Igor Keller's 32 Albums in 11 Years | The Unconventional Vision Behind Longboat - video Dailymotion

Yaya Diamond TV

Igor Keller is the mastermind behind Longboat, a boundary-pushing band project that blends Keller’s singular vision with contributions from a rotating cast of live musicians. A former jazz tenor saxophonist in Seattle’s vibrant scene, Keller transitioned into pop with a flair for the unconventional. Since 2011, he’s released 32 albums exploring topics that rarely surface in mainstream music—technology, political unrest, wealth inequality (Money Trouble, 2023), and even five albums of his self-styled “electronic blues.” Averse to traditional love songs, Keller uses Longboat as a platform to challenge norms and provoke thought. His latest album, Word Gets Around,  arrived in June 2025 as part of an unprecedented 11-album year. With his signature blend of narrative depth and sonic experimentation, Longboat continues to redefine what pop music can be.  website: https://www.longboat.band spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3aZUFHDisly22UkJsJ63YL instagram: https://www.instagram.com/longboatmusic/  ⚡ VidChapter AI generated these chapters, try it out https://vidchapter.com/?affiliate=yayadiamond Recommended podcast platform get 10% off: https://podopshost.com/register/?ref=yaya   Tools and Services I use: Appsumo has the best lifetime deals ever!!! I love this site.  appsumo.8odi.net/yayadiamond The easiest way to make your graphics: https://buff.ly/2RTQLn0 Best website for musicians. Try it for free on me: https://buff.ly/2GMYugG Make money with Fiverr.com: https://buff.ly/2KjTVvV   Our Amazon store: https://buff.ly/34RYNlm DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. My affiliate links usually provide either a free trial or discount so go try them out on me! Thank you for supporting DreamChasersRadio.com  so I can continue to provide you with free content each week! Privacy Policy: https://buff.ly/2XSrflS ™Yaya Diamond Red Hot Reality Ent. LLC

Transcript

00:12hey guys it's me yaya diamond what's up people's how you doing it is a great day i'm so excited

00:17to be here we have a fellow musician on the show today yes we do you know it's like we

00:23have authors

00:23on the show we have musicians entrepreneurs we have financial advisors we have a lot of different

00:28people on the show just to inspire you to go after your dreams and your goals and there's nothing you

00:33can't accomplish with a little bit of work a little bit of elbow grease and a little bit of

00:38whatever else you need to have to make it happen i want to thank you guys again so much for

00:43tuning

00:43in we have artist igor let me go down here and make sure i said say that right because i

00:48just

00:48absolutely love this banner don't you love it igor keller's on on the show today he is the mastermind

00:56behind longboat he has his singular vision and i am just so very excited to have him here and i

01:03want

01:03to welcome him to the show thank you igor for being here thanks for having me yaya oh anytime so

01:10you we

01:10were talking about jazz we were talking about jazz and you were saying that you were a uh was it

01:15a jazz

01:16tenor saxophonist since i i i was indeed i played in small groups big bands and uh and just about

01:24everything in between and we played uh every terrible gig you could possibly imagine i know

01:31about that i know about that so what was it like to create this this project with such your unique

01:38voice that you do have well you know um i i was after there was a time when i could

01:49actually you know

01:50play lots of jazz gigs but that dried up that went away and i was kind of a bit at

01:56um loose ends

01:58and i thought okay let's just try what uh writing pop music and see how where that takes us and

02:05yeah

02:06that was uh that was like 15 years ago and now i have uh recorded like 39 albums oh my

02:13gosh 39 albums

02:15yeah i recorded eight last year oh my gosh i'm so behind don't worry about it it it just i

02:24i i'm

02:26really efficient when it comes to to uh writing music uh i guess i write i i write albums in

02:34sort of

02:35bunches like three or four at a time and they're all at the same level of being finished and so

02:42it's so

02:43much easier if i just if if it was down to me to just write one song and finish it

02:49another song

02:50and finish it i would feel like i was a hamster on a wheel oh my gosh well i mean

02:56so what okay 30 okay

02:58i am behind i feel so unproductive right now but okay

03:05sorry okay how do you maintain the creativity and innovation across such a large body of work i mean how

03:12do you do this i mean you know you said you feel like you'd be on a hamster row right

03:15but how do

03:17you write albums at one time well tell me well i have an aesthetic or a concept that i generally

03:22focus

03:23around and um like i i have um i'm getting ready to release an album in june called revenge ballads

03:32which

03:33is exactly as the title suggests they're all songs about revenge and me being an eastern european um

03:41we that that's something revenge is something we plan for fun uh my family is is is you know very

03:49ukrainian

03:50and and yeah uh they they believe in vampires uh you know uh all the whole nine yards they they

03:59are they are

04:00farmers peasants in ukraine and um and they're in western ukraine so they're not getting cruise

04:06missiled by the russians and um and uh so uh you know i that that it is innate in our

04:15nature as eastern

04:17europeans to to um want to exact revenge on our perceived enemies and let me tell you that sounds like

04:25black people too okay okay so let's get over to okay so your music explores themes like technology

04:46um revenge you know yeah political unrest of wealth inequality um and you you tackle this in the

04:55mainstream pop um why focus on certain subjects is it easier to come to pump out the way you pump

05:02out

05:02these albums um well i it's i i think it's it's just kind of a natural thing with me i

05:09think about

05:10what i think about a topic and how is that how uh am i going to describe that with uh

05:20multiple songs

05:21and what you try to do is you can't you can't um describe it um in its entirety in one

05:28song

05:28because then why would you need the rest of the album but what you try to do is you try

05:33to you try to

05:34sort of chop off chunks of this of this topic uh with every song and uh and and so yeah

05:43uh i i don't

05:44i don't cover everything every aspect of revenge but i do have i do have a song the the the

05:52first

05:52single in it uh on this album is is about medea um you know that's that's a play was a

06:00play by

06:00euripides that premiered in 431 bc oh my god it's still shocking and what what she does to to get

06:10revenge on

06:11her meathead husband and this sounds i'm sorry this sounds just like the modern day medea oh oh oh

06:18tyler perry oh yeah okay tyler perry doesn't go around killing his children no and killing the king

06:27of the city-state that she's staying in no and his daughter too she kills everybody but her meathead

06:36husband oh my gosh oh wow oh wow so okay so can you can you please share okay so you

06:44have a an album

06:45called money trouble and yes 2023 right what is the inspiration behind that that um particular album

06:54well it's kind of it it it's it bases itself on the saying that money is the root of all

07:04evil

07:04and but actually money is the trouble and the thing is this if you have if you have

07:11a lots and lots of money you are yeah you you can be trouble and if you don't have any

07:18money that is

07:19another kind of trouble and uh and and the thing is this is people a lot of times people with

07:26a lot of

07:27money thinks that they're that's everything all of their opinions are valid because generally they have

07:34people um that they surround themselves with or like that is such a great idea that's such a great idea

07:41you know yeah but maybe what they're what they're suggesting is the uh you know modern day equivalent of

07:49new coke or um or you know the the what it's the microsoft zune or whatever the hell that terrible

07:57microsoft um uh audio player was of the early 2000s um it you know it's it's like there there are

08:07there are good ideas out there but there are tons and tons of bad ideas that are being promoted by

08:13rich people who think that that either they know better or they've just been told that they have

08:18they have great ideas yeah the yes people yeah yeah oh yeah wow wow so you okay so you have

08:28you have

08:29you're very experimental with your music i try to be yeah so you have electronic blues oh yeah i wrote

08:37i wrote

08:38five um uh electro blues albums and and it's just because i as when you're a jazz player and and

08:47when

08:47you're a sax player too you gotta you gotta pick your path um either you are uh i mean everybody's

08:55in

08:56jazz if you're a soloist everybody's basically a blues player but you can you can be a trad player you

09:03know i used to sound like lester young and um and um but you know you have you have a

09:10lot of bebop

09:11tenor players and and and so but i i chose to be more of a traditional blues player a traditional

09:18swing

09:19player and um and but the thing is this is i had this kind of this bygone obsession with the

09:27blues and i

09:28i just wanted to see where it would take me and it took me five albums to get through it

09:34and and i i um have something that uh i have two albums that i would call alt blues where

09:42they they

09:43do they have you know it's it's a 12 bar blues but the chords are different and and um but

09:51the thing is

09:52is it has that that same kind of feel it has the same harmonic um harmonic changes you know it's

10:00got you got your four your first four bars then your next four bars and then and then you have

10:05your

10:06last last four and the turnaround it brings you back to the to the form and and and so but

10:14i i loved

10:15doing that and right now you know i'm i'm reducing a lot of um longboat songs to piano versions and

10:24um

10:24i'm reducing a lot of those those blues tunes as well and so i i play um i in my

10:32neighborhood here in

10:34london i um i just i have a portable piano and i go and play in front of this um

10:39uh shop that sells

10:41saucy cards um and and and uh i'm my next gig is tomorrow afternoon so hey if you're in

10:50yeah and and it's something i immensely enjoy i play for a couple hours and it's almost all longboat

10:57songs and everybody's sort of like i haven't whose music are you playing it's like mine yeah right hello

11:06because you can you can kind of tell them hey what's your set on your you know association and

11:12you can just put it down and get paid for that yeah yeah that people don't know you know there's

11:17all different kinds of ways to get paid you know and let me ask you a question you know i

11:20love that

11:21you're in london i'll be there in october i think um somewhere around october i'll be in london but um

11:27i have this this affection for blues but you know the one concept that i think that you've hit

11:36a nail on is most artists have a set band you don't you have rotating musicians tell me how is

11:45that different is that better having the rotation than having a set band um well because i don't play live

11:56um that's both kind of a problem and it's a curse and a blessing i guess uh because because you

12:05know i

12:06i i also i spend about two-thirds of the year in seattle and it's difficult to get a following

12:14as a band

12:15in seattle and uh and a lot the live music scene there for rock and pop music is kind of

12:25going the way

12:26of the music scene as the jazz scene did a while back and it's it's kind of sad to see

12:33but these

12:34guys these guys who play um who play in the studio for me they're available for live gigs they like

12:41to

12:41be part of long boat um and and you know if if the need arises for uh someone other than

12:51just solo

12:52piano playing igor um to to um play live gigs i would hire them in a second that would be

12:59uh you

13:00know i have a band and i have i have regular members in the band and sometimes it can be

13:05a little

13:06bit of a hard thing to you know reach out and say hey we have a show this day and

13:12they're like you

13:12gotta get a sub i'm like no you gotta get a sub you gotta get somebody who's who can match

13:18you because

13:20i am not a guitar player i'm i'm the singer i'm the singer i booked the gigs i'm the singer

13:26that's it

13:26i'm not the one going around town trying to get a guitar player or a bass player or a piano

13:32player i'm

13:32not doing it yeah i i get that yeah that's that goes that goes back to my big band days

13:39where you

13:40know i i just showed up and played saxophone but there were there was always a problem with personnel

13:47and the band leader was generally on the verge of murdering everyone at all times at all times i

13:56concur i agree with you on that murder does kill i just want to choke him

14:01yeah and i'd just be like hey hey and it'd be like what yeah you know it's like it's hard

14:11because

14:12it's like you're coming at me again okay yeah yeah it's like where do i sit

14:18where do you want me to sit and you're like i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i just you know

14:23wow so i

14:25kind of like your situation i kind of like it too yeah it's wonderful yeah it's definitely wonderful

14:32so you have your latest album word gets around it came out as a part of an unprecedented 11 album

14:40year excuse me how did you do this 11 albums that that was actually um that's what i was proposing

14:51it ended up being eight and we're good we're actually word gets around with last year from

14:58last year and right now i'm in the midst of album 35 and waiting for uh to release uh revenge

15:06ballads i

15:06know it gets you need a scorecard with these albums but but we're going to try to release uh four

15:13albums

15:14this year and um i will probably at the end of this year i will probably record um uh at

15:22least seven

15:22albums and so um between london and seattle and actually i'm just uh i have one more uh tune to

15:33write and then i will have an entire solo piano album and yeah i i just kind of uh started

15:41writing these

15:41pieces and they compiled on each other and and what do you know i've got i've got 12 and i'm

15:49gonna

15:49probably release them as an lp and so yeah i like yeah yeah and that and i mean before it

15:58was it was

15:58just cds cds cds cds and i actually haven't had a cd made in the last year or so and

16:06i kind of don't miss

16:07it because um as my wife will tell you um our our apartment is half unsold cds yeah i know

16:18we could

16:18build a fort with it or blank ones i i got blank ones with the actual um print on the

16:25front and i'm like

16:26i'm using them for like blanks

16:30coasters yeah right oh my gosh get rid of the flies just hang them up yeah well it's like i

16:37when i give somebody a cd and they're like i have nothing to play the song it's like well then

16:42you

16:42got a coaster exactly well you know what too people are getting record players at record you know alarming

16:48range i i even had someone say hey are you gonna put your latest album on a record i'm like

16:55um i didn't think about that your vinyl yeah i my are you doing vinyl uh yeah um but well

17:04my my

17:05problem is is that um my albums are too long yeah uh because when my mastering engineer is always like

17:12very he's like he's like if it's if it's over 44 minutes it it it's really you're gonna have to

17:19go to

17:19three sides and because it's like the the manufacturers he knows can't do more than 22

17:27minutes a side right right and so you would have to have two records in your um in your sleeve

17:34so you

17:35would have a cold out that would be more expensive that i think that would be kind of iconic at

17:40least

17:40do one of them but i'm not telling you what to do well the thing is i'm doing the timing

17:46on the solo

17:46piano thing and it comes in at like 43 minutes so i'm good and uh i if if i have

17:54to i'll speed up

17:56they're all very slow oh yeah i think it's it's wonderful what you're doing i really do and i

18:02think that you're really using your talents in a great way and you're just fast that's all i feel

18:08better about this yeah well and then also there there's there's something we said i mean you can

18:13you get the music out there but you have to take time to workshop it too yeah because if it's

18:18because

18:19if the lyrics don't make any sense then you know i i always feel bad about singing singing songs that

18:26where i don't like the lyrics and so you know i have this threshold of of um 70 satisfaction and

18:34i think

18:35i have one song that i would consider to 71 all the others are in the 80s and 90s i

18:41got um and and

18:43some of them are almost 100 and uh because i'm just you know it's like wow i i don't know

18:51what

18:51possessed me but i seem to have written a good song i hear you i hear you do you avoid

18:57like traditional

18:58love uh songs in your work oh i do like to play um well it's it's it's not i mean

19:05it's been

19:07love songs have been written ever since songs were invented uh you know 10 000 bc people were singing

19:14love songs um it's it and and that's fine that's fine and dandy it's just that i have no insight

19:21i i can't

19:23i can't you know i have no insight into uh loving relationships and plus i don't like this that i

19:31really don't like the love songs where they're like i would you know eat an entire ford fiesta for you

19:37girl and and and i would climb i would climb the the eiffel tower upside down for you and you

19:46know all

19:47these unrealistic things and and and you know it's a little it's a little much and uh and and

19:55really honestly you know i i fell in love and got married and i didn't even have to write her

20:02a song

20:02she already liked the songs that i had written that's wonderful wow wow yeah i like love songs but

20:10i like i like movie love songs like like strolling in the park or you know um roberta flack has

20:17one

20:19i love that that that's romantic anything romantic i can deal with but not yeah um i will buy the

20:26eiffel tower i'm like skeptical about that i'm like yeah uh-huh right but uh i also um when i'm

20:36when

20:36i'm doing my performances i have a couple of songs by leonard cohen and that and and it's nice because

20:43he and i have the same vocal range and um and uh he he has a couple of songs the

20:50one that i like most

20:52is is everybody knows and that's in c sharp minor and um and i i had never played any none

21:00of my songs

21:01are in c sharp minor i've got it you know e b flat a flat you know all that's happening

21:06c sharp minor no

21:07and it works really nice for the you know the the piano chops and and also it's you know it's

21:16it's uh it gives a bit of a challenge of uh to the voice as well it does it does

21:24you know i i teach

21:25vocals and c sharp minor is something that most people have a hard time hearing too

21:30you know that's that's a good one i like that i like that so how do you hope you're challenging

21:35and unconventional music will impact listeners on a wider music scene well i that's that's the

21:43challenge the challenge is to is to um i i know that i'm i'm not taylor swift um i i

21:50know that my uh

21:52music isn't for uh music isn't for everyone but it's not for no one uh i i don't know whether

21:58that

21:58makes any sense but but there there are people who who do like it very much and um and i

22:06i i am glad

22:09to um be able to keep making it and um and you know it's it's like the my my my

22:17crazy crazy crazy

22:19goal from about i don't know five years ago was like i'm gonna try to make 50 albums and i

22:25you know

22:25it's like that's it that 50 albums would probably be the end of next year and um and and so

22:34i i you

22:35know you can't you can't just put a cap on what you're what you're doing and just say i i

22:42you know

22:43do 50 and walk away um in in in the earliest days when i first you know when i put

22:49out my first album

22:50it was like i'll make 10 and then that'll be enough no it's not it's really not ever enough

22:58definitely this is your website yep is this longboat.band yes i love it absolutely looks like

23:05some sort of i'm hungry the world's worst mexican restaurant i don't know but i'm hungry i'm ready

23:13i'm ready for some of this right here uh-huh i got all of these uh all um yeah like

23:21the grossest

23:21looking mexican food i could find on yelp why did you get why did you do that like what was

23:30the what was

23:30amazing i just i just thought that well i mean every every single like if you go to squarespace

23:39they have they have the like the pre-made band templates yeah and none of and a lot of them

23:44were

23:45like for roots bands where they have like the it's all all the photography's in black and white and they

23:50have like the broken clock without a face and then like a uh a tree in the middle of a

23:57field and and like

23:59some some you know rusted old truck and it's like that is not that's not my music and then

24:07and and then they would have things for like dad rock bands and and it's like there there has to

24:15be

24:15something for me and then i finally got a a web designer and who we were on the same wavelength

24:21and i

24:22was like i just want you to throw in as many annoying 90s tchotchkes as you possibly can and i

24:30got like the dancing baby i've got the floating hot dog i've got the the um you know the meter

24:37that

24:37goes out of control and and the flames too lots of flames lots of flames well right now we're on

24:44your

24:45albums am i correct yes yes and out 35 is the latest one and then um and then uh revenge

24:54ballads

24:54is coming out in june okay and then i've got another another one coming out in september i believe

25:02okay so one of the one i recorded two albums here in london last summer and it was fantastic and

25:10and the

25:10the albums themselves are about um uh the uk in uh in general and london in particular wow this is

25:24wonderful i absolutely love it absolutely love what you've done you've made it memorable because now

25:28i'm hungry yeah just put lots of cheese on it put lots of cheese on it you cannot go wrong

25:37my wife and i met at a at a really gross mexican restaurant and oh that's probably why you did

25:44that

25:44oh yeah it's good it's gotta be but uh yeah well i'm looking at all of the cover in the

25:51album covers

25:52this takes a lot of time and i want to thank you for your dedication and also for doing what

25:56you do

25:56this is wonderful and absolutely like i said i love it love it love it i'm you know i'm i

26:01love

26:02listening to music when i'm working when i'm doing things and i think that this is the kind of music

26:06that you know if you have revenge on your mind get the revenge album yeah i also have an album

26:14about

26:14january 6 too it's called a short walk to the capital and it's all dark funk

26:21um because that's what the situation called for yeah well yeah yeah definitely which is it out yet

26:30oh yeah it's been out which one uh it's called short walk to the capital yeah there it is it's

26:37right

26:37there short walks into the capital yeah man i'm telling you thank you so much again for what you do

26:43and

26:44and i like what you've done with the the subject matters you know you you tackle something that means

26:49something to you um what kind of advice do you give to people who are coming up after you or

26:54people

26:55who want to accomplish what you're accomplishing which is like i'm not i'm not the one i'm not i'm

27:01not just not gonna do it i'm not but you can do it um that it's important that what you're

27:07doing become

27:07keeps becoming something new and and i mean that might sound kind of you know uh first snatch the pebble

27:17from

27:17my hand uh but uh grasshopper but no no it's it always has to seem new otherwise it will get

27:24stale

27:25and you'll get tired of it yeah and and i'm always and and this latest thing was playing piano in

27:32uh it

27:32started me just going around to pubs and playing pianos and and and uh um i would generally if i

27:40was

27:40playing well i would get paid in in hard cider and um this was uh it was it it evolved

27:50from there and

27:51it's it's now i know i have a repertoire of about 80 tunes and i'm i'm probably gonna have another

27:5950

27:59more uh within the next couple of months that is amazing well i want to thank you so much your

28:05latest

28:06album here is going to be uh album 35 longboat and you guys can get that at the website longboat

28:12.band

28:13that's longboat.band we're going to put the link in the description so it'll be easy for you guys to

28:18find it and to go and take a listen and support listen i am all for people going to your

28:23website

28:24and supporting you there and so listening on spotify and all the other places where you get point zero zero

28:29six cents per stream it makes absolutely no sense i always tell people right i always tell people

28:35okay so a regular thing when it comes out is between 3.99 2.99 at all 99 or 99

28:41cents it depends on what

28:42people want to sell it for right i'm talking about a single just a single right um if that's the

28:47case

28:47and the standard would be 99 cents let's just say the standard is 99 cents okay uh after a while

28:53but

28:53dollar 99 or 2.99 when it first comes out so if i'm getting point zero zero six cents where's

29:00the

29:00other money yeah have they ever thought about that you know because i do i think about that and i

29:10think

29:10that that's the robbery so i hope that elon musk isn't getting any of it i don't know i don't

29:17know

29:17i don't know who is but whoever it is it's not me yeah and i'm the one that created the

29:22song i'm the

29:22one that put all the money into the studio i'm the one that bought all the equipment i'm the one

29:26that

29:26paid all the musicians and i'm getting point zero zero six cents a stream yeah something's wrong with

29:32that equation so i always say if you have your favorite musician just like the just like before

29:38um i had an interview with the whispers and they re-recorded their album and they put it on their

29:42website for purchase go to the artist's website if they have one and purchase the song there even if

29:47it's 99 cents 2.99 5.99 or 6.99 you get all the songs 7.99 12.99 whatever

29:53you would pay that much

29:55in a regular store pay that directly to the artist pay it directly to the artist make sure they get

30:00the money so that they can continue doing what they do igor thank you so much for being on the

30:05show

30:05i appreciate it well thanks for having me it's been a lot of fun oh thank you i had a

30:10lot of fun and

30:11now that i'm hungry yeah now that i'm hungry i'm gonna go but you guys again can go to longboat

30:18dot band and we're gonna have that information in the description and good luck with everything

30:24thank you thank you oh thank you and until next time guys don't forget to dare to be different

30:30bye guys bye igor okay

30:43thank you for watching

Igor Keller's 32 Albums in 11 Years | The Unconventional Vision Behind Longboat

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