John Keenan Talks About His New Album “Wreckage of the Past” & His Story

Intro:

Today’s interview artist, John Keenan, is making strides as a musician with his new album “Wreckage of the Past”. The Phoenix-based MC has grown a reputation over the years of being an artist who’s more authentic than the typical mainstream musicians. John is very self-sufficient, too, as every song on the new album was created by himself! His success comes through in the form of mixing Hip-Hop with tons of other music styles/elements. Before reading our brief conversation, make sure you check out this new album below.

Me: First, how would you describe your creative process while making your new project “Wreckage Of The Past”?

John: This was not an inspirational project. It was the wreckage from my previous albums that I didn't want to let go of. Songs that didn't make other projects from the past, mostly, that I felt needed a second look. It's maybe half and half. Half being new material and has musical ideas that were difficult to bring to fruition.

Did you draw inspiration from any specific artists and/or genres?

I've basically made the same album a whole bunch of different times. I've had a goal almost my whole life to make the most or widest genre-spanning hip hop album I can. I want to pull as many different influences into hip hop as possible. I did do some disco-type beat stuff, which is something I've never done before.

That’s awesome! And, how would you describe your overall style in your own words?

I started as more of a beat maker and fast rapper, and slowly morphed into more of a songwriter and near singer, but beat making and lyrical rapping is the bed of experience I'm able to kind of build more harmonic material on. Traditional beat making and lyrical rhyming are sort of my fundamental base layer; any singing or near singing is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I try to get there.

Nice! From there, what kinds of core themes or messages do you hope listeners take away after a full listen to the album?

That this is a pretty unique project. I don't believe any song stands out too much from the rest because they are all so different, or at least I tried to make them very different. I didn't want to make a predictable album. The goal was to make an album that is all over the map.

In addition, what was the most challenging part during the creative process?

Just that they were the songs that didn't seem to work for one reason or another. I had to work to fix the issues I heard and examine the whole project inside and out to fix problems. It was a huge learning experience. A couple songs I realized with just a few days before they were due that they weren't working because they were in the wrong key. Too high or low for my vocal register and thats why the vocals would never sound right or pleasant. Lot's of small fixes like that.

Where does your stage name originate from? Has it ever changed over time?

It's always just been my name. I don't know. I've never had any cool nicknames or anything.

Nice! Any upcoming releases or plans that you're comfortable sharing with the readers?

I'm unsure what comes next.

Nothing wrong with that though! And finally, in your own words, why should a new listener check out this new album today?

Because they might hear something different. A different perspective in the world of hip hop.