Meet Keith Snow

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Snow.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It started way back, in history, there was this string quartet that visited our 4th-grade class. At the end of their performance, they played the theme from The Pink Panther. It was dead silent, kids on the edge of their seat when the quartet’s cellist kicked off with that funky baseline. I was hooked. Two years later, seated last chair, I remember my bow’s horsehair was colored black instead of white like everyone else’s in the orchestra. Unfortunately, my horsehair didn’t make any noise so I would crank on the wood part of the bow so I could be heard a little bit. My parents put me in private lessons and first day, my teacher was like, “Why haven’t you put rosin on this bow?” For those who don’t know, rosin allows the bow hair to stick when pulling it across the string of the instrument, which I had been avoiding because it would change the color of my bow. He turned it white, which damn near made me cry, however, once the elementary school teachers could hear me, I went straight up to the front of the cello section! It’s one of my favorite stories.

So from an extremely young age, I wanted music to be involved in my life. It wasn’t until I was around the age of 14 when I purchased my first set of turntables and was taking the bus to from school to record stores, that I started to access a whole new music world set apart from being a classical cellist. Everyday after school, I was either practicing on my decks, hitting a record store, taking a music lesson, DJing a rave, performing with orchestras, bringing my turntables somewhere to test dance tracks out on a crowd or burning cd’s to sell at school. I remember dancing to one of my favorite DJs at this massive rave in Colorado Springs when I thought to myself, “This would be so cool to pull off, with the cello up there, and bounce between DJing and playing a live instrument.” Then *POOF I was set on a lifelong journey, a hard one, and that has been my music journey since.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The climate of music has drastically fluctuated on all levels throughout the course of my life. The road to combining a classical instrument with original electronic music that dances and has an orchestral feel came with a huge set of hurdles. I only had a small fraction of the skills. First, I had to learn how to produce music, which at the time, computers were not quite there yet. CRASH, Re-open, CRASH, etc. I started in Reason, Sony Acid and MPC’s, went to school to learn Pro-Tools were a gifted college professor recognized what I was trying to do and sent me off on another mission to become accepted into one of the best music schools out there. Shortly after I was accepted and two months before I left to play cello in the Red Bull Orchestra @ Carnegie Hall, I broke my finger in Las Vegas. Luckily, I was only 21 at the time and rehabilitated quickly enough to pull it off. Then being an avid snowboarder, I snapped my femur bone clean in half before shipping off to Boston for college and IN THE DEAD OF WINTER had to take a train, on crutches for an hour and a half each way to college. Looking back, I sound like my grandad, haha.

On my first day, I informed my Berklee cello professor that I would never be as good as him. He asked me why I thought that, and I showed him my broken finger. You know what? He showed me his SAME EXACT broken finger. No Excuses right? Which is the name of Interscope Studios’ recording facility titled ‘No Excuses’, the first place I worked when arriving to this town. The world is a strange and awesome place sometimes. Secondly, I had to learn live audio touring technologies, so I dove into Ableton Live 5 and have since built touring grade playback systems for Tori Amos & Billy Eilish and I now do professional consultation for artists. I’ve taken those raw digital skeletons into my own project and have made them finite and more explorative, combined with an element of surprise, deep technology, and endless creativity. This project is something that I can’t wait to start sharing with the world. It took many years to attain my skillset, a lot of focus, growth mindset, thick skin, and other attributes it takes to keep yourself very motivated.

During this experience, I’ve learned how to produce tracks by collaboration and working in music studios, toured with some amazing bands, ran sound at a renowned EDM LA Nightclub, wrote my own cello concerto and performed it in front of a live 4k audience with live orchestra at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. I have done this without management for the most part, and to be honest it has been a little overwhelming since my heart lies within the creative process. Throughout this journey, I have formed great friendships and have learned that any challenges can be overcome with the right mindset. My advice to anyone starting out as an entrepreneur is to attain the necessary skills to start and then get out there quickly while adapting and learning more skills in real-time.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
What makes us all tick is simple, we are all human. Everyone has a story and they are all important. What I do for a living is tell those different stories using any tools that are at my disposal. Music is the biggest part of that. Computers are my canvas, the cello is my paintbrush and synths are my colors. I write stories with vocalists and we share meaningful relationships with our fans. I currently play electronic cello in 4 different bands. A funk band ‘TNERTLE’ out of Colorado, a Mexican Rock & Roll Band’ THE REVIES’, an LA-based DJ/Production Duo ‘JÆMISSON’ and I’m am on the verge of debuting my self-titled solo project ‘KEITH SNOW’. This is my passion project where all of this electric cello, electronic music, and live show production knowledge will meld into one single uplifting live experience. I own two Los Angeles music studios where I write and produce full tracks with other hand-picked artists ranging from yoga to EDM to hip-hop. I compose for music licensing libraries and create sample packs with other teams as well. My favorite days used to be performing shows and touring with friends.

Since that is on hold, I’ve taken joy in consulting with artists by getting technical with backing tracks, playback computers, and touring grade systems so that when live shows start back up again, we are ready to hit the road. I record cello for a variety of people and work with clients on their orchestral scores, music for video games, and TV commercials. As a music producer, I conduct high caliber vocal sessions and cut records in studios around Los Angeles. I love the feeling of getting into a room with talented musicians and writing something very special together. Something heartfelt. Heartfelt songs have had us in the studio writing countless hours, reacting with tears in our eyes, jumping high up in the air, shouting with excitement because THAT is the scene behind the music that feels so amazing. A life worth living. A complete love. Hairs standing up on our arms, back of our neck, etc. For this, I have dedicated a great amount of time to the art of vocal production. One of our new and powerful studios is near the LACMA. The space feels great, and the soon to be released tracks we are pulling off here are some of the best work I’ve ever accomplished in my life. On a deeper note, about a month ago, I put it out into the universe that I wanted to attain a new set of life skills. The next morning, I awoke to an unexpected email from a movie director.

After a long phone call, I am now honored and have accepted a fresh new role as head of the sound department for his upcoming Feature Film. Over the last two weeks, I’ve built up an amazing team in front of me and am now learning a boatload of new skills outside of my comfort zone. Overall, it’s exciting to see my life coming together. Most times it’s a very rough life as a musician. However, sometimes it feels like a dream, as all these different skills, hard work with people coming together in a strange yet beautiful way, witnessing these smiles on familiar faces and sharing in the excitement with those we all mutually admire. So very much can be accomplished once you let your mind lift-off and run its course. Enjoy the process. I love helping others’ dreams and ideas come to light. I guess when it all comes down to the meat and potatoes of what I love about my career, it’s that I help people tell their stories. It’s awesome to be a part of other people’s stories, don’t forget that.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
There was this one time when my mother, father, brother, and I were on foot at the US/Mexican border. I think I was like six or something. I definitely didn’t want to get in the car to go back home, so when my dad looked away, I booked it, as fast as I could, toward Mexico only to be chased by my father and apprehended before I could make my escape.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.keith-snow.com/
• Email: info@Keith-Snow.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithsnowla/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keithsnowla/

Image Credit:
https://www.instagram.com/heavynews_/

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