Whatever happened to... Kavana?

Hailing from Manchester and eager to follow in the footsteps of fellow northerners Take That, Kavana shot to fame in the mid-nineties at the height of boyband popularity. Winning the hearts of girls across the land with his cheeky smile and floppy curtains, he enjoyed a string of chart successes and Smash Hits cover shots before it all went a bit Pete Tong. With a new sitcom based on his experiences in the works, we called the man himself to find out more.

How did you end up becoming a pop star?
"I was working in McDonalds but was about to be fired because they caught me in the back room stealing food! I was really interested in doing the music thing so I went to Take That's manager with a demo tape. I was expecting him to put me into a boyband but he thought I'd do better as a solo artist. I signed quite a big deal because of the success he'd had with Take That - the deal was pretty much on the table before they had even met me."

Were you disappointed when 'Crazy Chance' only just made the Top 40?
"Yeah, I was thinking it was going to go to number one. I was only 17 and didn't really know how it all worked. It was 'I Can Make You Feel Good' that saved things for me - if it hadn't gone top ten, I would have had it. Luckily Radio 1 picked it up and you can imagine how relieved I was when I saw the midweeks and I was at number eight."

What was the best moment of the whole experience for you?
"I only really appreciated the experiences once they'd come to an end. Beating Peter Andre and Gary Barlow to the Best Male Artist award at the Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party was great. I was a real poster boy for the Smash Hits era. Even though I didn't sell millions of records, they always championed me. I was like their little mascot."

Things seemed to fizzle out all of a sudden. What happened?
"I could see it starting to fade and my record label sat me down and told me they were willing to put out one more record. I knew they were only doing that because they wanted to get me out of the contract. I went over to America and lived it up for a little while hanging out with Hollywood people. When I came back I got offered Grease Is The Word, which was pretty much the best reality option at the time. I've done some theatre and film work since then and I'm now working on a new sitcom."

What's the story behind the sitcom?
"It's basically about a popstar in the nineties whose career is on its last legs. We've called it Smashed Hits and it's loosely based on my experiences in the fickle pop world! The idea came to me when I was in America and working in a shop packing candles. I was too embarrassed to be out front so I always hid in the back room. I remember thinking, 'One minute I was performing in front of the Sultan of Brunei and now I'm in America in a candle shop'. I just thought it was so funny that I started writing my memoirs down. I'm working on it with a producer friend and it's already looking pretty good. It's very light-hearted, sort of like The Office mixed with Spinal Tap."

Click below to watch the video to 'Crazy Chance':



More information on Kavana at: http://www.myspace.com/officialkavana

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