A Good Bahn Mi Is Top Of Keshi’s List When He Tours Oz, And The US Superstar Has Earned It

It’s not often that a drastic career change goes so smoothly and even more successful than the wildest of wild dreams.

For Houston-born singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Keshi, trading in his hard-won profession as an oncology nurse for toiling in the trenches of a music career that was tugging at his sleeve since childhood has more than exceeded his expectations for what was possible.

“I never take it for granted, ever,” he shares. 

“It still feels like a dream, and it's really hard to forget the journey. You know, once you've worked a regular job and then end up in like a dream scenario where you can play for like, 5000, 8000, 12,000 people in a night, it's surreal, and I want to do it forever, or as long as I possibly can. 

“It's crazy to believe that I've been doing the musical journey professionally [for] about five to six years now, whereas my nursing career was only about - I say two years - but it was really a year and a half. So comparing it like that really puts it into perspective for me.”

It’s refreshing to hear an artist who has achieved so much – since 2017, a trio of EPs and debut album Gabriel, attracting an eye-watering 11 billion streams and sending him to sold-out arenas around the world – in such a short period of time speak with so much grace and humility.

Keshi’s latest, Requiem, has also hit fans hard, pulling one million Spotify listens on day one of its recent release. The subsequent worldwide tour will see him play Madison Square Garden, London’s O2, Paris’s Zenith, our very own Rod Laver Arena, and many more.

Despite his swift ascension to superstardom with millions of fans and followers in these few short years, it’s the simple things in life that Keshi craves when he’s on the road. And if you happen to make a mean Bahn mi, expect a visit from the Texas native when the cravings strike during the 2025 Australian leg of his global tour.

“The standout thing that I remember was a friend of mine [who] lived in Australia for a little bit, and he had recommended me this amazing Bahn mi spot in Sydney. And I was a little bit sceptical - I am Vietnamese, so I'm kind of picky about these things! 

“But when I went there, it was actually like the greatest Bahn mi I've ever had in my entire life. So I cannot wait to go back. 

“That's the kind of magical thing about Australia, is that its proximity to Asia allows for such a rich trade of food and culture and everything.

“But I loved Australia so much. I kind of dreamt of moving there, but I've only been there for tours. I thought everyone was super sweet and super, super friendly.

“Surviving on the road so that you can be your best self on the show, that's kind of the biggest challenge. The show isn't the hard part; you're doing the show because you're good at it. It’s the jet lag and the forgetting to eat and the forgetting to sleep that gets to you.”

From an outsider’s perspective, this idea of ‘rest’ doesn’t appear to be synonymous with the Keshi mode of working.

His childhood growing up in Houston was dotted with lessons and self-tuition – piano, guitar, strings – before focusing his energy on a nursing career. The urge to create, however, was too strong to ignore, and a hard launch of his new musical endeavour meant that Keshi has barely sat still since. 

Requiem, written back home in Texas off the back of two years of touring debut Gabriel, gave Keshi a chance to reflect on his impressive but all-encompassing journey, honour the passing of a friend through his unique blend of melodious pop, country and R&B while acknowledging his position on the precipice of what is very likely to be a grand and lengthy career ahead.

Even after all this and on the eve of this next global tour, he cannot help but chase down creativity when it strikes.

“I've been cracking away at a song for the past couple of days, which is always really nice because I kind of get sent to this vortex where problems don't exist, and the only thing in front of me is the song, and I don't have to worry about other things; even if the world's on fire behind me, I can just lock in.

“It's kind of funny like that. I definitely experienced that burnout [after Gabriel], like you just finished a marathon. You want to take a break. 

“But every so often, lighting kind of strikes in your brain, and you have an idea that might keep you up at night until, like, 4 am, so you might as well just go downstairs and hack away at it so that you can go to sleep! 

“That's kind of how it works for me. Sometimes, I don't get to pick and choose when or where inspiration happens.”

Following indiscriminate inspiration that struck Keshi when writing and recording Requiem also took him down a strange – for him – road that he didn’t think he would ever wander down: making his first love song, Soft Spot. 

“When we first wrote that song, I was very, very hesitant about it because of how forward and how sweet it was - I've never written such an unabashed love song before, and I was really nervous about how my fan base was going to receive it. 

“But so far, it seems like the reception is a lot better than I anticipated. Everyone in my circle kind of went crazy for the song, and they're like, ‘If you can't hear what's special in this, there's something wrong with you’. So basically, I got bullied into falling in love with that song.

“So that's the funny thing - I feel like if you're constantly in your comfort zone, then you're not necessarily growing as an artist. And that was probably the challenge: how can I wrangle this kind of song and come into it as my own? 

“This record definitely sounds like a different direction than what I've tended to go in, but not so far out that it's outside the realm of my taste. So it took a while, but we really nailed it, and I'm immensely proud of how it turned out.”

Keshi will tour Australia and New Zealand in February 2025. You can find ticketing information on the Live Nation website.

KESHI

REQUIEM WORLD TOUR - AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 2025

FRIDAY 7 FEBRUARY - SPARK ARENA, AUCKLAND

MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY - QUDOS BANK ARENA, SYDNEY

TUESDAY 11 FEBRUARY - BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, BRISBANE

FRIDAY 14 FEBRUARY - ROD LAVER ARENA, MELBOURNE