Kaya

Artist Information

Biography

This year has already seen Kaya selected for the Canadian Music Fest (Canada's largest festival) and Glastonbury (the UK's largest Festival) and the main stage of the First Days Of Freedom festival alongside some of the biggest UK acts around - an exciting start to 2011!

Kaya are an energetic 5-piece live urban group fusing together elements of Reggae, Ska, Soul, Pop, Indie, Jazz, Dubstep, HipHop and even some high-energy live band Drum and Bass!

The band consists of a 3-piece live rhythm section in guitarist Matt, bassist Tom Y and drummer Tom H and 2 vocalists, Anglo-Mauritian rapper Natty and Anglo-Norwegian songstress Aina.

Kaya have been busy over the years winning a music competition on UK’s largest radio station BBC Radio 1, playing all over the UK and internationally at events such as Canadian Music Fest in Toronto, the BBC 1Xtra University Tour, Berlin Fashion Week and the Sony Radio Academy Awards, and have supported global chart-topping acts such as Sugababes and Ne-Yo. Kaya's popularity is even spreading to international music markets such as Japan, New Zealand and Canada.

The group's music has been featured on numerous TV productions broadcast on Channel 4 (UK) and Extreme Sports Channel (Global), ITV (UK) and Sky 1 (UK).

Kaya are described as “the ultimate festival band”; they are in their most natural element when performing live, a true crowd-pleaser that never fails to leave the audience entertained and wanting more. They have become a reputable regular on the festival circuit both in the UK and abroad with increasing bookings at the likes of Glastonbury, Hope, Holifair and more.

For a great visual of the group in action visit the Video page on this EPK to see both their music video for single Rat Race and a live performance video of the group performing their encore track as headliners of the 2010 Hope Festival.

All band members individually had accomplished careers as musicians before coming together to form Kaya. From Jazz guitarist Matt to Hard Rock drummer Tom H and Dub bassist Tom Y, their popular and accessible sound comes from their different musical backgrounds, gelled together in the form of Kaya to create a new popular sound for the masses. Vocalists Natty and Aina complete the line-up bringing addictive vocal melodies and captivating lyrics; a powerful combination that has led to their increasing popularity over the past 12 months and an excellent start to 2011.

2010 saw amazing developments for the live Dubsters, chosen to be part of the multi-million dollar official launch of mobile music video streaming platform 'Audiotube' supported by phone manufacturer Nokia and Dolby. In September 2010 a Kaya performance at London's O2 Arena was filmed and broadcast to 50 million handsets worldwide.

2010 also saw Kaya release their long-awaited debut single 'Rat Race', a satirical track themed around the financial responsibilities of modern day life, cheekily poking a bit of fun at a subject to which we can all relate and aiming to bring a smile to the faces of all those who hear it.

Taken from Kaya’s forthcoming album ‘Look Beneath the Surface’, due for release in Summer 2011, Rat Race achieved plays on radio stations across the globe. The release also achieved long-standing placements on 3 different 'Bestseller Charts' on reputable digital retailer Juno Records.

Kaya are represented exclusively by Inigo Group, a UK music company that handles all business aspects of Kaya's career including their management, bookings, merchandising, PR and promotion, sales/distribution and publishing - a one-stop shop for everything Kaya all under one roof.

For all enquires regarding the group please feel free to contact Kaya's manager Alex who will be able to assist in anything you would like to know.

alex@inigogroup.com
www.inigo-online.com

Instrumentation

Matt - Guitar
Tom Y - Bass Guitar
Tom H - Drums
Aina - Vocals
Natty - Vocals

Discography

PAST RELEASES

2008
'Slaves' - single

2009
'Stepping Stones' - single

2010
August 2010 – ‘Rat Race’ single + remix EP (achieved 3 'Bestsellers Chart' placements on Juno Digital Music Store)

2011
July 2011 - ‘Look Beneath The Surface’ album



TV SUPPORT

Channel 4 (UK) – ‘Gumball Rally 3000’ – music placement
Extreme Sports (International) – Extreme Streetball: Battle For Europe – music placement
ITV (UK) – ‘Star Psychic’ – featured performance
Channel 4 (UK) – ‘Rat Race Urban Adventure’ – music placement
Sky 1 (UK) – live performance broadcast in September 2010
Online TV – ‘In The Eyes Of The Players’ Season 3 – music placement






UK RADIO SUPPORT 2010

Playlisted on 12 UK university radio stations
BBC Kent, UK - weekly plays
BBC Radio 1, UK - spot plays
Diesel Radio, UK - weekly plays
Get Known Radio - online plays
Diverse FM, UK - online plays
Radio UK - online plays




INTERNATIONAL RADIO SUPPORT 2010

RADIO CHART! – Radio Lany, Norway - spot plays
RADIO CHART! – ODU FM, Chicago, USA - spot plays

Up FM, Auckland, New Zealand - playlisted
Bop FM, Tauranga, New Zealand - playlisted + live phone interview May 18th

Kiss 87.6, Adelaide, Australia - spot plays
Magic 985, Australia - spot plays
3PTH Perth, Australia - spot plays

Hot 99.5, Washington, USA - spot plays
Jammin' 107, Oregon, USA - spot plays.
Kiss 99.3 FM, Pennsylvania, USA - spot plays
Radio WMPH Wilmington, USA - spot plays
DJ Gary Cannavo, Masspool DJs, USA - spot plays
DJ Ricky Crespo, USA - spot plays
DJ Papi, USA - spot plays
1Club.FM Radio, USA - spot plays
AOL Radio, USA - spot plays
Move Radio, USA - spot plays
Focus On The DJ, USA (mobile radio streaming) – spot plays
Radio Max Music, USA - spot plays
WZEO New Hampshire, USA - spot plays
KZEO Oklahoma, USA - spot plays
The Mix Utah, USA - spot plays
WDA 1, USA - spot plays
Party List, USA - spot plays
Kult FM New York, USA - spot plays
Frisky Radio, USA - spot plays
RuKus Radio, USA - spot plays
Urban Suburban Radio, USA - spot plays

Fréquence Banane, Lausanne, Switzerland - spot plays
RSR Couleur 3, Lausanne, Switzerland - spot plays
Global FM, Lausanne, Switzerland - spot plays

Parsifal FM919, Italy - spot plays
NeroCartaOro, Italy - spot plays
Radio Carisma, Italy - spot plays
Radio Kiss Kiss, Italy - spot plays
Radio Splash, Italy - spot plays

Ace FM, Spain - spot plays
Super Station Benidorm, Spain - spot plays
The Beat, Spain - spot plays

Brussels FM, Brussels, Belgium - playlisted
Laidback FM, Belgium/Croatia - playlisted

Radio057, Croatia - weekly rotation plays
Antenna Zagreb, Croatia - spot plays
Stop FM, Croatia - spot plays

Fokus Music, France - spot plays

Sunshine Live Radio, Netherlands - spot plays

Sunshine Live Radio, Germany - spot plays

Energy Fm, Malta - spot plays

Kiss FM, Algarve - spot plays

Dance FM, Cyprus - spot plays

Rhythm FM, Turkey - spot plays

DYR Radio 105.1FM, South Africa - added playlist
Vibe FM, South Africa - added playlist

CKLN FM, Canada - spot plays
CACH Radio, Canada - rotation

247 Music Radio, Singapore - spot plays

Radio Eclipse, Chile - spot plays





PRESS / ONLINE FEATURES 2010

Blues and Soul Magazine - review
Touch Magazine - interview
NME - music video feature
No. 5 Magazine – feature (Magazine by Rio Ferdinand from Manchester United FC)
Triple F Podcast – feature
Low Rise Magazine – interview and feature
Vents Magazine - feature
North Devon Gazette – article
Kentish Express (circulation 100,000+) - feature
Kent on Sunday (circulation 200,000+) - interview
The Plugg Blog - online article and review
Skope TV – music video feature
Hype Machine Blog - online article and review
Skippers Chippers Blog - online article and review
Pop Librarian Blog - online article and review
No Modest Bear Blog (Sweden) - online article and review
True To Sound Blog - online article and review
Beats Workin Blog - online article and review
Mike Ashworth's Blog - online article and review
Turn Off The Radio Blog - online article and review
Ya Neh Blog (South Africa) - online article and review
Female All Stars Blog - online article and review
Buzznet Blog - online article and review
Music Blips Blog - online article and review
Black Planet Blog - online article and review
Nextcat Blog - online article and review
Wildscreen - online article and review
Dottra Blog - online article and review
Bandweblogs Blog - online article and review
Soundword Blog - online article and review
Friends By Far Blog - online article and review
Chw Yr Vtmns Blog - online article and review
Too Much Flavour Blog - online article on live event
Live Journal Community - online article and review

To see more details of the promotion results listed above including DJ quotes and scores, scans of press and more, please feel free to download our full 2010 PDF report from the following URL:

http://www.officialkaya.com/kaya_promo.pdf

Official Website

http://www.officialkaya.com

Links

• MySpace
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Last.fm

Audio

• In The Dead Of Night
  Listen   Download
• Rat Race
  Listen   Download
• Bills
  Listen   Download
• Dumb Down
  Listen   Download
• Demons
  Listen   Download
• Stop And Go
  Listen   Download
• Keep Your Head High
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• Rat Race
• Keep Your Head High

Video

Rat Race (Official Music Video)

Kaya headlining at the Hope festival

Photo Gallery

Press

• Kaya's Variety Of Influences Make For Whole New Sound [+ Show ]
  

  BY EMBRACING a new era in the world of music, local band Kaya looks set to make a big noise on th...BY EMBRACING a new era in
  the world of music, local band
  Kaya looks set to make a big noise
  on the international scene.
  The Kent-based group will release their
  debut single, Rat Race, this summer and
  their music has received airplay as far afield
  as New Zealand. With the help of emerging
  record label Inigo, the band is steadily
  increasing its profile in the UK and beyond.
  Kaya’s sound has been described as a
  broad fusion between hip hop, soul, ska, dub
  and reggae, but guitarist Matt Howard, from
  Tunbridge Wells, would rather let the music
  do the talking.
  “Our influences are really down to each
  member. We’re all into similar things, but
  there is also a lot of diverse stuff,” he said.
  “Our drummer Tom’s forte is hardcore
  metal and we use his skill and turn it into a
  drum and bass feel. As soon as you draw
  comparisons to another band, that’s out
  there, so we don’t really give comparisons.
  “It’s an urban style of music, but we bring
  together lots of different genres.”
  Howard, 31, has always been keen to pursue
  a career as a musician and as well as performing,
  he also helps out with the record
  label. His practical approach to the industry
  has proved of benefit to both his own projects
  and his work with Kaya, who formed about
  three years ago.
  “My dad was a guitarist who worked with
  producer Joe Meek, so from a young age I
  was exposed to music,” he said.
  “I went to Manchester in my late teens to
  study sound engineering, because if I was
  going to hire a studio, it meant I could keep
  the costs down.
  “When I graduated, I came back down here
  and worked at a few major record labels.
  That was more about business and learning
  how the industry worked. It was the same
  philosophy – I didn’t know how the studio
  worked, so I learned about it and I didn’t
  know how the industry worked, so I learned
  about that too.”
  Established
  Howard had worked with vocalists Natty
  and Aina on a previous project, Sweetoof,
  which earned the title of BBC Radio 1
  Unsigned Band of the Year in 2003.
  By developing Kaya’s sound over a period
  of two years while the record label established
  itself, they have found a new way to
  work within the music industry and the
  future looks bright.
  “The advantages of technology mean that
  putting music together and marketing it yourself
  has never been so easy,” Howard said.
  “Big record companies are changing the
  way they work and it’s very easy to make
  music available. It’s not so easy with sales,
  but we’re looking at other revenue streams
  like merchandising or getting our music on
  adverts.
  “I think UK music is very vibrant at the
  moment and as a nation, we’re churning out
  some incredible music.”
  Find out more about Kaya online at
  www.officialkaya.com.

• Kaya Review [+ Show ]
  

  It's nearly always a memorable sound when a couple of rappers are joined by a drummer, guitarist and...It's nearly always a memorable sound when a couple of rappers are joined by a drummer, guitarist and bassist. Add a bit of brass for that Ska edge and remix it a few times.
  
  The end result is the latest offering from UK act Kaya.
  With eight drastically different versions of this song it’s virtually impossible not to grow attached to at least one of them. They’ve even thrown in another song too, just for good measure and Dumb Down is also a pretty good track.
  On the downside, if you’ve recently seen Kaya and are looking for a recording which captures their gritty raw sound on CD, you aren’t going to find it here. The tracks on the EP are well produced and the radio edit of Rat Race is almost too sleek when compared to the way it sounds live.

• Theres A New Sound In Town [+ Show ]
  

  Vivacious and exceptionally warm are just two of the words that spring to mind when within minutes o...Vivacious and exceptionally warm are just two of the words that spring to mind when within minutes of meeting Kaya.....

• Its All Give And Take [+ Show ]
  

  Kaya aren't your normal rock stars.. in fact calling them rock stars probably does them an injustice...Kaya aren't your normal rock stars.. in fact calling them rock stars probably does them an injustice....

• A Band With A Difference
  

  "Kaya have got it.. whatever 'it' is, they have it"

• Really like 'Rat Race'
  

  "Really liked the track Rat Race, we will definitely play it on a specialist show"

• Love Kaya!
  

  “Our listeners love Kaya, we had a lot of fun when they came to the studio”

• Best Band I've Heard In A Long Time [+ Show ]
  

  "Thanks very much for your track! Its the bomb, I love it! I will play it on my show this coming su..."Thanks very much for your track! Its the bomb, I love it!
  I will play it on my show this coming sunday!"
  

Setlist

Live set - 45 mins

Rat Race
Demons
Bills
Dumb Down
Stop And Go
Dead Of The Night
Roots Deep
Systems Are Down
Slaves
All The Youth
Keep Your Head High

Kaya also perform freestyle urban Jazz and live Drum and Bass.

There is a DJ that comes with the band who can also perform additional DJ sets all-inclusive in the 1 booking price for the band.

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

Kaya Rider and Tech Spec 2011

Calendar