Meet Keyside, the Liverpool band tackling the big issues through disarming indie-pop

On their self-titled upcoming debut album, Keyside deal in the kind of jangly indie-pop that feels reassuringly warm and certainly familiar. Though they may be the next in a long lineage of quality indie pop acts emerging from the North West, few manage to tackle the big issues with disarming charm quite like this band. On one side of the record sits frontman Dan Parker’s recollection of a relatable misspent youth at parties with his friends. But on the other sits songs like ‘Heaven’, directly inspired by Parker’s experiences with a fan who had experienced alcoholism in his own family.

“It’s far easier to put my own experiences into a character and it felt collaborative because I was writing it for that kid who reached out but also for myself,” he says of that moment – having experienced similar issues close to home.

Now, with the album on the way, Keyside’s admirable honesty and jangly indie-pop is primed to send them to the next level…

Read our interview with Parker and listen to Keyside’s ‘Runaway’ and ‘Nikita’ via our Play Next playlist on Spotify below.

Your debut album is on the way. Does it feels like all systems go?

We’ve been itching to get it out for ages. I met our guitarist Ben at a party in 2018 and it’s been the journey since then. We took over two guitars in the house and I think we were jamming until eight in the morning and it was a drunken mess. We actually didn’t speak for two years after that, but two years later a position came open for lead guitar and so he was at the forefront of my memory.

What’s your own musical background like?

I never really had a choice in the music I listened to growing up. I used to spend a lot of time in the car with my mum and she’d play Pink Floyd CDs at top volume, no exaggeration. You could feel the bass in your bones, it was that loud. It’s funny because the eighties stuff really influenced me and one of my favourite songs ever is ‘Down Under’ by Men at Work. But there’s a lot of modern bands now that I love too like Geese, Blossoms, Amyl and the Sniffers.

What’s the story you wanted to tell with your debut?

It’s trying to be a yin and yang perspective on modern life. There’s some songs on it that express the youthfulness of being a teenager growing up and going out with your mates, but it contrasts with songs like ‘Michael (You Can Call On Me)’ and ‘Heaven’, which was inspired by a story that a fan told us and wanted to make into a song.

What did he tell you?

Well, he was telling us that his mum was an alcoholic and she was taking it out on him. That kid reached out to us with his story, so we had to try and do that. I was inspired by it.

Is that something you’ve experienced?

Yeah, it’s something I’ve grown up with all my life at home and it’s something I’ve incorporated into my songs because I find it hard to write about myself and that’s why I write characters. It’s far easier to put my own experiences into a character and it felt collaborative because I was writing it for that kid who reached out but also for myself.

Is there any other songs where that personal edge stands out?

Yeah, I wrote ‘Echoes’ after my uncle passed away from drug abuse. This is a big part of life now in the 21st century and a lot of people revolve around the theory that it happens because people have a lack of purpose and they try and fill it up with substances to defeat the aimlessness of life. That has some credibility, but I’m not here to explain it. He passed away from that, and the song is about the anger and confusion you feel when that happens.

Did it prove cathartic?

It’s a relief, yeah, but also a picture of a situation in a sense. I’m just trying to capture little moments. It’s an ongoing thing.

Music can often lift you out of these situations too…

100 per cent. Yeah, definitely. It can soundtrack your recovery or be your motivation to change or give you that perspective that enlightens a new way of thinking which influences some actions. It’s easy to dabble in that world a bit as a teenager, but I had the guitar to lock in with and I got my buzz from writing songs.

I saw you live in Camden last year too. It feels like you’re one of those bands who need to be seen live to be fully understood.

Yeah, and we’re really locking in on that. There is a message in seeing us live, there’s a message in that album, and there’s a message in all the songs. I’m putting that at the forefront of everything now and leaving little messages and production for long after we die!