See also: Keize Montoya Explains "Mad At 'Cha" (Video)
Clovis, New Mexico, is a small town: Home to around 30 or 40,000 people R&B artist Keize Montoya guestimates. If that number is true, that means Montoya's entire hometown, and then some, caught his last music video on Youtube, the summertime head bobber, "Mad At 'Cha."
Montoya is in Phoenix these days, and is hoping to duplicate that success with his latest effort, "Schemin'."
Up on the Sun: How has your summer been?
Keize Montoya: Really good, and really productive. For about a year leading up to this past May, I was producing theme songs for various iPhone apps and I had some good shows, too. I also put out two new singles in "Zoned Out" and "Schemin'". I just released the music video to "Schemin'" last week and it's been doing really good.
What's the story behind "Schemin'?"
Well most of my songs are written and based on a concept but with this song I took a different approach. When I write, I usually start out with a phrase, title or melody. In this song you'll hear a real catchy phrase that I sing at the beginning of the hook. "Y-O Y-O Y-O Y-OOOOOO." When I first heard the production, that's literally the first thing I started singing to it. Then I just wrote the song around it. I like catchy melodies and I was raised on '90s R&B so every once in a while that kind of style just comes out of me. I would call it a, "love/club" song. It's something you can vibe to anywhere but it's definitely something that could slow it down in the club. I ended up calling it "Schemin'" because in the hook I say, "Shawty got me schemin'." Pretty self-explanatory what that would mean.
Can you talk a little about the new music video? What was your favorite part of the shoot?
I teamed up with up-and-coming video director Louis Barraza on this one. He has some of the best work ethic I've seen out here. I actually helped with some of the video editing as well. With this video I just knew I wanted it to visually flow well with the song. I also knew I wanted to incorporate silhouette-style shots in it. I hooked up with Kiersten "K.T." Willis as one of the features for it. She's an extremely talented dancer with really good work ethic, too. I also hooked up with Jai-cea Gaston, who is the feature model. I think it came together well. My last music video gained placements in Foot Locker and other retail stores nation wide, so I'm hoping for an even stronger follow up with this single and music video.
What's next on the horizon for Keize? What kind of ideas are spinning in your head?
I have a couple of serious songs that I'm gonna put out next. One is a very politically driven song called, "Wake Up". And the other is a song about the struggles in life that we all go through called, "On My Way." I'm also continuing to establish my business/brand, Ethereal Ent. Group as well as working closely with, "Vision Studios." I'm originally from a small town, Clovis, New Mexico. That's where it all started. So I'm very grateful to be where I'm at today and to be making noise in Phoenix, a city that populates more than four million people. I feel like I'm in my own lane and it's wide open. I feel like I'm on the verge of something great and I appreciate those who are supporting what I'm doing. Much love.
