After listening to Dominick Keath’s latest single ‘Providence De La Jetset’ and taking a deep dive into its many lyrical pieces of wisdom, soaking in the grandiosity of its groove and its chugged guitar riffs, we are pleased to be having an opportunity to ask the man himself about the work put into his awesome new single.
- First of all, thank you Dominick for giving us this opportunity to chat. We would like to start with a bit of history. When and how did you start with music, and what would you say are some moments that shaped the musician you are today?
Thanks for having me on and nice to talk to you!
My very first introduction to rock`n`roll was during the 80`s when I grew up. I wanted to be just like my (by that time) biggest idol Nikki Sixx. When I saw Motley Crue live in Sweden 1986 (which was my first live consert ever) my life changed completey. I was 12 years old when I was in front row at that Motley-consert banging my head like crazy to my greatest idols. From that day on I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Music was my thing! I started my first band at the age of 13.
Decades later as a member of a tribute band in honor of the great canadian blues rock guitarist Frank Marino I got my actual musical training.I was a singing bassplayer and we as a band geeked out totally into this jazzy and groovy cool stuff that eventually laid the foundation for my bass playing. We named our band Jive Baby after a song by our great hero Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush.
The next moment that has shaped me as a musician is when I got recruited as the bassplayer to a metal band called Cloudscape where I participated on their 3 first albums. My songwriting has had an great impact from the years I played with those guys .We eventually got signed by a record label called Metal heaven and played on venues such as Bloodstock Open Air (UK), Prog Power UK, Sweden Rock Festival and played in countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands and UK.
- For ‘Providence..’, a lot of the words seem to be rooted in personal experience. For writing lyrics, do you believe that the writer must have lived the situations they are writing about for the lines to have an impact on the listener? Or do you believe that simply feeling something is enough to carry the emotions across?
A very good question and my answer would be no, I don`t believe that you have to have your own experiences mixed in there when creating a good story or a strong vibe for the song. A good story that conveys a certain feeling for the listener I do think you can acchieve just as good by making it up. In the case for “Providence De La Jetset” the lyrics are partly inspired by some events in my own life as far as the message for the song goes… but the overall story and the specific scenarios that are illustrated in the lyrics are fictional.
- For classic rock, when more songs were band-centered efforts, we often catch a feeling that the words and the music are part of one being. Inseparable, because they were strictly written around one another. For your own songwriting, is there a band to help in building the groove or the song structure, or is your work done totally solo? And how would you say the presence of a band could impact the songwriting process?
In the case of my own solo thing I work completely on my own and it differs quite a bit from when I work in a band situation. When I have a band incorporated in the writing process usually I get some riff or the entire background presented to me. As an example, this is the case in the recording of the full length album that I just finalized with my previous band Soulweeper (I`ll get further into that in just a second). In that process the main songwriter/guitarist provides me with his songs and then I write the lyrics, record the bass guitar and put down the vocals. My lyrics are usually well though out and they are written seperately from the actual writing of the song, as opposed to have the lyrics come to life when jamming together with the band.
- Does the music come to you before the words, or is it the other way around? Which angle do you seem to focus on more in your songwriting process, and which would you prefer to leave a longer lasting impact on listeners?
My standard process is to start with the music and then I write a lyric that matches the vibe of the completed music. I`m one of those artists that put very much value in the lyrics in general despite my background as an instrumentalist, so this is a tough one to answer. Yeah, a song can still be great even if there`s a subpar (or even bad) lyric but the other way around would never work. Meaning if the lyric is poetic and top level but the music is lesser good the song will not really go that far. So at the end of the day I do think the melody has to have the longest impact on the listener.
- For production purposes, do you prefer having a complete vision of where you want the production style to go, and it is a matter of finding a producer capable of delivering this vision? Or do you actively seek producers who have their own distinct way of seeing things, hoping they could help you see different faces for your songs?
This is another great question. In the case of my recent songs I did appreciate the collaborative venture with my producers in terms of production and direction since I haven`t precisely carved out my sound at this point. A creative producer that has a vision for the material could be helpful at this stage in my career but there has also been several situations in the past where I have had a certain song already completed, a clear vision in my head and just needed a great mix and mastering to finalize it. It all depends of the current situation but over time I think I will tilt towards wanting to have a producer who can deliver my own vision.
- What do you have planned to follow ‘Providence De La Jetset’ with? More singles, or maybe an EP or an album? What can your fans expect of you over the coming months?
I will continue with single releases (the so called Water Fall Strategy Releases) and the follow-up song after “Providence de La jetset” will be released in 8`th of November. The song is called “Signs Of Yesterday” and is slightly different from it`s both predecessors. It is still a rock song with all those elements that include rock guitars, organic drums and catchy vocal melodies. This song however has an energetic beat and bassline that would define it as heavy funkrock with some electronic elements added to it. I`m very excited to see the reactions on this release since it is less of a hard rock-song and more of a “mainstream” kind of song with some heavy guitars and a furious bassline .
As I mentioned earlier I am also releasing a full lengt album with my previous band which is going to be released somewhere near the start of the next year of 2025. This is another side of my artistic expression. The name of the band is Soulweeper which is a heavy metal band that sounds slightly different from the music I release on my own. At the time of the writing of this article there are no details for a full scale reformation of Soulweeper though, however this might be the case during 2025. I`ll be glad to keep you updated further on this!
In the meantime you will hear more from my solo releases which is gonna lead up to a full length album as well. Plans beyond that will be settled based on the public response over time.
- Thank you, Dominick, for this nice discussion. It was great getting introduced to your music and we are wholly excited for many more anthems to come.
Thanks a lot for the interview and look forward to talk again soon!
