| Name : | Keith Butler |
| Also known as : | Keefy Keyz |
| Born : | 1968 |
| Instrument : | Keyboards |
| Joined Strangers : | 1996 |
Started playing piano at age 7 and finally took my grade 8 exam when 24 ( I took 4 years out from grades when at college and specialised in composition). Started playing classical guitar at 16 but was persuaded at college by my guitar teacher to get into playing acoustic and rock styles. Dabbled with playing drums while at uni but then got into bass playing when a friends band at uni was stuck for a bassist. Sold my bass gear for keyboard stuff when the chance of a gig with Strangers came up, as it seemed too good an opportunity to miss!!
Bands
The Children/ Joe and the Joints
At Uni as a bass player.
Midnight Hour
Played all of two gigs!
Fagins Pocket
Again for about 2 gigs.
Thud
Playing bass again. I did 2 year stint with them. I thought they were joking when they told me the name of the band. After I left they apparently did some gigs as 'The Sugar Cubes' around Coalville.
The Outsiders
I took a year to play bass/keys with my friend Wayne Ridgeway.
Strangers
In June 1996 the Strangers gig came up and the rest, as they say is . . .
Influences
My favourite artists include Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, The Beatles, Deep Purple, Jim Steinman, Freddie Mercury and The Stranglers.
Other musical influencesare pretty diverse and reflect my diverse tastes. For example John Ireland, Rachmaninov, Keith Jarrett, Radiohead and PJ Harvey.
Favourite album(s) of all time.
"Led Zeppelin 2" or "IV"
"White Album" (The Beatles)
"2112" (Rush)
"Rachmaninov 2nd Piano Concerto"
"Brittens War Requiem"
Favourite Track(s) of all time.
"Stargazer" (Rainbow)
"Sunshine Of Your Love" (Cream)
"Dazed and Confused" (Led Zeppelin)
"Water" (PJ Harvey)
Ask me again tomorrow and it would be a completely different list. There are far too many to choose from!
Gear File
Keyboards
My main workhorse is a Korg M1 it provides most of the synthy brassy organ sounds that you hear at a gig.
The big keyboard you see on stage is a Korg SP200 fully weighted stage piano which I bought cos I got fed up of running out of notes!! (It gets a bit tight on some stages though.)
I also have a Yamaha DX27 which I picked up from the lead singer of 'Midnight Hour' for £80. It doesn't see much action now though.
Amplification
An old Peavy PA syatem run through a pair of 2x12" speaker cabs. I also DI into the PA.
Acoustic Guitar
It's a Takamine EG 10. Much loved - often abused.
Bass Guitar
As a bassist my axe of choice was a USA fender Jazz through Peavey gear. I sold it all when I joined Strangers.
