Keaton Schiller
Keaton Schiller can be a pretty vulnerable songwriter, penning lyrics that are candid and raw. But the New Orleans-based singer-songwriter doesn’t want that to be mistaken as her feeling too somber or down on herself, she says.
So Schiller leans into her electric guitar, plays loud and pairs those raw lyrics with resilient, energetic alternative rock. On her dynamic second EP, “The House That I Built,” released last month, the result plays like the feeling of shaking out the tension in the body and finally letting out the expletive you’ve been holding all day.
“I want that vulnerability in my songs to feel like strength and freedom and catharsis,” she says. “I think emotions, even the saddest ones, can feel like a point of power in pushing someone forward.”
The musicians Schiller looks up to — alt-rock icons Liz Phair and Courtney Love and female-fronted bands like Mannequin Pussy and Wednesday — are able to capture that feeling, she says.
“That is my goal when I’m performing these songs, too. I want to channel a type of release that the rest of daily life can’t give me,” Schiller says.
Schiller, a Chicagoland native, released her first EP in 2024, a couple of years after moving to New Orleans. The project, “Somebody’s Ocean,” grappled with big questions of feeling loved and feeling wanted in her life and within herself, scored by propulsive indie rock with synths and dream pop influences.
The release of her first EP also came with more time on stage, and Schiller was growing into her sound. Live performances informed how she wrote the songs that would ultimately make up “The House That I Built,” which came together quickly, Schiller says.
“I really wanted to write stuff where the feedback [happens], the gain is on, things are turned up and I could rock out on stage,” Schiller says. “I wanted to build in quieter moments, but also [moments] that feel really explosive with the image of how I wanted to perform them in mind.”
Along with Schiller’s vocals and guitar, “The House That I Built” also features bassist Ellis Maclean, drummer Jake Gartenstein, keys player Jamie Koffler and guitarist Giovanni Ventello, who also produced the EP.
In comparison to the big questions about love she asked on “Somebody’s Ocean,” Schiller meditates on the life she’s built in her mid-20s on the new EP. She reflects on the changes in her own life, the loss of relationships and how friendships are now different as new priorities come up and people grow.
“It’s kind of accepting the ambiguity, and whether it’s right or wrong, it’s your life and your choices,” Schiller says. “I wanted to really think about just the small moments of living every day, and even the restlessness that can be within that.”
Schiller grew up in a suburb outside of Chicago, with two older siblings who are musicians, and had formed her own band while attending Scripps College near Los Angeles. While living back home during the pandemic, one of her sisters helped Schiller record and produce her first few singles.
Schiller wanted to continue pursuing music after graduating from Scripps and decided to move to New Orleans. Her father had attended Tulane University, and Schiller had been to the city a few times. She says she “wanted to go somewhere that was going to ground me in what I’m doing and why I’m doing it,” and New Orleans felt like that special place.
Recently, Schiller and her band wrapped up their third brief East Coast tour.
“There’s a certain caliber that is expected of musicians in New Orleans, and getting to work with people and meet people that are making music at such a high quality and still be friendly and accessible, it has set the bar of how I want to pursue this,” Schiller says. “It’s been a journey for me to figure out what pockets I lie in, and pushing myself to be traveling, touring and visiting places to keep expanding myself.”
Find the music at keatonschiller.com.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com ’
