When the art of turntablism harmoniously collides with keyboards and drums, the end result is the innovative music of Keys N Krates. The Canadian trio is “reinventing the remix,” and providing fans with a surreal live musical experience with every show, shaking up hits like Mos Def's “Ms. Fat Booty,” Tribe Called Quest classics, The Fugee's “Fu-Gee-La,” Talib's “Get By,” Simian Mobile Disco's “We Are Your Friends” and more.Consisting of award-winning DJ Flo, Matisse on keys and Adam Tune on drums, Keys N Krates is definitely an act that deserves your attention. And BRM got he chance to get an interview with them in their downtime.

How did Keys N Krates become a group?

Tune: Basically, Matisse and Flo had a mutual friend that introduced them to each other. Matisse was always interested in playing with DJs, and Flo had similar ideas to form something with a band and turntables. I’ve been playing with Matisse for, like, eight years in other bands before that, and he approached me about checking out the project. I saw the vision, and it took us six months in a rehearsal room to come up with Keys N Krates back in ’07.

You guys are definitely doing something different with your music, but there’s been DJ/band collabos before, like Travis Barker and DJ AM mixes. What makes you different from these acts?

Flo: The Travis/AM thing is very different, with the only similarity being the DJ and drummer. Their music is amazing, nonetheless. We don’t really play existing tracks and then just play over them; we build existing tracks from scratch using samples, keys, drums, and are more of a band instead of a DJ/drummer duo.

Are there particular types of songs you guys pick for your mixes?

Matisse: It’s kind of nerve-wracking. Flow will come up with a sample since we find it's the easiest way to build around.  Flo usually comes into the studio with an idea or a couple of acapellas or some examples of what he’s kind of cut up or looped into some type of pattern, and then from there Tune will either find a groove that will go with it or I’ll try to find a melody to use, too.

What’s the time length to master each remix?

Tune: It used to take a lot longer to build the tracks, but now it’s taking longer to select and put together exactly what we’ll be playing, but generally, the good tracks come pretty quick. We catch a vibe and go with it.

What are your plans for 2010?

Tune: We have the Winter Olympics coming up, and we hope to get into Europe a bit; do a lot more touring over there. We want to drop some type of new material, and get on a major tour with a major act. We’re doing something very unique and want to tour around the world and fill the room with people who want to see us play live all the time.

Flo: We also hope to collaborate with a lot of artists that we are fans of. Hopefully one day, when we’re a bit more known, we’ll have the chance to do this.

~words by Deanna DeLuna