Via the vast world of social media, the Kiama Independent recently encountered newly formed UK rock band Kiama. 

Kiama is touted as a progressive rock “supergroup”, featuring Rob Reed (Magenta/Kompendium), Andy Edwards (Frost*/IQ), Luke Machin (Maschine/The Tangent) and Dylan Thompson (Shadow of The Sun/The Reasoning).

Kiama’s debut album Sign of IV was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s ‘Real World’ studio.

The album will be released in January. 

The Independent got the lowdown from drummer Edwards about the band that shares its name with our town. 

Could you tell us a little about how/when the band was formed?

The band was formed about two years ago. We have been working on an album for that time, and the project was announced a few weeks ago. There has been a really great response so far.

All the members have played in other progressive rock bands. I played with IQ and Frost*, and before that I was the drummer for Robert Plant. Rob Reed has a progressive band called Magenta that I have also played with. Luke Machin plays in a band called Maschine and also with The Tangent and Dylan Thompson played with the Reasoning. All these bands are relatively well-known in the prog genre.

So you would predominantly describe yourselves as a progressive band?

I have played many styles of music, but Kiama is a progressive rock band although our influences are a bit wider than some other prog bands. We have classic rock and indie influences too.

Where did you derive the band name from?

We had real difficulties naming the band and we had a list of various names. Kiama came from an ELO track called Kuiama that we all liked. We changed it a bit to make it our own and that's how it came to be.

When did you become aware that there was also a town called Kiama?

Well, you Google the name to check there are no other bands called it and we found out there is a place with the same name. It’s a cool name and Kiama sounds like a great place to go. Many bands are named after places, so finding this out only enhanced the name.

What have you learnt about the town so far?

I have relatives in Australia and my wife was born in Tasmania, so I love Australia. Hopefully we will come and gig there one day, it looks like a beautiful place. I think that the word is Aboriginal and means “where the sea makes a noise”. That's an amazing name for a band.

Should we start a petition for you to play a show here then?

I would love to come over, please make it happen. 

You can visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kiamaband for more details.