About The Keys

There are three groups with this name: 1. The Keys was a British power pop quartet. It was made up of Drew Barfield (vocals/bass), Ben Grove (vocals/guitar), Steve Tatler (vocals/guitar), and Geoff Britton. They had some success in the early to mid-80s, and their 1981 album was produced by popular singer-songwriter Joe Jackson. From 1980 to 1982, they released six singles. The group is perhaps best known today for the song "I Don't Wanna Cry" as well as from the fact that Britton had previously worked as Paul McCartney's drummer. 2. Born and raised in several France locations, Boris Paillard a.k.a The Keys has found a new home on stage, winning audiences across Canada and the United States with raw talent and ample doses of charm. With wide-eyed ambition and a strong singer-songwriter work ethic, in three short years, Paillard has released six full length records and found the time to tour coast to coast thrice with the Greyhound Discovery Pass, playing well over 150 dates everywhere from New Haven to San Diego. At just 24 years old, Paillard's road tested big collection of folk'n'roll /edgy pop tunes is now backed up in Montreal by a powerful band consisting of a flamboyant three-piece horn section and a solid and groovy rythm section. http://www.myspace.com/sirobandthekeys 3. Who are The Keys? Matthew Evans - Vocals / Guitar Gwion Rowlands - Guitar / Vocals Elliott Jones - Drums James Bell - Bass How did The Keys start? We released a record on BOOBYTRAP records. Was it easy to get signed by Too Pure? I knew a lot of the TOO PURE team from another band I had been in (MURRY THE HUMP). They'd heard demos and really liked them. What are the drives and the inspiration behind the record? I have not had many positive experiences from using professional studios. So the first premise was to record the album intimately at home. To record the rehearsal of the songs and use that as what gets released. So the musicians playing on the album still don't know the song too well. There's no chance of over polishing the recordings. I wanted to get the mistakes down on record. All my favourite records have mistakes on them. How come it's self-titled? How do you work together and create your songs? We all thought a self-titled album was right. It is very much a songbook type album, each song has its own individual key/pitch it would have been great if we had done the first song in C then the next one in C# then the next one in D etc. the way we write songs is I usually start playing one of the things I've been working on. If it inspires the others to play along then its probably good enough to record. If I play something and nobody reacts then it is usually rejected or turned into an acoustic number!!!! How do you write the lyrics? It isn't easy, and it's the most frustrating yet rewarding part of writing songs for me. I carry a note book around with me and constantly jot lyrics down. I steal from films, radio shows, other songs, books. Anything. It is a lot like getting jam out of an already empty jam jar. There is a deep "country feel" in your songs, what music do you like listening or feel inspired by? I like lots of things, but it's usually by dead people. How did you record and work on the album? As I said we recorded the rehearsals. I think a lot of musicians can relate to me when I say playing a song is never quite as good as the first couple of times. I think a lot of bands today rehearse too much. They iron out the soul of the song. Recording is about capturing the subtle frisson between soul and craft. I don't like things to be too polished. I think the Keys album is very subtle. It appears to be a lot more accessible than it actually is. What is your live show like? Our live show is LOUDER. Its something that I really want to capture on the next album. More direct, distortion. Where did you get your name from? My girlfriend at the time came up with it... I turned it down at first but it kept coming back so we took the hint.