Today we’d like to introduce you to Keshan Harris
Hi Keshan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always been a fan of music and creative arts in general. While I had to put such things on a back-burner for most of my life, to establish a solid career, I never found myself far from the pull of music’s enchantment. In my youth, I’d aimlessly dabbled in piano lessons, a little guitar, a bit of drums, but never applied myself to making music with any serious attitude toward it. In the early 2000s I fell in love with Trance. Tiesto’s compilation “In Search Of Sunrise 2” opened the doors, and I remember it was truly the perfect soundtrack for a fast drive down a winding road (at sunset or sunrise). Trance captured my love of melodic electronic music.
Fast forward to 2018, I’d established all that I thought I should have in the corporate world and there I sat: unfulfilled, sad, lost. Every element of doing the right thing hadn’t given me any element of meaning to my life, and the despair of that realization only deepened. But my career did teach me one thing: Perseverance. Work harder every day, get better every day.
That year, a friend of mine gave me the gift I never thought I’d appreciate now more than ever, in introducing me to mixing electronic music. He had purchased a DJ deck, and one night, he showed me some basics, effects, tricks, and how to construct a mix.
Music became an obsession for me. I had recently left a consulting job working 8am – 2am M-F, so now here I sat with a messed up sleep schedule and a window from 8pm – 2am all to myself. I was determined that I would not waste it, and I purchased a Native Instruments Traktor S4. I put together mixes every single night after work until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. I started posting 30 min to 1 hour mixes once per month to SoundCloud.
One thing led to another and in 2019, before the world stopped, I was determined that I could make my own music, but I’d have to learn how, and I would need help. That came when my good friend Scott and I began to work on a 1 hour long compilation of completely original music, from start to finish. He had produced/released an album prior, so I knew he had the skills, and I knew I had the tenacity to stick with it if he stuck with me. We worked on that mix throughout 2020, and in those 2 years, I learned more about arrangement and using features and tools to construct the sounds I wanted to come out of the machine, to make my visions come to life. We never did release that mix, but it ignited the fire within me further.
In 2021 a good friend of mine and neighbor introduced my music to a local DJ in LA who gave me the opportunity to start performing live in the west side (my first set live was the Venice Winter Festival), and from there I’d won various smaller opportunities to get integrated into the community of DJs throughout Los Angeles and I’ve been performing on the West side since in bars, and clubs. This spurred me on further to push harder to learn to produce my own muisc. I took courses, I learned, I played sets live, I learned more, and I didn’t waste a moment I had to get better and make more.
I released my first full length album in 2023 “A Far Way to Come” which is 24 tracks long (ambitious for EDM, but this was a testament to the work I’d done to get here–hence the album title)
This year, I’ve released a few singles and EPs, and I’m working on my second album as well. Just recently, I released my “House Call” EP and a single “Groove Steppin’ ” and I’ve got more coming to close out the year that I’m really excited to share with the world.
I release everything out of my own label Kre8v Productions, but I’m eagerly looking for 2025 to engage with more labels and others in my network to see if anything has broader appeal. Additionally, in 2024, I’ve started making more remixes and shopping those in both live sets and online.
I do not know what the future holds, but I do know if music is a part of it, it will be a bright future. I find joy and meaning in the journey and I’m rarely ever bored anymore.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In my professional day job, I’m skilled because I had to kill myself to learn how to do things quickly and competitively, and while I’m good at what I do, it brings me more stress and frustration than any form of joy at all. It’s a pay check.
With music, it was different. Events, people, and situations seem to have flowed my way as I push harder into the space. And it feels like the rewards for my efforts are more naturally ocurring. While there are definitely roadblocks to becoming a major label artist, I have no illusions about the work, the years, and the preparation for luck that might take and I’m willing to dive deeper.
I look at nearly every opportunity with open eyes, and it’s allowed me to navigate away from opportunities that would kill my love of this work, and guide me toward those that help be better grow my experience and expertise in this line of effort to make and play music.
It does help that I have a well paying job to support my passion, because it removes a lot of the fear factor of food on the table and allows me to pursue this as a joy driven effort vs a way to survive.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I went to school for Computer Science, because my parents wanted me to become successful and not be a leech on them or society. This is classic pressure of our generation to succeed. I joined IT consulting fresh out of college after being told in 2007 by a professor “Good luck getting a job with this CS degree…” (not exactly an inspiration), and I figured “the future was bright, let’s get rich!” I worked in Systems Integration and Technology consulting for years, draining my 20s away and most of my 30s making less than I should have for a company whose motto was up or out (no pressure). I slowly made a name for myself. The work was awful, the lessons were many.
The lessons I learned there however did shape a lot of my attitude toward my work ethic today, and I’d like to think I’ve carried that over into my planning and execution in the way I do everything, including my dedication to music beyond just a hobby.
It wasn’t until after I left consulting (still in IT, but no longer a consultant) that I was finally afforded evenings that were free to afford activity to myself and not in the service of the firm.
I credit this shift as the opportunity finally for me to fill those nights with music. If I’d never gotten out of consulting, I firmly believe none of any of my musical journey would have ever even begun. Today I still make my money and live my life the way my parent expect, but I’m brewing more and more on music in the background and it is what truly drives me forward and gives me purpose.
What are your plans for the future?
I am aggressively pursuing music as a potential career within the limits of reason and my exposure. I am working hard to release new content as well as looking at long range plans for 2025 and 2026 of what I want to continue to build toward and where this journey can take me if I invest further into it.
That being said, I’m figuring this all out myself, and I need to find partners who have the same passionate attitude toward their art form as I do, who show up when they say they are going to, and who will collaborate with me on new ventures (be that in content generation beyond the music, new music collaborations, or new knowledge to improve my reach for my productions and the quality of them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thekre8vexperience.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/the_kre8r
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/keshan-harris-1
Image Credits
1. I’d like to credit the majority of the photos to Hayca Bunevacz (IG: @haycabunevaczphotography)
2. the one photo with the green background image of me in the hat performing live (and current profile on my instagram) is credited to Elizabeth Kaminski (IG: @vibelizabeth_ )
