Ryan Kitto: Home Grown Cumbrian Talent
You might call this home grown Cumbrian lad a jack of all trades. Since leaving school Ryan Kitto has cracked the modelling industry, had roles in Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, and landed a lead vocal role in a band after applying on Gumtree. Set to play Mighty Boof’s At the Stadium in May, Ryan is looking forward to getting back to his roots and showing his home county the sound of Late Night Legacy.
Egremont lad, Ryan Kitto makes up one quarter of Leeds based band, Late Night Legacy. After answering an advertisement online for a lead singer, Ryan landed the gig and the four piece band went on to win the 2015 Battle of the Bands as well opening an event for Duran Duran.
Ryan said: “Our sound is hard to explain in a few words, unless you’ve heard us, we often get compared to Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam and Incubus, which is class as I love all of those bands and see it as a huge compliment.”
The rock funk band, who has stepped up their rehearsals since securing bigger gigs, has often been compared to Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam and Incubus. Ryan said: “We are a rock funk band consisting of myself (vocals) Rob Orange (guitar) Kyle Metcalf (bass) and Josh Stayman (drums).
Ryan’s love for music was sparked at a young age and he recalls dancing around the living room with his younger brother Ross, to their dad’s Madness and the Specials records. He said: I didn’t start making music until I was about 13 or 14 years old. I chose bass and started Jamming with Ross and a good friend of ours Lewis Scott, who then became lead guitarist in my first band Hostile where I dropped the bass and picked up a microphone.”
After winning Radio Aire’s Battle of the Bands last year, Ryan said: “My heart was pounding so hard when they were announcing the top three. You’d think I’d just won Mr. Olympia the way we were all jumping and shouting when they announced our name. The prizes helped us so much with our progress, paid for a lot of merchandise and our first video so yeah, thanks for choosing us Radio Aire.”
With so much local talent originating from Cumbria, Ryan knows too well the battles every band faces when trying to land a big break. Ryan added: “As we’re finding out and most unsigned bands will know it’s one of the toughest jobs out there and the amount of work you have to put in can potentially be the making or breaking of a lot of bands, but most people we’ve spoken to say it’s all about soldiering on and just doing everything in your power to get gigs, get reviewed and get your music heard no matter how long it takes.
“I think I speak for myself and the rest of the band when I say we’re definitely committed and in it for the long haul. But saying that, there is a lot of local talent that is doing exceptionally well such as Colt 45 their new stuff is sounding absolutely wicked and of course all of us here at LNL are #TeamJolan. Although I’m not usually a big fan of the show, I’ve watched every performance of his so far and he is absolutely killing it.”
Offering out advice to other unsigned Cumbrian talent, Ryan said: “If you want to be in a band, go for it, pick up that beat up guitar, get your best friends to buy some instruments and have fun; that’s all Nirvana did and they became one of the most influential bands in rock and grunge history. Playing something you have created to a room full of people and seeing those people actually singing along to your lyrics and dancing to your tunes is one of the best feelings in the world.”
The best way to keep up with the band is to like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @LNLegacy. For booking enquiries email [email protected].
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