| Press Kit |
Fact Sheet |
Name: Keith Wiley
Contact: kwiley@keithwiley.com, http://music.keithwiley.com, 505-615-4572
Residence: Seattle, Washington, USA
Piano Style: A neoclassical sound in the style of Beethoven and Chopin. Keith is wary of the labels easy-listening and new-age because most of his music tends to have a faster, louder, more energetic tone than those genres generally evoke. That said, a subset of his compositions do have a slow romantic feel to them — although it sounds cliché, Keith's music is in fact quite diverse.
Short Bio (Long bio below): Keith demonstrated a clear musical inclination in early childhood. While practicing classical piano he quickly discovered that he had a proclivity for creating his own tunes, and this hobby developed into one of his most passionate and focused acitivities by the time he was a teenager. Keith's music has always come in two distinct flavors: ambient electronic and solo piano. While his style is similar across these categories, the sound is obviously quite different. Keith's preferred music to listen to is, in fact, progressive electronic trance, whose deep layers he finds to be some of the most complex and rewarding music second only to the classics. Aside from music Keith spends time in a number of other fields as well. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, loves writing artificial life, robotics, and image-processing computer programs, spent several years as an astrophotographer (making notable contributions to the software of the field along the way), and is an avid world traveler, holding a particular adoration for Central America and Mayan archeology. When Keith is away from his beloved Mason & Hamlin grand piano in Seattle, he can often be found scuba-diving, sailing, snow-boarding, and rock-climbing where ever the weather is fair.
Discography
- Solo Piano, September, 2008 — eleven solo piano compositions written between 1994 and 2008.
- Keith has also bundled several additional ambient electronic albums in the past which did not receive wide publicity due to a lack of CD production at the time. He is currently preparing a CD collection of these pieces.
On the Web
- http://music.keithwiley.com — Keith's primary music website (CDs, MP3s, and sheet music available)
- http://keithwiley.com — Keith's primary personal website, not specifically target at music
- http://myspace.com/keithbwiley
- http://cdbaby.com/cd/keithwiley
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Hi-resolution photos (click thumbnails to download hi-res versions) |
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Solo Piano Album Cover:
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Bio (similar to that found on my Bio page) |
Music is, straight up, the most deeply emotional experience Keith has ever felt. He was drawn to music as a young child, his parents often remarking on his uncanny ability to capture complex tunes in his head after very few presentations and then whistle them back beginning to end. Furthermore, he felt a strong appeal toward the piano early on. There is no doubt that he loves the sound of the piano for its own sake, but almost more importantly, he describes a sense of visceral tactile addiction to the sensation of the keys under his fingers &mdash there is an evocative experience to be had there.
Keith showed signs of composition from a early age. While studying classical piano as a child, he quickly discovered that he enjoyed making his own music at least as much as he enjoyed playing.
Keith wrote many simple melodies when he was young but composition was admittedly of secondary importance until the summer he turned seventeen, when he purchased a Korg 01/WFD synthesizer with money that most kids spend on their first car. His compositional tastes quickly expanded from piano to include orchestral pieces now that he had a means to create and hear simultaneous lines of music in their assigned instruments using the Korg. In addition, he greatly enjoyed the multitude of artificial sounds that the Korg provided, although his preferences always leaned toward the more pseudo-acoustic ambient sounds as opposed to the electronic technical sounds.
Over the next several years he composed and recorded music at a furious pace. His greater accomplishments during this time include a full orchestral symphony and the better part of a piano concerto. However, his repertoire remained weighted toward the ambient electronic sounds provided by the Korg. His one true passion, piano, remained prominent during this period, but his productivity was a mix of these three types of music: piano, ambient electronic, and orchestral.
As of 2000, Keith has taken up piano composition in earnest, putting ambient electronic music aside for the time being. Piano has always been his original calling. He find himself powerfully mesmerized when playing, so much so that he describes how, on multiple occasions, people have approached him from behind and touched his shoulder only to violently startle him to their presence.
Keith released his debut solo piano album, functionally titled Solo Piano, in September 2008, which presents eleven of his neoclassical compositions. He is currently preparing a second album, quite different in tone, which will contain a collection of his ambient electronic compositions. In addition, he is hard at work on several new piano pieces.
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| Influences |
Keith's two primary piano influences are Beethoven and Chopin although he is quite partial to Brahms and Rachmaninoff ...would that he could aspire to such greatness... Of a more modern bent, he is a big fan of Ray Lynch, John Williams, and Jerry Goldsmith.
Second to classical music both orchestral and piano, Keith's favorite genre to listen to (but not compose) is progressive electronic trance, especially as mixed by the DJs out of New York and Europe for the last decade or so. He is particularly fond of Christopher Lawrence, Filo & Peri, and Paul Oakenfold.
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Reviews, Interviews, Articles, other Press |
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