Daily Inspiration: Meet Keith2.0

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith2.0.

Hi Keith2.0, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Ive been djing, throwing events, modeling, doing a little acting, and then some for now over 20 years. If I were to tell you everything this would be a book not an article so ill do my best to keep it short and interesting. I was born and raised in seal beach a small town in the orange county just south of LA. Once I hit my late teens I felt like an alien there and I started running off to Hollywood with friends sneaking in and finding a home in all of the goth mod and rock dance clubs of Los Angeles in the late 90s.

Despite becoming a part of an amazing nightlife community filled with so many creatives and inspiring people when I finally became old enough to drink I decided to start my own club night playing new dance music that was just coming out (indie rock and electro, ex lcd sound system to the strokes) that myself and friends loved but were never hearing in any of the clubs around. In 2001 at the age of 21, I launched CLUB82 at the echo on a Sunday night and it quickly exploded overnight and became a destination for artists and misfit club kids all over California and eventually the world. This club is where I started my dj career as Keith2.0 and started to have the privilege to start expanding as not only a promoter but with my contacts started runway modeling in LA and New York and of course djing independently.

After 2 years of success, I was able to launch my favorite and most successful club Club Moscow at boarders in Hollywood. Moscow was truly something special and featured both the dj nightclub dance element from Club82 but also featured a live separate stage where we featured live music of some of our favorite bands that began to emerge out of la and the world. We gave some now iconic artists some of their first shows from panic at the disco, to cut copy, she wants revenge, shiny toy guns, neon trees, to even banks and did this every Wednesday night for over 15 years. During this Moscow period and my network rapidly expanding I began branching out with more djing, acting, and modeling.

I was able to continue to do the modeling and runway and walk in new york fashion week, acting I was able to be on one of my favorite shows True Blood, to a number of videos as an actor from Lady Gaga “Just Dance’, to Avril Lavigne “smile”, and even Panic at the disco “Curse of mona Lisa” which became one of my favorite acts to play at my club over the years in general.

As a DJ, things started to take off and in 2007 I was asked to dj Hard Festival which would be the first of several times I died that festival over the next several years with so many friends and artists I was lucky to work with from Dj AM (who was one of my friends who taught me to dj) to Soulwax and even Skrillex who was an old friend and began his dj career at my club. The following year in 2008 I was lucky enough to dj at coachella in one of the vip tents and my favorite gig but this time MainStage back at Hard Festival in 2010.

Over the next decade till now, I have continued to grow both as a dj having the privilege of working with so many amazing teams and people from tom and ted from myspace to Oprah while also still djing and throwing events from my members-only Sad Boys Club to djing my new favorite event Anirave. An anime cosplay-themed rave that has taken off and exploded overnight and revitalized my love and energy for what I do. With the elaborate costumes and vibe, it’s like nothing I have seen in ages and reminds me of the 90s club kid parties that I snuck into as a late teen that made me fall in love with nightlife in the first place and inspired me to do what I do.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? I find that question really difficult to answer because essentially I only know the one road that I have taken. Los Angeles and the entertainment industry certainly exposed me overtime to the poisonous and the inspiring in both people and ideas in constant waves but I feel like when I reflect on this 20 plus years I spend less time focusing on the struggles and lately more time focusing on the gratitude and how lucky I was and still am to experience all these things that I just wrote about. Especially now even writing this has really made me reflect and smile.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I think one thing that sets me apart is the amount of hats I wear that seems to be the thing that when people learn about me they are shocked about. I would say I’m known for being a DJ first closely followed by the modeling in the acting but typically I find that opinion varies based on what that person feels is the most important of my accomplishments. Many ways I am very proud to do all of the things I’ve done and really look forward to experiencing new things. In the past, I have also had 2 physical retail stores (still have one online), designed clothing and even designed an art car for Toyota scion years ago. Some people are OK with just doing one thing for me I have never felt like that’s really an option creatively I feel like I would become bored and one lane doesn’t inspire me.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I Would say it boils down to two things. 1. My love and obsession for what I do. I basically work all the time and am accused of being a workaholic quite often but I love what I do and would rather be creating than vacationing. 2. my constant creative insomnia…

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keith2.0

Image Credits
Main photo- shoot for @helldogofficial First photo- @helldogofficial 2nd photo- simon chan (director) 3rd photo- tony chuka (photographer) 4th photo – friend at runway show for @raquelallegra la fashion week 5th photo- campaign for @bowiela 6th Photo- @thetylershields 7th and 8th- timothy Norris hard festival