MTV Meets: Kyan

By Tamara Roper

Kyan is an silky voiced urban soulster from Cambridge whose self penned tracks are fast making the likes of Kiesza and MNEK take notice. Having already supported London Grammar and AlunaGeorge, MTV go in there early to chat influences, first date hot spots and what it is about Stevie Wonder that gets to him.

MTV: Hello Kyan. Where are you right now and what are you doing?
Kyan: Hello MTV. Right now I'm sat in my studio working on a song called "Bad Science."

MTV: You’re pretty new to the music business. Tell us a little about yourself.
Kyan: I released my first EP "The Purple Experiment" earlier this year as an introduction to what I do as a singer/songwriter/producer. In my spare time I read, and watch a lot of films, so I think that translates into my creative process. Whenever I write a song, I see it first as vivid moving images. I try to translate that world into a narrative, and then build a musical soundscape around it.

MTV: What moving image did you see when you wrote 'Taking The City' then?
Kyan: I saw a film called ‘21’ some years back. It was about a group of hyper intelligent students and their professor going to Las Vegas to count cards and make a ton of money. This formed the backdrop of the narrative of "Taking The City," with "Casino night…neon city…Gold loaded dice…Snake eyes…Money city…We took the house down".
But rather than the winnings being for personal benefit, I adapted it into a kind of a modern day Robin Hood story… "With black bags of cash to leave at every door, from the rich back to the poor."  When I was writing the lyrics and creating the production, I imagined I was with the characters; I could see what they saw and feel what they felt. It's a very visual song.

MTV: Tell us about the last book and film that you read and watched respectively.
Kyan: I read "The Rosie Project", which is about a professor with Aspergers who creates a questionnaire for prospective partners, in an attempt to make the dating process more efficient.  For me, books are like people; I like them if they make me laugh and teach me something. It was brilliant.

I actually haven't watched a film in a while, I've been too occupied with Game of Thrones and House of Cards!

MTV: How would you describe your music to an OAP?
Kyan: A widescreen 70's sci-soul epic, directed by Wes Anderson, premiered on a spaceship.

MTV: We see you’re from Cambridge. Where’s the best place to take someone on a date in Cambridge?
Kyan: If I was trying to impress someone, I'd probably take them to Alimentum; the food is incredible. I used to play piano there on the weekends, so I've tried practically everything on the menu!

MTV: What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
Kyan: I went on tour with London Grammar around the UK at the start of the year. It was amazing to be able to play to such an attentive audience night after night. Manchester and Glasgow were probably my favourite, people responded really well. It almost felt like I was playing my own headline show.

MTV: What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played?
Kyan: I used to rap when I was a kid, and one time during a performance to my entire year group I forgot the words. I was so mortified I dropped the microphone, ran out of the hall, and went home.
Recently, I had a pretty awkward moment where my keyboard switched to a harpsichord in the middle of a set…It took me a couple of minutes to work out what was going on. It was pretty hilarious.
I think that's what I love about playing live though, it's unpredictable, you never know what's going to happen. It keeps you on your toes.

MTV: If you could have written any song ever, which would it be?
Kyan: "They Won't Go When I Go" by Stevie Wonder. I feel like that song was scientifically engineered for my body, every time I hear it I feel completely overwhelmed. It's a tragically beautiful song.

MTV: Can you elaborate on what you meant by it being ‘scientifically engineered for your body’? It’s a wonderful way of describing your affinity with a song.
Kyan: It's hard to explain, but certain chords in relation to each other affect me physically; it feels like my body reacts to it internally. It's the kind of emotion that feels completely pure.
I guess it's what Roberta Flack was describing with "strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words, killing me softly with his song."  It's the reason I started writing songs, and I will spend the rest of my life trying to replicate this in my own music.

MTV: You’ve supported Kiesza, London Grammar and AlunaGeorge. Who out of those three would you most like to collaborate with?
Kyan: I'd do a music video with Kiesza, so I could pick up some new moves…I think AlunaGeorge could do an amazing remix of one of my songs. London Grammar create beautiful timeless music, so I'm sure we could write something special.

MTV: What would be your death row meal?
Kyan: I love barbecues. Ribs, pork chops, chicken, greek salad, potato salad, pimms. I would die a happy death.

MTV: What are your summer plans?
Kyan: My new EP "Days in a Triangle" comes out 14th July. Then I'll be locked away working on my album and coming up for air to play a few festivals.

MTV: Do you think about music in terms of science and maths often? Your new EP is called “Days In a Triangle”....
Kyan: Ha, I hadn't realised that. It wasn't a conscious decision to have the first as a science, and the second as a maths reference. Perhaps I like the contrast of something creative and fluid with something solid and factual… I don't know.