ElectroCelt(Essay by Geoff J Keogh )

Our guest blogger this week is Geoff J Keogh who is better known by his moniker ElectroCelt. He now resides in Australia(Originally from Ireland) and he is making new tunes. Geoff and I met on the internet by chance while I was writing an article about electronic musicians. The electronic music community is close to my heart. The artists are very supportive with one another and they love to collaborate, paving the way to new styles.

The music of ElectroCelt.

If someone asked me to describe music in my own words, the closes to describing it would be: It is a universal language that has no boundaries.

ElectroCelt

It can tap into emotions and influence the way we can deal with decisions in a rational way. It also has a spiritual quality that lies between our world and that of a mystical source.

My music has traveled with me since a very early age . My first live gig was a Tangerine Dream gig at the age of 10 . Music always moves me into different landscapes, it portrays life in different colours to me and defines who I am. I have followed many artists on their journey and my love of all types of music stretches far and wide. Principally, electronic music drives me the most but always I remember that before the electronic age, the classics had their part to play in what we hear today. From as far back as man can go we have been driven by music .

When talking in regard to my music … I love sequences. I think that the pattern created by notes in sequence can develop out like a punchline in a story. These sounds mixed with layers of different toned pads once they are not sitting on the same frequency creates powerful atmosphere andvery deep spiritual textures. Most of my pieces are grown out of direct life experiences, be it a place I am in or picture that is before me; then I find a way as close as possible to portray it in a musical term . The Digital fields album was a collection of pieces that I worked on for my own enjoyment. Digital Fields in one description is a field of vision used by opticians to describe the line of vision in a technical form. For example the track ElectroCelt is telling you that I had music deep within me but until I knew how to express it, I couldn’t portray it. Silver lining was about the dreams we have then too often we are let down … “Where’s the Silver Lining “.

As time passed and I grew into music production, the surroundings I found myself, the people that entered into the music environment just got blended. Into the music and each person has left a trademark sound. For Strange Elements album on board we have AlyZen Moonshadow who comes from a classically trained background after studying music to a degree level in Singapore and Kingston University London. So a lot of classical structure is in the mix. Tim Pullen who is an excellent Guitarist and very focused on his music, plays with a band in Somerset called Obsession, so we get these wonderful delicate guitar scapes. Briefly, Stephan Whitlan played on some parts of Strange Elements … He is a talented electronic artist from Sheffiled Uk. Now living in Co. Monaghan so you get some classical sequence patterns using VCS3 Prophet V and Moog .

Since then and moving to Australia, the culture has blended into my music with pieces like “Out of The Loop” … This is a music piece about the FIFO life I have been working where times of isolation can make you feel that your out of the loop and wonder what has been passing you by. “Desert Mystery” a love of the Pilbara and the mystery of those silenced early morning sunrises where nothing stirs . “Crossing The Great Divide” a music piece about the move from Ireland to Australia and again three different atmospheres make up this picture. “Migration Process” the endless paperwork and loops we have to jump through to get through the migration process.

But it was quite late when I started producing music. I was a taxi driver in Dublin and with the demise of the industry I took to studying something that interested me which is music production. I completed City & Guilds parts 3 but a chance meeting in my taxi lead the way to me on my music journey. Taken parts 1 & 2 followed by electronic music production. This in turn lead to “Digital Fields” in 2008. Next was the sessions at Realworld, Peter Gabriel’s studios in Wiltshire. This was a mixing session for the Realworld of ElectroCelt. ep. A live gig in The Sugar Club 2009 followed. I was totally gripped into my music journey and so to today the journey continues with no end in sight. Next projects coming up are “Digital Fields II” , ” Chasing Clouds & Other Imaginary Pursuits”, then “Druids Awakening 2014.”