Hailing from Valpovo, Croatia, Ivan Keller was brought to Mike by Animal Drive bandmate, Dino Jelusick. It was a metal sounding 7-String player that Mike needed to play rhythm guitar. Ivan possessed more than enough skills necessary to fill that role on this album.
In addition to fulfilling that role for Invisible Signs, Ivan’s ability to play lead came in handy as he offered some embellishments and additions to Mike’s virtual guitar demos. His adding a climbing melody to the pre-chorus of It’s Noise is a great example of how a subtle part can make a huge difference in the feeling of the overall music.
Mike refelcted on this saying how happy he is with Ivan’s tracks. “I was so relieved when I heard Ivan’s tracks, especially after they were fully processed. He not only got the vibe I was looking for, but elevated it. He added nuances that in no way I could’ve done in that way from a keyboard or midi-programming perspective. I know that Ivan is capable of playing amazing leads and his humble approach to making my parts sound the way I always hoped they would was vital to this album’s overall impact. If the rhythm guitar did not ‘crunch,’ then entire album would not have the spine it was conceived with. Having a virtual guitar tool single handedly allow me to compose this record properly. Still, one could tell that the guitar wasn’t quite real at times and had to be replaced."
Some music officionados say that the guitar sound defines an music work’s genre. Invisible Signs needed a metal sounding guitar, especially in songs like “Black Box” and “Let Me Shine,” which were composed from more of a popular Rap perspective.
Ivan’s sound glued together the almost opposite sounding tracks, "Black Box" and “Not Drowning” and thus, glued together the vibe of the entire record.
