Amid their new IN:TENSION album, a collab with Ciara, and coinciding tour, DJ LIFE caught up with Keys N Krates to get the inside scoop.
Keys N Krates have built a venerable reputation as one of the leading live electronic acts today. On the strength of its onstage instrumentation, energetic sets, and string of hits like “Dum Dee Dum,” “Save Me” and “Keep It 100” (with Grandtheft), the Toronto-based trio has enjoyed a thriving 16-year career.
Drummer Adam Tune, keyboardist David Matisse, and turntablist Greg Dawson started out as a live hip-hop act that employed sampled loops. But these days, the group performs mostly as DJs, while its musical output has evolved more firmly into the realm of house music. The latest album from Keys N Krates is IN:TENSION, a 12-song, full-length that certainly has the dancefloor in mind.
With highlights like the pumping opener, “Feelin Something,” the disco-flavored single “Get Up,” and the soulful “Fantasy,” made alongside GRAMMY Award-winning pop/R&B powerhouse Ciara, IN:TENSION is loaded with big grooves and top performances. Other collab partners include Dana Williams, Lion Babe, Taite Imogen, and Aaron Carl.
Of their collaboration, Ciara reveals, “After vibing with ‘Fantasy’ for the first time, I had good feels all over. I felt an infectious energy that made me want to dance, and I could envision myself living my best life to this song all over the world. This is the perfect party song for my collaboration with Keys N Krates. House is a space I’ve really been wanting to get involved in, so I’m excited for the world to hear it.”
Between shows that fill out a jam-packed touring schedule in support of IN:TENSION, Keys N Krates connected with DJ LIFE to discuss the LP, working with Ciara, and much more.
DJ LIFE: How and when did you first begin exploring electronic music? And why Keys N Krates?
Greg Dawson: We started as more of a live act, just live remixing classic hip hop, and some classic dance stuff like Daft Punk. We eventually just wanted to produce our own music and dance music felt obvious because we always wanted to be a dance party. We all learned to produce together and started making our beats and then playing them live – and that kinda set it all off. Keys N Krates just felt like a simple and catchy name that embodied sampling and musicianship.
David Matisse: Yeah, our live show came first… which consisted of Greg on turntables, me on keys, and Tune on drums, and that sort of informed the music we made and how we made it. We wanted to make stuff that we wanted to immediately play live, and we also had to make stuff that was playable live.
DJ LIFE: Did you grow up around music or have any classical training prior to forming the group? Who were some of your earliest musical inspirations?
Adam Tune: Matisse is classically trained on piano, and Greg comes from a competitive turntablism background. I’m a drummer, but I mostly learned that on my own.
DJ LIFE: Fast-forward to today. What does your current DJ setup look like?
Dawson: Today we are doing DJ sets instead of the live thing because we are pretty focused on making a ton of music, and the DJ set really fosters that, since it’s a constant feedback loop between what we’re making and the crowds that we are playing for. We use Pioneer DJ CDJs, and a Pioneer mixer – pretty standard stuff. We’re really focused on the tunes and making great edits, and creating a set that just feels like something you can’t hear anywhere else.
DJ LIFE: When it comes to production, what gear, programs, plug-ins do you tend to use most?
Tune: We are Ableton Live guys. We use stock Ableton plug-ins, Waves stuff, a ton of random third-party plug-ins like the Valhalla reverbs and Soundtoys of the world, and tons of [Native Instrument] Kontakt instruments, just many third-party. We have a [Roland] Juno-106, Moog Sub Phatty, and [Korg] M1 in our studio that we use on stuff, but also a ton of Arturia VSTs.
DJ LIFE: Do you have any pre-show routines? Any studio rituals?
Dawson: We are usually listening to music or making edits right up until the point of our set, which is a good energy for us because it keeps our minds focused on what we are trying to say musically that night. We tend to do that wherever we are staying and then hit the venue 15 minutes before we play just to chill and get comfortable in the venue before we hit the decks.
DJ LIFE: Can you share one of your wildest/craziest stories from one of your shows – either when first starting out or more recently?
Matisse: In Tampa, Fla., we once had a completely naked lady – not even any shoes – rush the stage and jump on Greg’s back while we were playing mid-set. It went viral, and it was on TMZ by Monday. You can still see that on the internet, I believe.
DJ LIFE: IN:TENSION is your third studio album. How did the creative process differ on this album from your previous two? What were the similarities?
Tune: This was a new musical direction for us, being totally focused on house music. We definitely all went off separately more and did our own individual vocal sessions to get song ideas that we’d all later come together and finish. A lot of our past albums, most ideas started and finished with the three of us, and on this one a lot of the first 20-percent of songs started with us as individuals alone or working with a vocalist. This process really allowed for us to flush out a bigger number of ideas for us to be able to choose from than ever before.
DJ LIFE: How long did this album-making process take for IN:TENSION? Do you have any personal favorite tracks from the LP?
Dawson: I’d say we really started in January and wrapped in early September of this year, so the whole thing took eight or nine months. They are all our babies, but “Feelin’ Something” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me” have special places in my heart.
Matisse: “What Girls Do” and “Overdrive” feat. Lion Babe are my two favorites.
Tune: I think “Fantasy” and “Need Your Love” are my favs, but it’s tough. I love it all.
DJ LIFE: Let’s discuss “Fantasy” with Ciara. How did this pairing come about and what was it like to work with such a noteworthy R&B/pop artist on this project?
Tune: We started this song idea and had her tone in mind for it, but we didn’t necessarily think we could get her on it. We ended up getting a link to her and sent the idea over to her, and she got super-excited about it and wanted to finish it and cut it with us. We went back and forth on FaceTime’s and text messages with her and eventually tweaked the beat and vocals to where everyone was really happy with it.
DJ LIFE: Who are a few of your dream collaborators?
Matisse: Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, The Weeknd, Aluna, Solange, Frank Ocean – to name a few.
DJ LIFE: What do Keys N Krates see in its future? Where do you hope to be in five years?
Dawson: I think producing more for other artists, making dance records for people that haven’t made dance records before and finding their voice in that arena that feels organic, as well as playing clubs all over the world and continuing to just make our own music, remixes and edits and define our sound, catalogue, and live experience. We really just want to continue to do what we are doing now, but continue to get better.
