Q&A: Collin Keller’s Soundscape of Resistance and Renewal
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY DANIELLE HOLIAN ☆
BLENDING INDIE GRIT WITH SOULFUL POP AND THE SPIRIT OF PROTEST—Collin Keller crafts music that is as hopeful as it is urgent—rooted in nature, honesty, and a belief in art’s power to both heal and galvanize.
Collin Keller, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter hailing from the quiet mountains of Vail, Colorado and now rooted in the sprawling energy of Los Angeles, belongs to that category of artists. His music is not constructed as background texture. Rather, it demands the listener’s attention, balancing raw introspection with layered craftsmanship. Keller’s creative voice feels as if it carries both the weight of tradition and the urgency of the present, a synthesis of timeless melodic sensibilities with a contemporary cultural consciousness.
What is striking about Keller is not merely his technical breadth—though the fact that he plays more than a dozen instruments certainly bears mention—but the manner in which he translates lived experience into song. His catalogue demonstrates a continual push towards depth, from the tender introspections of his earlier songwriting to the more expansive, socially engaged vision of his latest work.
“Weed in the Garden”, his newest single, epitomizes this turn. Framed as what he himself describes as “political surf pop”, the track is as paradoxical as it is powerful. sunlit grooves and vibrant instrumentation carry a lyrical metaphor about corruption, resilience, and the persistence of hope. In doing so, Keller achieves something both subversive and beautiful. He uses a sound often associated with nostalgia and escapism to deliver a reminder of our collective responsibility and agency. The result is a protest anthem that does not rage but rather steadies, calling not for destruction but for rootedness, endurance, and the quiet force of resistance.
This duality, light and shadow, beauty and urgency, permeates Keller’s artistic practice. He speaks with ease about the influence of nature on his work, how hiking or tending to his garden becomes not just recreation but a form of reflection that seeps into his melodies and lyrics. At the same time, he is candid about the darker currents that inspire him: the fractures in political systems, the disillusionment of modern life, the necessity of giving voice to unrest. If there is a throughline to his career, it is this refusal to choose between the aesthetic and the essential. His songs remind us that beauty is not an escape from the real, but often a way of illuminating it.
Yet there is also a striking humility to Keller’s approach. Despite critics drawing parallels to John Mayer’s weathered Americana, Jack Garratt’s intensity, or the sharp edges of Jesse Welles, Keller never positions himself as an heir to a singular lineage. Instead, he speaks with reverence of his influences, J.J. Cale, LEISURE, Mayer, Garratt, while underscoring his desire to carve out a voice uniquely his own. His sound emerges as a collage of everything he has absorbed: the indie rock grit of his youth, the pop sophistication honed during his studies, the folk-tinged intimacy of his early writing and the experimental openness of his current Los Angeles chapter. What anchors it all is authenticity, the refusal to force a song into being, and the trust in following instinct wherever it leads.
As Keller steps into this new phase of his career, embracing his solo project with renewed energy, there is a palpable sense of return and rebirth. He describes his present work as spiritually akin to the music he wrote as a teenager in Colorado, yet enriched by years of learning, collaboration, and performance. It is rare to encounter an artist who can balance such youthful immediacy with seasoned craft, and rarer still to hear one who uses that balance not simply to entertain, but to engage, to provoke, and to sustain.
Keep reading for a conversation with Collin Keller to discuss passion, growth and what comes next in his ever-evolving journey.
LUNA: Thank you for sitting down and talking with Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music. For anyone who isn’t familiar yet, what inspires your artistic style and creative persona?
KELLER: Hi everyone! I am Collin Keller, an artist from Vail, C.O., now living in Los Angeles. I pull inspiration from all aspects of life. The good, the bad, relationships, nature, and experiences. I know it’s cliché, but I also listen to a lot of different styles of music that influence my sound. I also like to hike and be out in nature as well as gardening and photography. Each of these extra hobbies not only forces me to view things from a different perspective but also feeds my creativity.
LUNA: What inspired you to get into making music?
KELLER: Ever since I was a baby, I was slapping chopsticks against pots and pans. From a very young age, I knew I wanted to pursue music. In middle school, I joined the concert band on trumpet and fell in love with performing. From there, I taught myself over 12 different instruments and started writing my first songs. There was simply a cosmic link to my connection to music, and it hasn’t changed since. It’s been great to see my music evolve with each chapter of my life
LUNA: When you’re building a song, do you start with melody, a lyric, or a vibe you want to capture?
KELLER: This changes from piece to piece. Sometimes I have a melody in my head. Or a lyric I want to write to, but for Weed In The Garden, it started as an instrumental, a vibe I was feeling at the time after listening to a ton of artists like J.J. Cale and wanted to bring my own modern take to it. Part of the fun of making music is that it’s different every single time, depending on your mood, location, and who you might be writing with.
LUNA: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your latest single, “Weed In The Garden”? What message do you hope fans take away from it?
KELLER: “Weed in the Garden" is a modern protest anthem confronting corruption and greed through the metaphor of an invasive weed. What I like to call political surf pop, it’s a song about resilience: rooting down deeper, refusing to fade and holding onto hope even in dark times. I hope that it resonates with people who feel similarly or are lost in these dark times. “Weed In The Garden” is not just about calling out the issues, but also a call to action to band together and stand our ground to not let the darkness fade what it means to be human.
LUNA: “Weed in the Garden” is such a powerful metaphor. What first sparked the idea for the track, and how did that imagery take root in the writing process?
KELLER: The metaphor kind of spoke for itself once I started writing lyrics about the blatant corruption here in the United States. I take a lot of joy in gardening, and I constantly pull weeds that somehow just keep coming back, but I never let them overshadow and take over the overall beauty of the diversity of the garden. It’s a choice to let the weeds overgrow, and I think we have to stay strong and dig deeper into our own roots, socially and metaphorically, to prevent the takeover.
LUNA: You’ve described the song as a political surf pop anthem. What made you want to channel activism through such a sun-soaked, vibey genre?
KELLER: It all kind of came together as a happy accident. I had the groove and basic instrumental for some time before I considered writing lyrics to it. Most of my songs are about relationships, but this topic held way more weight for me at this time. And I simply felt most inspired by the vibe of that instrumental. I ended up combining the two and am so happy with how it turned out. I understand it’s a bit of a departure from other protest music, but because the message is more about hope, I believe the musical vibe needed to reflect calmer emotions. There’s enough anger in the world. I also see it as a new angle of presenting protest music to people’s everyday lives.
LUNA: The track balances indie rock grit with soulful pop hooks. How did you find that blend, and were there moments in the studio where you leaned harder in one direction before pulling it back?
KELLER: I’ve written for many different projects and artists over the last few years. When launching this solo project, I have been able to develop a sound that is genuine to me. That personal sound combines the indie and rock I grew up with, with the soul and pop I studied at school and in collaboration with other projects. The joy of this project is that there is very little fighting of what’s “right” or “wrong” in the writing and production, it’s purely fueled by how I feel at the given moment, and I roll with it.
LUNA: You’ve said “protest music still matters.” What role do you think protest music plays in today’s world compared to the past?
KELLER: Music makes people feel. In today’s world, protest music is an amplifier, a voice for those who can't find the words, and a way to educate, document, and memorialize the state of our current world. The difference today is that there is more noise to break through; however, there is more opportunity to be heard.
LUNA: You’re releasing alternate versions weekly - instrumental, radio edit, and the “Faded” version. What excites you most about giving fans these different interpretations?
KELLER: As mentioned, the song first started as an instrumental. A groove. A feeling. I was considering releasing it simply as an instrumental. It wasn't until I started humming and writing to it on my last tour that I realized it can also become a full song. 95 percent of the song was written, produced, recorded, and mixed while on the road. Usually in the back of a bus or in a dressing room. Lots of arranging and changes are made between versions, allowing people to listen to the composition as they wish to hear it. To be honest, it’s also a bit of an experiment. Because I like them all so differently, I am curious which version resonates most with listeners.
LUNA: Were there any happy accidents in the studio, sounds, riffs, or textures that ended up shaping the final track?
KELLER: Because I was on the road, the original ‘scratch” demo vocals were tracked on my phone when I was experimenting with different lyrics and melodies and placed into the session later. I actually ended up keeping a few of those iPhone recordings as layers in the song because I liked the texture. For example, you’ll hear a count off “1,2,3” before some sections, and that was from the ‘scratch’ phone recordings. The reason I counted was so I could easily line it up with the grid of the session, as I wasn’t recording directly to my DAW. I liked the sound enough to keep it.
LUNA: Critics have noted echoes of John Mayer’s Born and Raised era, Jack Garratt’s intensity, and Jesse Welles’ sharpness. Do you feel those comparisons resonate, and who else do you feel deeply influenced by this song?
KELLER: Instrumentally, when creating the track, I was listening to a lot of J.J. Cale at the time. [I] only recently discovered LEISURE, which definitely influenced the more modern sound. Mayer and Garratt have been influences on my music for years and years, so naturally, there is some of their flavor within my music.I hope it has a taste of my own style!
LUNA: Surf pop often carries a nostalgic, carefree feel. Was it challenging to pair that with such a politically charged theme?
KELLER: Once again, things kind of fell naturally in place the way they did. I definitely identify the contrast between the careless, laidback feel and the seriousness of the lyrics,but I view it as a different way to express those feelings in a new format.
LUNA: How do you personally balance making music that’s both aesthetically beautiful and politically urgent?
KELLER: This might be some of my yin and yang. I listen to a lot of beautiful music and live by enjoying the little beauties in life. Meanwhile, we are in a very tense time right now. Since the writing and production process was so free and open, it makes sense that there’s a bit of both in there. Maybe it also represents the importance of seeking out the small beauties in life, even when surrounded by darkness. You see what you want to see.
LUNA: How has your approach to songwriting evolved from your earliest singles to now?
KELLER: Honestly, now that I am focusing more on my solo project, my music has been spiritually closer to when I was first writing songs growing up in Colorado. When I went to school in Boston, I learned so much and got immeasurable experience writing and working with all different types of projects, learning all the tools to write a “great” song. Settling into my solo work while being in LA has brought out the pure, stream-of-consciousness writing that I had when I was first writing songs as early as middle school. I still enjoy writing songs that are a bit more formulaic, for lack of a better term, but this way feels more pure and feels more me. And it’s great to come back to this way of writing after so long. It’s nostalgic all while being able to see the progress I’ve made over the years.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career, and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would love to share with Luna?
KELLER: I feel this is a new birth for my career. Shifting back into my solo project and writing songs for me is extremely fulfilling, and I am beyond excited to put out more and more music directly from my soul. All of the songs on this project I felt like I couldn’t pitch to other artists. These songs needed to come from my voice. The rest of the year will be busy: I’ll be music directing and playing guitar for the North American tour of The Life and Music of George Michael, the leading George Michael tribute show in the United States. Alongside nightly performances, I plan to be writing and working on my next releases from the back of the bus, to venue dressing rooms.
