Kym was born in Walthamstow East London and he grew interested in music through listening to his Dad's LP collection.
By the time I was 10 I was able to hum along to an assortment of styles thanks to my Dads vast collection of everything. I was recognising tunes and singing along to them all, remembering every beat and every sound whether it be Holst and Tchaikovsky, or the Moody Blues and ELP but despite my passion I could never teach myself to read and write music. To this day I cannot understand a single note. By my mid teens I was creating a noise on guitar, was tinkering about on a piano and much to my parents distress, had began inviting people over to make an absolute din with anything that.......made an absolute din! I was also listening to abstract mood music like Tangerine Dream and Faust instead of the usual Gary Glitter and T Rex like all of my friends did.
One Saturday afternoon Dad came home with a copy of 'Close to the Edge' by Yes and it changed my view of music forever. Ever since that day I have appreciated the mix of drums, bass and guitars combining with classical orchestration because it creates such a diverse field of sound. Yes had pulled together everything that I had been listening to and it was presented to me on one LP. It was Rock guitars, Orchestrated keyboards with sound effects and intricate rhythms, all held together with passionate singing and harmonies. It was light and shade and the seventies 'prog rock scene' did that more than any other style of modern music. Later I would discover an earlier LP by the Moody Blues named 'Days of Future past' and again my mind was opened to a new world.
My parents took me to see West End shows like 'Jesus Christ Superstar' and 'Godspell' starring a very young David Essex when I was still an impressionable lad and it just added more passion to the fire. Finally, some time around 1976 and aged about 18 I managed to get to see Yes live at QPR football ground. It is to this day the most memorable musical experience ever. The special effects, the sound, the atmosphere and the sheer technical abilities of those musicians was stunning to behold and that moment has since been stamped and sealed within me to remember. It is my bench mark. I had moved forward into a different world and I had begun to understand who I was and what I wanted to do.
Many years later and Kym had grown a catalogue of tales about so many bands and musicians that he has had the pleasure to have worked with. He has travelled abroad with professionals and has put together his own bands and is happy to perform as a background member or as a singer/front man.
It's just the doing of it which I love. I have come full circle but I am happier now just playing locally within Hollow Earth because it is the band that I always wanted. Hollow Earth to me is a fitting tribute to those artists and bands who inspired me years ago to do better. What more of a 'thank you' is there than to perform their material and keep them, and 'prog' alive. I am so fortunate to have found the right people who make this band work.
As for the future, my dream is to have my musical 'Skylight' written for a rock/orchestra, played to me, live!