“The last time I played The Assembly in Leamington Spa was with Touchstone, which was my last ever gig with the band. And then this is going to be my first gig with the solo material, so the venue and the event both have special places in my heart really,” ruminates vocalist Kim Seviour. It’s been a tough past 12 months for the singer, from leaving Touchstone due to her ongoing health issues with ME to finishing her psychology degree, alongside more illness and, finally, putting the finishes touches on her debut solo album. But with the Trinity Live charity all-dayer fast approaching, which provides the first opportunity for fans to experience her new material, the singer is now in great spirits.
“I’ve barely been on stage since I left Touchstone, so the idea of road testing the new material at Trinity is really great. It’s the perfect place to do it as well, the crowd are really supportive and I’m excited to show them what I’ve done. It’s been about 18 months since I’ve done a full set so it is a little daunting, but I am really proud of the material so it’s exciting to get out there, play it and see what response it gets.”
Kim, whose then-Touchstone bandmate Adam Hodgson co-founded the event in 2014, has fond memories of that maiden Trinity voyage:
“The atmosphere was great. Playing a festival is good fun anyway but it did feel like a really special event. It just felt that everyone had come together for a really great cause. It’s always great to be a part of something bigger than you are and I can’t wait to go back.
“Also, to be sharing the line-up with Touchstone is really nice. The whole atmosphere and environment around the event is one of collaboration and celebration of what everybody’s doing. It’s going to be my first time seeing Touchstone since I’ve left. I’m so, so happy to see they’re doing really well and I’m excited to see the new line-up. The overall event is a perfect opportunity to get together again.”
So what can we expect from her solo material? Well, with John Mitchell at the helm you can expect, as Kim says, an “interesting and quirky” production, but as far as her own influences go, she is embracing her youth:
“The album is a bit different [from Touchstone and last year’s solo single Fantasise To Realise]. There’s a lot of proggy elements running through it, but there are a lot of influences from bands I listened to when I was 18⁄19. I’m a big fan of a band called Our Lady Peace, then there’s Evanescence, Incubus and bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic At The Disco. I wanted to communicate some of my life experiences through the album; I’ve got a theme for the album I wanted to run with from the beginning. It’s a little bit more commercial but I’m really proud of what we’ve done.”
Three years after that first Trinity fundraiser, Kim believes it is “important to see how everyone’s moved on. I’m coming back and bringing something fresh to a familiar event. And it’ll be great to springboard the new material at the event. I cannot wait.”
About Trinity Live:
The idea for Trinity Live came about in 2014. It was originally planned as a triple-headliner tour for Magenta, Touchstone and The Reasoning but was rescheduled as a one-day fundraiser when Magenta vocalist Christina Booth was diagnosed with breast cancer. The original event raised £12,000 for Cancer Research UK, Macmillan and Teenage Cancer Trust.
Lonely Robot tops the bill with Touchstone, Ghost Community & more also performing. This year’s event includes a prog auction and an aftershow party at The Zephyr Longue with a DJ set from Prog Editor Jerry Ewing and a surprise acoustic act being announced nearer the time.
Tickets for Trinity II are available here. More information can be found here.
