'I hope to be famous one day' - Leitrim artist with autism set to release fourth album
There is exciting things ahead for a young Leitrim man with autism working on his fourth music album
A 20-year-old autistic musician from Mohill, Leitrim is hoping to one day be famous for producing music.
Keanu is a member of Irish Wheelchair Association in Carrick-on-Shannon since 2024 and is part of the school leavers group there.
He said that he found school very challenging so he is focusing on his love for music and his involvement with the school-leavers group.
Keanu has been releasing music under the name DJ K Fusion since 2021 with over 200 unreleased songs in total.
He is currently working on his fourth album called Puzzles 2 which is set to be released at the end of the July 2026.
Keanu is also set to preform one of his songs at the Ablefest Music Festival 2026 on Saturday, July 25, 2026, at Fairyhouse Racecourse, Co Meath, which he is really excited for.
He also plays the piano and taught himself how to play by ear, without any actual lessons, which he uses to produce his music.
He has three albums released already with his latest album titled Puzzles to represent his autism.
“With Puzzles it represents autism, I created it because of the autism puzzle piece, so it’s very personal for me.”
Keanu’s passion for music started about six years ago with music being a big part of his family as a whole.
“It was in my family my whole life, we were all into music. It was a big part of my upbringing.”
Keanu sadly lost his father last year and he said music played a huge part in helping him get through the tough time.
His father, who was really into country music, was a big part of the young man’s life.
“He done a lot for me. Music helped me big time during that time.”
Keanu found inspiration in the music of Ed Sheeran, Eminem and Justin Bieber, who are his three favourite artists.
When he was 14, he started making his own music after he discovered an app called Soundtrap.
“You can make your own music there with loops and samples. Autism kind of affects me in a way where I find things slower to do, so I make what I feel, whatever flow I want to do, I’ll do it, whatever genre.”
Keanu also said that because of his autism he finds it very difficult to write lyrics so he uses AI to help him write lyrics over his music.
“I use a tool called SunoAI, if you put in a prompt, say if you want it to create a pop song with 100bpm, it’ll create the lyrics and it’s a full song.
“I’m kind of slower at making tracks so I use FL Studio and then I go to SunoAI, so I take the melody, put it in and create it. I have full beats I put in and then SunoAI makes the lyrics. There’s someone singing on them but it’s AI.”
When creating a song, Keanu’s main aim is that he wants to make something fun that people will enjoy listening to.
“All I say is I hope they enjoy my music because I create music for people to enjoy,” he says. “I’m trying to make them sound as original as possible.
“I’m never going to give up. I’m just going to keep going because music is my dream. But no one sees my music which is the hard part of it.”
Keanu said that his music is shared on different music platforms like Spotify but getting listeners is very difficult.
His advice to anyone else who would like to try making music is to “never give up” and to use online resources to help you learn how to get better.
“What I’d suggest is watch YouTube tutorials, there are loads of different producers on there who teach you how to make music. That’s where I started really, I watched YouTube tutorials and I learned myself then as I went on.”
He adds: “Take your time, don’t be stressing if you don’t have the tools. That’s why these sites are there, so you can learn.”
As for what’s next for DJ K Fusion, Keanu explains that his main goal now is getting his music out there and promoting his new album.
“I want to get out there more with radio stations. I’ve emailed countless ones,” Keanu told the Irish Wheelchair Association.
One thing Keanu would also love to try is busking and getting his music out to a wider audience.
“I hope to be famous one day. That’s my plan.”
Keanu said that autism is not a disability it’s an ability. “It’s just a different way of speaking your mind and of thinking of things.”