Exclusive Interview With DZ Riley
photo courtesy of @keefer_spoon Instagram
Keefer Schoon, a sophomore at Columbia College Chicago, just released his debut project, Entropy, under the alias DZ Riley. Hidden beneath incredible musical ambition lies a deeply powerful message and motivation. What makes this project so special? All proceeds go to Alzheimer's research. We got the opportunity to speak to Keefer about his journey and motivations.
“A little over a year ago, I came up with the idea of doing a concept album about Alzheimer’s and the hallucinations that it can cause in its later stages,” Schoon said. “I just found that very interesting. My Grandmother, who just recently passed last August, had Alzheimer’s and I dedicated the album to her, along with all of the profits going to the Alzheimer’s Association.”
It was this deep connection to his grandmother that led to Entropy: a 14 track journey through memory, loss, and love.
“The overall idea of the album is imbalance,” he said. “Alzheimer’s is not a natural part of the aging process. It gets worse and never better. This goes along with the album’s title, Entropy, meaning something going awry, deteriorating, and away from order and into disorder.”
Aside from the incredible motivations behind this concept album, the music itself is absolutely phenomenal. From large orchestral arrangements to ear-pleasing saxophone solos, Entropy is an absolute delight to listen to. Keefer knew exactly what he wanted his album to sound like and chose to mix psychedelic with 70’s rock.
“This album was meant to be primarily psychedelic because it matches the concept, but I also write Latin guitar pieces, orchestral arrangements, upbeat and funkier grooves, anything with guitar is what I love to listen to and especially create,” Schoon added. A highlight track is “Rootbeer,” a song reminiscent of Pink Floyd yet still as fresh as modern pop. DZ Riley uses their music skills to weave between both genres and melodic themes.
From talking with Keefer, we could really see the passion he had behind his concepts. Each track was carefully thought out and able to form a cohesive project around his central idea.
“The ideology of the Yin and Yang is portrayed throughout this album musically and symbolically because the symbol represents the fluctuation of balance and imbalance within life,” he explained. “In Taoism, the school of ancient Chinese philosophy which the symbol comes from, it stresses the importance of balance in order for there to be harmony. In this album, and in life, harmony is disrupted by the disease.”
The reception of the album has also been a really positive and cathartic experience for Keefer, as the money is going straight towards finding a cure for Alzheimer’s.
Keefer and his colleagues are already busy working on another album, which we are told will be “more funky, catchy, and groovy.”
Entropy by DZ Riley is streaming on all music platforms. You can keep up to date with Keefer’s current and future projects on Instagram @dz_riley