Words: Emma Bowdidge
Kai are a 3-piece alternative-rock band from Brighton (Previously known as IAM:YOURHERO) and consists of Jacko Hooper, Rudi Tormey and Josh Trinnaman who make the band up. Jacko answers some questions for Noise Addiction.
So you were previously known as IAM:YOURHERO – What brought on the change of name?
Well when Josh joined we already had the name and since his influence on the sound has been big we felt it was only right that we had a new name that reflected that sound and was something new for all of us to feel a part of. Plus, our old name wasn’t exactly a classic was it.
How have things gone so far as Kai? Fans responding well?
Yeah, the reaction has been pretty good on the whole. Most people were actually relieved we changed it, which was cool as it’s such a big decision to change the band name and something we didn’t take lightly. It’s tricky because on one side of things, people that are already into the music might hate the fact we changed it, and on the other hand, it’s hard to promote something essentially from scratch after promoting a band name for so long. We’re happy though, it was certainly the right decision.
For the people that haven’t heard of you yet can you give us a breif history on the band?
Well we started when I met Rudi in 2004, he moved over from Ireland and happened to move onto my road in Brighton which was stupidly lucky. We met and jammed and wrote together when we were about 9 and 11 years old in his living room with a battered acoustic guitar and a battered drum kit and since then the noise hasn’t stopped coming really. Josh joined the band a couple of years ago after we went through a couple of different bass players and through the years our sound has developed and matured and in fairness, Kai has only existed a few months, I think we would all agree that for the last few years we have been learning our trade, gigging a shit load and just generally getting better at what we want to do. We were lucky that we started very young, I can’t really remember not gigging… We jumped in at the deep end and it has definitely paid off.
You won a Brighton Music Award in 2010 for ‘Best Emerging Band’ – How did that feel to win such an award?
It was special to be honest. To win anything is cool right? It was an award hosted by JuiceFM in Brighton and people voted for their favourite new band in Brighton. We got into the top 5 which in itself was a huge compliment and we were very chuffed, there are hundreds of bands in Brighton so to be picked out of the bunch into a top 5 was pretty cool. To then actually win it… well, that was mad. We got 36% of the vote out of the five bands. Mental. People voted via the Juice website for their favourite and when we won it we were pretty stunned! There are so many great bands in Brighton, of which we go and see all the time. Anyone could have won it but for it to be us was awesome. We went to the award ceremony and doing the speech in front of TV cameras and meeting legends such as Jimmy Page and Roger Daltrey who were amongst the winners was terrifying/amazing. I don’t think we’ll forget that night.
How is the music scene in Brighton? Do you find it competitive?
It’s extremely competitive. Maybe even a victim of it’s own success if your in a band… the music scene down here is amazing and we’re always out going to see shows of our favourite bands, both local and national bands. It’s competitive but at the same time, an amazing place to learn your trade. We were lucky enough to play venues such as Concorde2 as a place to learn how to perform… Not many bands can say that and we certainly don’t take it for granted. A brilliant city with an awesome music scene, it just means you have to be even better than you think you can be to stand out. Nothing wrong with that.
What can someone who has never seen you live before expect from your live show?
Energy. Loud. Fun. Noise.
Which bands do you draw inspiration from musically?
Pfffffffft. Big question? It ranges from post rock/rock bands such as Idiot Pilot, MaybeSheWill, Thrice, AndSoIWatchYouFromAfar, YourCodeNameIs:Milo to electronic artists such as Flashbulb, Aphex Twin, Tipper and Amon Tobin. There’s a huge spectrum of sound that pops into our material!
What does the rest of 2011 hold for Kai? And what do you hope 2012 will bring?
For the rest of this year we will write more with a few shows in between, but we’re in the middle of writing a killer set and hopefully 2012 will be filled with touring, releasing our EP and generally working very hard on new material. We’re excited to kick it all off, hopefully we can carry on the adventure for as long as we want to….
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