KHAYA
Today, Khaya is no more. The biography below is pretty comprehensive though, telling a saga from the good old days when there were Khaya.
Khaya is/are/was:
Dan Mutch - words/guitar
Greg Dodgson - keyboards
John Mackie - bass
Caroline Evens - violin
Pete Harvey - cello
Richie Anderson - drums
Khaya formed in 1996 when Dan moved to Scotland and got together with John. They met up with Greg who was playing guitar in crap bands around Edinburgh. They met Richie through friends of friends and Khaya was. They spent time playing shite gigs around the capital and writing stuff, recording songs on 4-tracks and sending people demos. Holly Hernandez at the Melody Maker liked their demo and after they played live on local radio they were asked to record tracks for the Edinburgh compilation album &it's a life sentence...&.
In October 1997 brand new edinburgh based indie label SL Records put out their debut single, &summer/winter song&. Steve Lamacq, John Peel and Jo Whiley all liked it and played it, and it sold out in a matter of weeks. The band got drunk. Over the winter they started playing regular chaotic live shows at the Cas Rock and The Attic in Edinburgh. Dan went to New York.
Their second single, a double a-side, &duet& and &boy, girl dependence& came out on SL Records in March 1998. people liked this single too, and so did we. The artwork was fucked but the music was great. Over the summer they played at the Planet Pop festival in Edinburgh, as well as at the Edinburgh fringe festival getting themselves barred after they stripped off on stage to celebrate the signing of their deal with koala music. I told them they were pressing the self destruct button.
They calmed down a bit and met Caroline and Pete who play strings. They played their first gigs in London, a sell out at The Water Rats in King's Cross in October 1998, then began work on their debut album in an underground studio in Granton. They emerged with their debut album &We've Got Rhymes 4 x Like These& and their third single &Love and Whips&. Everyone who heard it loved it and they went to Glasgow to play it live on BBC Radio Scotland. &We've Got Rhymes 4 x Like These& and &Love and Whips& were released in November on Koala Music.
Ruairidh joined the band and played guitar for a bit and they went on tour in february and drunk some more. We had some good times down in london and some bad times and they recorded a session for the john peel show on radio one.
Khaya left Koala Music and went into a studio near Dunblane to record some new stuff, but all they did was get pissed. A waste of time and money. So they went into Chamber Studios in Granton and recorded &Avoidance&, their second album. Ruairidh left the band and they went on tour round Scotland. Kirkcaldy's great but Dumfries is shite.
&Avoidance& was released on SL Records in November 1999 and it got reviewed by the NME and the Melody Maker and monthly glossy Q. They recorded a session for the evening session. &Do The Thing& was released as a single in March 2000 and they recorded sessions for Beat 106 and Beat Patrol on Radio Scotland and a second session for John Peel and made their tv debut on BBC's The Beat Room.
They played loads of gigs across Scotland and the UK, some of them were good some of there weren't. We were all drunk. The band were having fun and went back to Chambers Studio in Granton with Grant MacNamara to record an ep in April 2000. In the end they recorded an album, &The Lost Feeling&. It sounded great but the band were playing more shit gigs than good gigs and wanted to take some time off. So they did. Greg got a job where he could drink a lot. Pete got a job so he could afford to buy a motorbike. Caroline got a job so she could afford to buy a house. John bought a new house and a new motorbike and started doing diy. Dan took too many drugs and started writing new songs.
They got back together and started playing good gigs again, with The Fall in Edinburgh and with ballboy down in London. &The Lost Feeling& was released in March and again everyone loved it. We made a video and played some more gigs, then khaya split up on stage in london and are no more.
Footnote : In 2007, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the release of their debut single, SL Records released 'Is/Are/Was' a collection of recordings and sessions from the band. Dan, John and Pete went on to play in Desc and now The Leg. Caroline formed Peanut and now plays with The Starlets. Greg and Richie formed The 55's. Pete and Caroline are also much sort after string players, playing with numerous bands in studios across Scotland September 2008