunately, it was the wrong timing this year. I wasn't able to actually go somewhere. I was supposed to perform in Texas this year and it was delayed. The person who was organizing the event, she was really hoping it would still happen and it didn't, so I'm very upset. But as long as we are safe and everyone can overcome this pandemic. I hope it will end as soon as it can end. It is what it is.
What can you tell me about your song "Sweet Heaven", which you have said offers a veiled critique of this country's increasingly harsh border policies? Also, what has it been like for you to witness the attitude of this administration towards immigrants, being an immigrant yourself?
So the song wasn't written as a critique to these immigration policies here. It wasn't written like that. When I just wrote the song, I came up with the chorus-with the melody for the chorus-and literally heard the choir singing with me in my soul. I knew it had to be something very inspirational or something spiritual or encouraging. Also, it was written, like, half a year ago or maybe more already at that time...well, before the pandemic, so it will be a year already. It was just something spiritual. There is this person...it can be God...it's not any particular religion that I am referring to. It's just something spiritual. It can be a universe force, your guardian angel looking after you all the time and helping you to overcome the obstacles in your life...your mother, your kids, whoever that person is in your life. The video was inspired by the crazy story of undocumented immigrants, even living all of their life here in the US, and are separated from their families and their children and the children are being locked up at the border alone in cages. It's ridiculous. I get chills just talking about it. That really touched me and I was like "These are the people I want to dedicate this song to". These kids and families, they need this right now, somebody or something that can help them to go through this situation. That's my dedication to this subject and to these kids and these families. And that's why I filmed the video in California, in the desert, showing the father that was deported and trying to escape and go beyond all of that and still coming back and crossing the border and coming back for his daughter and reuniting with her. And she's sad waiting for him, still here in the US. So it's just my dedication to these kids and families that are separated. But the song wasn't written exactly about this subject. It's a love song, of having that something or someone overcoming obstacles with you, I guess. Like a guardian angel.
You also strive to give back to the community. What can you tell me about ISINA, Inc, the music talent search and mentoring program and how you came to be involved with them?
For me, it was meeting Walter Afanasieff, who is a legend! I still can't believe I met him and worked in the studio with him. It means a lot and I don't know...it makes me believe I'm a great artist. Like, am I already at the level of Mariah Carey and Leona Lewis? She was literally in the studio right before me, with him working. Like, Leona Lewis was working on a song with him. So for me, knowing that I am going into the studio with him after Leona Lewis, was making me, I don't know...really believe in myself even more. Like "Oh my god. Am I actually working with a person at that level?". It's also different, the way of recording in the studio and working with musicians, live musicians, and different levels of people in the industry. It was great to meet him and I'm so grateful. I'm hoping that I'll still be able to work more and more with him, because I'm still in contact with him.
You have talked about getting to travel the world with your modeling career. What are some of your favorite places that you have been able to visit through your modeling?
Oh my god! Actually, one of the most unusual places for me was Beirut, Lebanon. I worked with a company over there and at first I actually cancelled the trip because I was nervous to go there. I had never been to that side of the world and wondered if it would be dangerous. I was going alone which might be kind of dangerous. But then I came there and a group of people from the company met me and showed me the city and I saw it from a different angle. Everything I had heard about it was lies and not what it actually was, so I fell in love with Beirut. And then it was Israel, South Africa, all of these places. But I was all around Europe. I didn't get to Asia, which I really want to go and see. And Australia. I haven't been to Australia yet. I've heard it is so beautiful. It's on by bucket list. And New Zealand and Bali and of these tropical places, because there's just something inside of me that always carries me to these tropical places.
What's next for you? What do you have coming up?
"Sweet Heaven" is coming up next and then I was lucky to be able to film another 4 music videos, right before the pandemic, which is crazy. Right now it is very hard to shoot a music video, even though the day before yesterday we finished another one in New York, which I'm very, very excited about. Even though I am living and based in New York, this will be the first video I have actually shot in New York, which is kind of weird (laughs)! I'm super excited for that one. Right now, I'm going to be concentrating on music that is already done and recorded and the music videos that we have already shot, we will be releasing those. I have so much material to share with my friends and people and fans, so yes, I have a lot up my sleeve that I can't wait to share with all of you guys!