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The amazing music of the supernova-electric superstar KALEB MCKANE floats free. The polymath's rock compositions move in vibrant spirals, though they're always neatly controlled and nuanced by a sense of inner of strength and ritual. Kaleb plays without safety nets, without paracord, and without lifelines. His only connection to this earth is through a guitar- cable connected to his amplifier. “I'm afraid of falling upwards, you see — as if gravity is deac- tivated and useless...” Kaleb gives meaning to this transcendent astrophobia by creating condensed and supercharged rock concertos. His work is easily com- pared to Bowie, Hendrix and Prince — with strong melodic lines and bluesy virtuosity, the numbers are recognizable and highly marketable — and also apparitional. “I'm an extremely organized individual. Otherwise I might end up floating like a ghost — a detached wraith — forever rotating in a formless galaxy.” Kaleb was born in Brisbane, Australia, but moved to England when he was young and where he was raised by his mother, a celebrated performance pianist. He won a scholarship to the famous independ- ent day school at Ewell Castle, in Surrey — the same school where Mercury Prize-winning songwriter/producer Sampha studied. Kaleb admits he was not fit for a life of study and recognizes he did not apply himself educationally. Music became a distraction, soon it became the main focus: “I think I found myself isolated from others, seperated from the scholastic world. Although I found the isolation quite healthy. It set me up, emotionally, for what I would become. Losing myself in music became a therapy.” He tried to please his mother by studying piano, but found true salvation in the guitar. “She gave me my first instrument, a Squier Stratocaster in red, on my twelfth birthday. I soon got to grips with it. I played my first public show just after that: “The Great Gig in the Sky” taken from Dark Side of the Moon. Accompa- nied by my Mum on keyboards.” “I remember thinking my friends and teachers were quite surprised, perhaps shocked. After the recital I became known as “the guitar guy...” “I found myself playing in jam sessions at the age of fourteen, writing my own music at fifteen and studying music at seventeen. I already knew I would never be an ideal band member. I couldn't be another Jimmy Page. I wanted to be the central figure. Even at twelve I wanted to be Robert Plant.” The choice of his mother's music was a big influence on Kaleb: “She loves Led Zeppelin, of course, and also Pink Floyd, Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie and Free. She played me her favorite songs as we zoomed around London in her cabriolet.” “But it's fair to say I knew, in my heart, I would never be an en- semble musician like she was. I didn't have the discipline to ap- ply myself. I dropped out of school at sixteen, and after a year at the ICMP (The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance) I went to do a foundation degree in popular music at one of the main conservatories in the world — the Royal Northern College of Mu- sic.” “At the College of Music I was confronted with classical works and a lot of really committed and stimulating musicians. Athough, it's true, I still felt out of place — as if I was the musical anti- christ in a sacred institution. ” When he was sixteen Kaleb went to see Jeff Beck play a show. “I don't mind admitting I cried...” he says. “I was emotionally struck by Jeff's fluency, supreme ability and elegant grace. He seemed so easy-handed yet in complete control. I remember thinking he was self-determined and self-sufficient, but also free. I wanted to be just like him.” Later, when studying at the Royal Northern College of Music, he saw a recital by the free-form guitarist, composer and improviser: Daniel Brew. “His performance really affected me, his piece was in constant development and it had such beautiful emotion ... yet he played this on a rock guitar — an instrument which usually de- fines anger, passion and dissidence. It was as if he had trapped all the angry-craziness inside a velvet syllabub of sounds. I un- derstood, then and there, that I wanted my own music to be heard the same way — to be coherent yet seamless.” After graduating from the College of Music, Kaleb teamed-up with blues-rock heroes “Never the Bride” and took one year out — aged 21 — touring with Nikki and her friends across the UK. This summer he will release his solo EP titled “Universe in Re- verse” and is already working on a 10-track solo album, due 2019. === Universe in Reverse KALEB MCKANE'S spellbinding musical sojourns are explored in de- tail on his fresh 3-track EP (out July 2018) titled “Universe in Reverse.” On the breathtaking recording the wunderkind meditates on the birth and death of a multi-sequined universe. With a melodic base and refined lines and tones, the songs will take the listener on an experiential journey that enters the realm of love, sex and loss. The tracks on the crowd-funded EP summarize Kaleb's perpetual state of nervous existence. Rock connoisseurs will discover songs that have the dramatic impact of Jeff Buckley (admired by Kaleb, a character he curiously resembles) and performed in high tenor. They reach high climaxes, with guitars so explosively hot they threaten to fracture the sky. The multi-instrumentalist singer (he plays a long-necked Strato- caster, a tailored Les Paul 1986 and his favorite: an acoustic Kinkade 1978 on the disc) is aided by drummer Dean Pearson, aka Denzel and Toshi on bass [The Wildhearts.] The tracks are: 1. Universe in Reverse — this sums up Kaleb's concern with the fear of floating beyond his physical boundaries 2. Psychosexual Supernova — this is an exploration of desire and passion. It's the most glamorous of the three songs and the first song that Kaleb had the courage to write with such an unusual and distinctive structure 3. Lack of Gravity — this is the “oldest” song in the collection, about the loss of one's “sense of self” and regaining one's foot- ing in a dangerous world. This EP absorbs and assimilates the most satisfying examples of glam rock: the voodoo electric-energy of Hendrix, the genial sexu- ality of D'Angelo, the colourful extravagance of Prince and the guitar horniness of Mick Ronson. All this is velvet-wrapped in the type of flamboyant narcissism that Freddie Mercury would never be afraid to exploit. Produced by Miles James (Michael Kiwanuka, Emile Sande) and mixed by Hans-Martin Buff (personal engineer for Prince) the EP was rec- orded at Echo Zoo, Eastbourne UK using vintage equipment. “Universe in Reverse” will be launched on 27th July 2018 Kaleb McKane's live band is: Dean Pearson (drums) with Alex Chjnacki (bass) and Matt Henderson (rhythm guitar and keys) .

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