Keiynan on “The Heart Defence”
Photos by Elise Abotomey
It was starting to really feel like summer had arrived when I reached Redfern Park in Sydney. There were sunbathers and dog walkers scattered on the grass enjoying every bit of the hot sun, a quintessential December day. Meeting in front of the fountain Keiynan wandered over introducing himself with a friendly hello and a warm hug before we dashed over to the last unoccupied picnic table. We’re here to chat about The Heart Defence, Keiynan’s latest project, a mixtape which is every bit as interesting, fun and honest as the man behind it.
Discussing Keiynan’s deep connection to music, it is clear that it stems from his love of dance, “I was dancing in my living room all day every day from about two or three years old”. A true child of the 90s, Keiynan spent his childhood experimenting with sound, exploring cassette tapes by mixing one tape to another whilst dressed in his mother’s wonderfully hand-sewn costumes for his countless dance competitions, “I realised then that I could really be a part of making music”.
Raised in St Mary’s by his mother, his home was filled with music, he recalled, “everyone liked a different style. I carved out my own space in the living room and blasted Michael Jackson and everything I loved”. Growing up in a big creative family he described it as “a war for music” as he and his siblings were each blaring their own styles. He has eleven siblings, some of which he met later in life, Keiynan revealed “some of them are musical too and I actually make music with them. Which was just coincidence or maybe meant to be”. Sitting on the picnic table seat, he explains one brother is a DJ and two brothers are behind Project Peters- who are coincidentally releasing an EP today, the same day that The Heart Defence drops.
Keiynan’s early devotion to dance allowed it to become his safe space, he thoughtfully recounted “to make sense of some of the chaos growing up, I danced. I found it difficult to talk and communicate with other kids and sometimes my own siblings but dance made sense to me”. His ability to be vulnerable is every bit as present in person as it is creatively.
A born storyteller, Keiynan released Rainbow Boy in 2020 which saw a nomination for ‘Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist’ at the 2021 GLAAD Music Awards and now, he is back with The Heart Defence, an eleven song mixtape created with over seven producers scattered from the US to Canada to Australia, “it makes me want to dance” I told him, asking if this is what he set out to do. He revealed with a smile “I wanted to have fun with it and I really wanted people to dance, I checked in with friends and my dance community, if they can really move to it then people can move to it”. The joy that this project has brought Keiynan is undeniable as he passionately discusses his hopes for the mixtape. Ultimately one of the goals expressed was “to have a bit more fun, not take it as seriously and just enjoy the energy” The mixtape features ‘Lessons’, ‘Whine n Cry’ and ‘Come Papi’, the latter being described as effortless. As Keiynan explained previous projects had big productions whereas the mixtape particularly the track ‘Come Papi’ is stripped back and did not change much from the demo.
The Heart Defence sees Keiynan create captivating and sincere tracks that stay true to the creative that he is. Discussing the introspectiveness of the mixtape and the difference between creating this and Rainbow Boy, he expressed “the first project was a lot of self exploration, it was spiritual and I was learning myself or allowing myself to be certain ways for the first time. This was more like okay I’m in my 30’s and dated enough people, what are the most pressing themes and feelings? I was actually recognising how much protection I’ve placed over myself and not being fully experienced or seen”. He spoke with ease about this project which was largely written in his room with beats that “felt right” in a more playful process and happily recounted that the most unexpected part of The Heart Defence was its creation in the first place. “I was working on another project, the fact that this has become what it has is awesome. I guess I was planning on hoarding a lot of this music, I surprised myself that I released it and I’m really happy that I have”. To my surprise when I asked if he was excited to play these songs live, he divulged that he had already done so, admitting that he likes to play unreleased tracks as it gives him “a better sense of the song and people’s natural response to it without knowing it”.
Before we left, I took the opportunity to ask one of our favourite questions, “if you could write the soundtrack to any film, which would it be?” And without missing a beat Keiynan responded “it would be a Final Fantasy film, that would be amazing to write music for a Fantasy RPG to film”.
Keiynan’s creativity continues to expand, he wears a multitude of hats earning him the title of a ‘multi hyphenate creative’. He has won GQ Australia’s Actor of the Year, NYC LGBT Centre for Youth Advocacy Award and a MTV Movie Award. He debuted at Paris Fashion Week in 2019 walking for Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton collection, when asked about finding confidence through fashion he said “when it feels right on my body, even if it doesn’t fit in with what I’m meant to wear that day or at that event, if it feels right it feels right.” He is unequivocally a creative force, successfully carving a career in one sphere is no mean feat however Keiynan proves time and again that this is just the beginning even revealing aspirations of writing his own films and learning to score them “it would be a really cool union of the things that I love”. The latest project The Heart Defence is a body of work that has the same fun and playful feel that Keiynan felt throughout the creative process.
The Heart Defence is out now and available on streaming platforms (just in time to be your new summer soundtrack).
