Playing For Keeps: Bloomington, Indiana's Keeps Seek To Expose Their Progressive Indie Rock To A Larger Audience

Bloomington, Indiana (Top40 Charts/ Wifi PR Group) Keeps want to play for you. This power trio wants to showcase their hybrid mix of progressive indie and folk rock for you. They are ready to travel beyond northwest Indiana to get their name out there and gain exposure for their past and future musical efforts. They want you to be aware of their emergence onto the national scene and with their new record, they'll do just that. With a sound heavily influenced by both indie folk music and the more progressive elements of rock—what some might call math rock—the band's blend of genres provides an interesting musical twist. The band consists of members, Josh Ramon on lead vocals and guitar; Eric Parker on bass and vocals and Marc Nelson on drums and vocals. Despite the nature of their sound, which might have some more traditional listeners scratching their heads, the band has some surprising influences. Bombastic mod rockers, The Who, the psychedelic rock of Pink Floyd, the post-punk of Scottish band, Mogwai, as well as Nirvana, Bright Eyes and Six Organs of Admittance all provide the band with inspiration, if not direct influence.

Marc Nelson and Josh Ramon have a musical partnership that predates their current project. The pair were once a post rock duo called THEANTI. As such, they were picked by the website, EarnItYourself.com, to perform at the Warped Tour in 2008 on the tour founder, Kevin Lyman's "Kevin Says Stage." Keeps keeps these men busy these days. The band's debut full-length "No Bridges" was released on the small indie label, Inderma in 2011. The eight songs of "No Bridges" were inspired by dark subject matter. Addiction, emotional highs and lows and the death of two friends of the band during the album's recording provided the fuel for a somber and reflective record. As the music website, Independent Clauses, said of the album: "The band still has elements of their erratic, spontaneous self of old, but "No Bridges" incorporates those elements into thoughtful songwriting and deft atmosphere control."

The band is stoked to work again with Shiraz Dada of the Chicago indie/math rock band, Maps & Atlases. Dada helped with production on the vocal recordings for "No Bridges." They've tapped him to produce their upcoming EP. With the tentative title, "Names of Things," the band is aiming for a summer release, but fall would be fine as well. It will all depend on the demands put upon Dada's time by his own band's touring and recording schedule. Keeps is willing to wait to work with Dada, however. Maps & Atlases is one of their favorite bands so the project will surely benefit from his involvement in the project.

Keeps have taken their music on the road before, briefly touring in the Midwest with bearded folkie, Adam Faucuett. It is their intent to add some more stops to their itinerary as soon as they can. They hope to showcase their talents at SXSW, CMJ and other music festivals along the way. In the immediate future, check the band out live as they headline a night at the Emerson Theater (4630 E. 10th St.) in Indianapolis, Saturday, June 8. Tickets to this all-ages event are $10.

Keeps music is available for purchase digitally via Bandcamp, Indermarecords.com and through the band's own website, musicforkeeps.com. Physical copies of their first record, "No Bridges," are sold out and currently out of print.

Although Keeps prefer to concentrate on writing and recording, and not on videos at this point, you can check out their minimalist footage for the "No Bridge" track, "It's Hard (When It's So Easy)" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EN5ijVdczo. That track will also be featured on an upcoming WiFi Groups sampler. Digital downloads will be available at Lollapalooza this summer in Chicago.

Keeps has recently signed with (Wifi PR Group) as a client. Company Info: WiFi PR Group, Los Angeles, CA. https://www.wifiprgroup.com

About Keeps Music:
"We Put the Us in Virus" single Released: Fall 2010 (Independent)
No Bridges LP, Released: Fall 2011 (Inderma Records)
Official Website: https://musicforkeeps.com/
Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/keepsband
Official Twitter Page: twitter.com/k33ps
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/Keepsband