If there's a correct way to herald in the new year, signing up to play a home-town festival show just might be it.
KIAN will be doing just that as he heads up the Castlemaine State Festival line-up in central Victoria, which runs from late March to early April."I'm super excited to return to my home town and play. It's where I grew up and for them to have a festival is so amazing. It’s always a great festival down there as well."
Asked if he will see some old friends, he muses: "Most of my friends have moved away to pursue study and careers, but potentially."
The line-up boasts some impressive musical acts including Frente, Vika & Linda Bull, The Southern River Band, and Jaguar Jonze to name a few.
There will also be dozens of dramatic pieces and performance art as well as cultural discussions spanning 17 days. The festival has been running since 1976, making it one of Australia's longest running, regional arts festivals.
For most artists engaged in the craziness of the festival schedule KIAN is used to, the holidays are a time to wind down. Not so for KIAN, who kept himself busy cramming in as much in as he could.
"I've been hanging out with friends and family, and writing a bunch of new material for my next album."
When asked about his debut album (he's released two EPs), KIAN expounds that expanding his sound is his key directive for the album.
"It's all stuff I haven't done before. I'm really expanding my sound and growing and challenging myself. It's all really different, and that's exciting. It really is like nothing I've done before."
KIAN's most recent EP came out in August and since then he has released two music videos plus two live performance videos, as well as playing a spate of EP launch shows.
"The shows were really amazing. At one of the shows, a bunch of my mates, like Becca Hatch, came up onstage. It was a massive show, and a lot of fun."
By all accounts, the crowd responded well to the new songs. "There is something that happens in the room when I play 'Direction'. The crowd gets into it, and it's an incredible vibe. It's indescribable really.
"In terms of my favourite song to play, it changes every night, and some crowds love one particular song and other crowds love a different one. I love that, different songs speaking to different people."
Despite being a seasoned performer, he doesn't have any tuning jokes to offer. "No, I'm not really good at that stuff. I usually tell a personal story, or sometimes I have prepared what I'm going to say. I usually just say whatever comes to me in the moment."
As for going out for coffee, KIAN prefers keeping it low-key. "I'm definitely a go out for coffee guy. There's a great place in Newtown that I love, and when I'm playing shows in another city, I love finding the best coffee place."
KIAN plays Western Reserve Big Top 31 March as part of Castlemaine State Festival, which runs 24 March to 9 April.
