Kashy Keegan

Bio

Self-taught piano singer/songwriter. Kashy was named after a close family friend, the name is Persian meaning the soul. A quiet child, focused and driven from a young age, he grew shy and tired of competing for playground attention or popularity at school.

“Growing up I was definitely a loner. I found it hard to find common ground with anyone. The only place I felt a connection, a real sense of belonging, was with my music and my writing. It was a less direct means of communication, it avoided confrontation, that’s where I found my confidence, my voice. With writing I could express myself fully without caring what anyone else thought of me. I had freedom.”

Quietly determined, he began pitching ideas to magazines to try and further his writing and entered competitions in the hope of gaining recognition. The result was successful, and by the time he was fifteen he had interviewed most of the big popstars of the time, was named the ITN/Sightsavers Young Journalist of the Year 1999, and even got the chance to interview famous film director Steven Spielberg.

“At the time I felt like the young teenage reporter in that film Almost Famous.” Interviewing a lot of the popstars who were popular at the time was enough to inspire him to want to give the singing/songwriting a go himself. He had already been writing poetry from a young age, and would adapt the pieces of music given to him by his piano teacher in order to come up with his own melodies.

“I was never very good at reading sheet music or sticking with the script. I found it too restrictive and regimented. It was too suffocating and tedious for me. I just wanted to sit at a piano and play what came naturally. I was more focused on letting my own self expression come through.”

His biggest musical inspiration was being taught how to sing gospel music when he was 15. He attended a 12 week singing workshop run by The London Community Gospel Choir and was from then on hooked.
“I think the human voice is the most powerful instrument there is. The perfect example are some of the gospel choirs you get and singers like Aretha Franklin. To hear them sing up close was just awesome, pure electricity, it sent shivers up and down my spine.” For Kashy it’s about continuing to be a self contained artist. Being 100 percent involved in every aspect of writing and performing his songs.

“As long as I’m writing from an honest place, then I hope people can hear that it’s genuine and heartfelt. I am not ashamed to show my sensitivity, emotions or vulnerability. We are all human and we all feel, so I see no reason to hide or pretend to be anything different.” Above all, he believes that good songs are those that bring out the real person in someone, break down inhibitions and encourage the confidence in people to let go and be themselves.

“Music has definitely instilled the confidence in me to allow this to happen. I figure that no matter who you are, or what you try to be, there will always be someone who disapproves, so you might as well just be yourself.”

Using music to help empower others or to try and provide some form of hope, comfort or healing has always been at the core of what has driven Kashy to write songs.

“Most of the songs that I have written are message songs, talking about self love, self acceptance and inner strength. Writing songs for me has always been a therapeutic escape. The songs were my way of trying to inspire some hope and inner strength to rise above many of the negative situations that I faced growing up. I found that remaining strong mentally was the key to not being dragged down and, for me, music and listening to certain empowerment songs were my main way of achieving this.

His songs have achieved high ranking in many songwriting competitions, including the National UK Songwriting Competition and Songwriter Universe’s Best Vocalist and Best Song Of The Month competition. He also enjoyed chart success with his song ‘This Is My Dream’ reaching the number one position on both the Track4 Euro and Pop charts in Germany, April 2009.