Exclusive Interview with Dean Keller!!
DEAN KELLER ON... Music
"Music is the best thing in my life", Dean Keller, 25, tells us, sweeping his hair out of his eyes and taking a sip of bottled water. "It is the one thing that has remained constant throughout my life. When I first left South Africa, I was 18 years old, I was leaving behind all my family and all of my friends, I was leaving behind my home, my job. But the one thing I brought with me was my music. Music is special to me because it has no boundaries. Music translates across any and every language, culture and religion. Music can make you feel emotion, or stop you feeling a certain emotion that, I don't know, maybe you find upsetting or something. Music can touch you, and make you think twice about an issue you've never considered before. Music can take any emotion it is possible to feel and take you on a journey that lasts three minutes but leaves you thinking about it for hours afterwards. That's why I've always used music as my therapy. It's always been the one thing I could use to manipulate my emotions. When I had a hard time giving up drugs, the music was there for me. When I was having a downer, I could find a song that I would either relate to, or that could take my mind off things completely, or that would give me the inspiration and the courage to carry on. When I had my accident and was in hospital, just after coming out of my coma, the one thing that saw me through was my music. I could barely move, I could hardly speak, I couldn't write, I couldn't play, but I could listen and I could understand. If it wasn't for the music, and if it wasn't the desire and drive to play again, I don't know if I would have recovered. It was the one thing pushing me forward."
DEAN KELLER ON... Going Solo
"My solo single was an amazing thing to do. It was the first time I've had something that I felt was exclusively mine, that it was completely my own project, it was my own thoughts and feelings, my own playing, nothing was being held back. It is me, 100%", Dean told us, his dark eyes sincere, burning into us with every second of his intense stare. "It was something I just had to do. I had a lot of issues which I had never resolved, so it was important that I got everything out there in the open. Like I said, my music is my therapy, so I was really happy with how it all came out, and it really helped. Yeah, of course I was ecstatic when I found out that the single had charted top ten - it sold more than any Rebel Uprising or Live Youth single ever did, but I would never consider a solo career. I could never go through the writing and recording process on my own again, it was very isolating and very boring, it was like I was trapped with these feelings around me which I couldn't shake away. I could never go on a tour by myself, I need my friends around me. I couldn't take being in the limelight all the time, the feeling of having no support scared me so much."
Dean Keller working away in the studioDEAN KELLER ON... Being in front of the camera
"I'll admit, being in front of the camera is great," Dean laughs, smiling broadly. "Although, I don't like being exclusively in front of the press and such, when it comes to the cameras, like, doing music videos or home movies or videos for the fans, everybody would tell you I love being the centre of attention. I'm forever running in front of the camera, doing something goofy. I grew up loving performing arts - much to the disappointment of my parents - so music and acting were my two biggest loves. Doing music videos allow me to do both. But, I also love the idea that the more footage I get of myself on tape, the more my kids will know of me, the more my grandkids will know of me, when I'm gone. I really love the idea that when I'm gone, something will remain".
On the set of the new video 'Sounds Like Heartbreak and Broken Promises'.
DEAN KELLER ON... Gemma Maddison
"Gemma is amazing", Dean smiles, a glittering spreading to his eyes. "She is so special to me, she remains to this day the only girl I've ever loved. She is my best friend and I will be there for her until the day I die, no matter what. We've known each other since I was 18, she was 14 and we've only grown closer over the years. We have a son [Caleb, 3 years old] together and it's the most amazing bond to share with somebody. It feels so strange to consider how much I've been through with Gemma in the past six years, and to see how much we've grown up. I mean, when I met Gemma, she was a young girl, living at home with her parents. Now she's a women, she's married with two kids. Together we've experienced love, parenthood, we've created bands which have become world famous, we've sold millions of records, made millions of pounds and are now living the dream. She will always be the most important person in my life - her and Caleb. I feel sorry for the girl I end up with, because no matter who she is, Gemma and Caleb will still be the top of my priorities."
Where the magic happensDEAN KELLER ON... Love
"Love... isnt something I talk about very often, mainly because I've never had much luck with it. I find it very hard to commit, and I find it very hard to fall for someone. But one girl made me do it, once," Dean smiled, reflecting on his past with a bittersweet smile, his handsome face glowing. "But once again, I managed to wreck it and there's no going back. It's true that love hurts. When it's because of somebody else's mistakes, it hurts, but knowing that I lost the one I love forever because of my own mistakes... well that kills me. Not a day goes by that I don't regret what I did, but it happened and I know that at somepoint - maybe years in the future - I'll move on. I'm not bitter about it, because while love didn't work out for me, all I need to do is look around me to see instances where it has worked and the people involved in it are the happiest people I know - like Gemma and Billy, for instance. Love is what drives people to do what they do, day in, day out and its why I write music. Love is the strongest emotion of all, and its what makes us feel. That's why its important that I write about it."
DEAN KELLER ON... Being a father
"Becoming a dad is the best thing that has ever happened to me - EVER! My son is the most amazing kid in the world, he is so loving, and smart, funny… he reminds me so much of how I was when I was little. He’s so inquisitive about the world as well. I mean, he asks questions about everything and its quite overwhelming sometimes to think that my answers to those questions may shape his entire future: what he grows up believing, what values he holds and what path he takes in life. Everything I do now will shape what he becomes in the future. It’s a scary thought, but its also something very special. You will never understand true, unconditional love until you have a child. Caleb came into my care when I was just 21 or 22 years old and I was so immature. I had to grow up really, really fast. Gemma’s only 20 now and she’s miles more mature than I ever was when I first became Caleb’s father. Now she has two little boys in her care and she’s coping way better than I did with one, but I guess that’s the difference between guys and girls. It’s a challenge but the best challenge I ever took on. Would I encourage Caleb to get into the music industry? No. But I wouldn’t discourage him, either. Both Gemma and I love music, obviously, and so he’s grown up around music his entire life and already loves it. He already has an extensive taste in music. We’ve also bought him a couple of instruments which we will be trying to teach him to play properly soon, but we won’t push him into doing music as a career. It’s a tough industry. You get knocked down time and time again, and most people won’t ever make it, so obviously as parents we want to shield him from that. But if he turns round to us, when he’s old enough, and says its honestly what he wants to do, then - like anything - we will support him whole heartedly, and give him the best start we can.”
DEAN KELLER ON... The Future
“The future… well, who knows what that holds for us. We’re still so young, so we have years and years ahead of us. I know that progress will probably be slow as Gemma wants to extend her family with Billy. I know that Levi is due to be getting married just after the new year and so everybody’s personal life will be a bit hectic for a little while. That’s why, hopefully, we can get some good sales on the new record, and can start a tour straight away in the new year before we will need to take that break. Further ahead in the future, I see a few image changes, I see our style changing and growing with each record and I don’t know if we will still be ‘Live Youth’ as we know it, or if we will be ‘Live Youth’ at all. All I know, is that as long as I’m involved in music, me and Gemma will still be work partners. I don’t think a day will come when either of us will go our own way in the industry. When something works, you don’t mess with it. But I’m definitely excited about what the future brings. I’m very excited about the new album - its exactly what all of us wanted from the record. It’s fresh, exciting, high powered, the lyrics mean so much to us and is full of heavy hooks and riffs and it really does take you on a journey from beginning to end. I just hope our fans are as excited about it as we are”.
