Native American/Canadian Musician Keanu Ienco Shares New Single, “PLAYFUL LOVE”
Native American/Canadian musician Keanu Ienco shares his new single “Playful Love.”
“Playful Love” follows the release of Keanu’s acclaimed 2022 debut album, Celestial Desires. The instrumental guitar piece is a moving tribute he wrote in remembrance of the family members he’s lost over the past couple of years.
“The title refers to the platonic love one feels with family or friends,” says Keanu. “The tune explores how it feels when that love is gone. While the melodies and feel of the tune take on a somber and melancholy nature at first, the piece climaxes with loud and hopeful sounds to remind the listener that those we love are never truly gone. I have recently had to say goodbye to my grandmother, brother and dog, so ‘Playful Love’ is a piece for them.”
With the unique ability to translate stories and Native American culture into dynamic guitar driven soundscapes, Keanu is an Indigenous jazz/rock artist unlike any other on the scene. During his childhood, Keanu discovered his passion for music when his mother gifted him his first guitar for his eighth birthday. At thirteen he started playing professionally and by the age of sixteen had already performed live with numerous groups and received radio airplay of his own originals.
Following the completion of a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies at Vancouver Island University, Keanu has naturally grown his career and has shared the stage with industry professionals such as Steve Vai, Delfeayo Marsalis, and Rufus Reid. 2020 saw the birth of Keanu’s original instrumental project under his own name. Drawing from his authentic lived experiences as a Native American, Keanu’s music transports listeners on an emotional journey that honours his heritage while still being able to pull inspiration from his instrumental heroes such as Steve Vai, Pat Metheny, and Plini.
The release of his debut album Celestial Desire in 2022 garnered critical acclaim and resulted in a nomination for “Instrumental Artist of the Year” at the 2022 Western Canadian Music Awards. Keanu is currently based in both British Columbia, Canada, and the Southern United Kingdom.
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I am Keanu Ienco and I am a native American/Canadian artist who creates instrumental prog rock/jazz music. Much of my inspiration comes from my lived experience as an Indigenous person as well as Indigenous culture and stories. In 2022 I released my debut album Celestial Desire which got myself a nomination for “Instrumental Artist of the Year” at the 2022 Western Canadian Music Awards. I recently followed up that album with my latest single “Playful Love”.
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
In 2022 I attended a Yvette Young (guitarist of Covet) workshop. One of the exercises in her class involved her giving you two cards with words on them and then writing a riff from those words. The two words I got on my cards were “Playful” and “Love”. I interpreted “Playful Love” as a type of platonic love one feels with family or friends. My brother Lance and my dog Baci had recently passed away and my grandmother became ill at this time. So I came up with a riff about family love and how it feels when that love is gone. I continued working on that riff until I completed a whole tune! Since then, I have lost my grandmother as well as two uncles so this tune has been a big part of my mourning process and has become one of my most meaningful compositions to date.
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
Each tune definitely has a different process, however, most of them start with the feeling or emotion that I’m currently feeling. Then various things come to my head. For example, for my tune “Wovoka’s Dance” I was researching a lot about the history of Wovoka and the ghost dance movement. So that tune was directly inspired by what I was reading about at the time. Musically speaking I typically write the chords first and come up with a melody over top. I always make sure to use unique chord voicings on guitar as those can often dictate the direction of how the melody will go.
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
Well, I have already released a guitar playthrough of “Playful Love” which can be found on my YouTube channel and I have just finished a run of release shows in British Columbia and the UK! I’m currently working on my next release but before then a full Western Canadian tour is certainly something I will be looking at booking sooner rather than later. Fans can certainly expect to see a lot from me in terms of shows and new music this Winter and in 2025!
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
There are many points such as the completion of my debut album or getting nominated at The Western Canadian Music Awards. However, I’ll share this one from a live performance. One of the tunes in my live set is titled “Ahwohtiga Inya’a” (Red Sun). This is an emotional piece I wrote about how it feels to be Native American in today’s world. I describe it as a Native American jazz ballad as it is a slow piece with an underlying kick drum rhythm to imitate a traditional Indigenous drum pattern. The track starts with just a kick drum and the tune ends with about 30 seconds of kick drum. I’ll never forget the first time I played this piece in my live set to a full audience. After a series of uptempo and heavier tunes, I wasn’t sure what the response would be to this ballad. When we finished the piece and got to the kick drum outro I looked around and saw the entire room in silence with their undivided attention to the kick drum outro. There were no whispers or glasses clinking. Everyone was completely on board with the journey that Red Sun had just taken them on.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
An artist everyone should check out is Archie Ray who is an artist based in the UK. I have played guitar for his shows and recordings while I’ve spent time in the UK. However, even if I didn’t play with Archie I would recommend his music as he writes very catchy mixed pop songs that are sure to get stuck in your head.