Kill II This : a(n inter)view to a kill
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Next fall will see the release of "Trinity", third album of this Manchester band, who were the first
signed by Visible Noise, Cacophonous' little metal brother. The very first tracks on the demo bear witness
to the band's evolution, as far as vocals, sound and inspiration are concerned: songs like "God on drugs"
or "This is the N.E.W.S." are fast and hard and the cover of Frankie goes to Hollywood's "Two tribes"
should unite the audience on the dance floor with its infernal rhythm. Fear Factory's Burton C. Bell
and Tairrie B. are also invited on certain tracks of this very promising recording. We met Matt Pollock,
singer, et Ben Clavert, drummer, before their gig as a support band for Slipknot. You don't open for
Slipknot, you knock the door down... |
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-First : where does the name "Kill II this" come from ? Matt-It comes from Mark (Mynett, guitar and dreadlocks): he was on tour with his previous band, and they got crazy one night on magic mushrooms and Mark had this recurrent thought in mind: "Kill all this, kill all this... "; he remembered it and decided to change it in Kill II this; that's where our name came from. He (Mark) said it's from his crazy past time ! -You made your first lp, "Another cross to bare" 3 years ago: how do you see this album today and what are the main differences between it and "Trinity", the new one ? Matt-It's obviously a totally different band, different influences within the band, and Mark would tell you himself that this first LP was too influenced by bands like Machine Head, Pantera, and he decided, when he wrote the songs for "Deviate" that it was time to change style because there was no point competing with them. He liked them because they were already doing it, but then everyone else could never do it, so, it's time to form a style of our own that people would recognize which is why Ben, Caroline and myself joigned the band, because that music was so original, and we brought our own influences into the melting pot Kill II This. That's where we are today, it's very representative of the four of us playing together during the last year. It's a kind of statement of where the band is at the moment. -There's a Deep Purple cover (Burn) on the first LP : why did you choose it and who would you like to cover in the future ? Ben -We have just done this cover of Frankie goes to Hollywood : "Two tribes", and Burton C. Bell, from Fear factory, sings on it; we took some remixes that Frankie did and some parts we wanted to use, and put it all together into a mix, really heavy and fun. It's not too dancy, but should be good for the clubs. We thought it would be a good cover to do because there's a lot of dialogs in it and a lot of samples going along... and it's british ! That's the last cover we did, and it will be on the album which comes out in March. Matt-I don't think of other bands in the future, we will know : it's not very good for a band in our situation to cover too many bands, it's an easy way out ; we just thought "Two tribes" was a great idea, but we prefer to concentrate on our own material, and go to the people with it, and we'll see in three or four albums for another cover ! -Barney, from Napalm Death, is guest on "Deviate" : are you close to them ? -Matt : The British scene is a kind of closed nest and we are all friends, it's a small world : we meet the people in gigs, clubs, pubs, we are close friends with a lot of bands in Britain : Earthtone 9, One minute silence, all those bands. We are not close friends, but we invited Barney on the album and he did a great job with his voice. Many people in the North of England see Napalm as a big influence because they are so aggressive and they keep going along after all these years. -And how do you see the British metal scene today ? Matt - It's ok : the one metal band who could come through apart from Kill II This is One minute silence, but the music seems only to concentrate on American bands and give them the biggest part of the pie, British bands are quite neglected : I'm sure that if Kill II This had come from L.A and signed to Roadrunner records, we would sell 3 millions copies by now ! The good thing about British scene is that it's a melting pot, like Pulkas or Cyclefly, all bands are different. Every group is fine, but it's so difficult for them to break through into the mainstream : it's a shame but that's the way it is , I guess... -Manchester, where you mainly (Mark and Carolyn) come from, is called "the grey area", and many groups come from there : Anathema, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and also in the past Joy Division and the Smiths : what do you have in common with those bands and is it the place which lead them and you to this darkness ? -Matt : North of England is kind of miserable, grey and industrial, the South is more populated and more easy to live in; in the north, where the heavy industries have been located, it's a pressurized place with a lot of hard working class, that's where our background is, and the music is a way to go out of it : if you can't make it in music industry or football industry, you're stuck in a factory for the rest of your life. We don't complain about it, it's our heritage, we love the North of England. - Ben : Music is the main reason, the main way to express all that frustration with those things in the way of life : it really sounds like a cliché, but it's a release for all of us. - Matt : It's such a frustrated country, and the country guys would not have lived anywhere else, but the metal scene here is very hard : the more frustrating you find it to break through into the mainstream, the heavier the music gets I guess, with aggressive guys and performers. -Religion is the main subject in your lyrics and it gives their titles to two of your albums; why ? - Matt : On the new album, I cowrote some of the lyrics with Mark, and we kind of, by accident, basically came over the song whose title is "Spiritual darkness", and the thing in it is losing faith in God and everything else. Religion is always in there, but it's not something we definitely write about, we can't channel our lyrics into one subject, it's such a great way of expression. -And in this way, do you see more Kill II This as a weapon or a way to cut the slack ? - Matt-It's not a weapon, we are not of a political sort and we don't want to tell people what they have to think; we are not preaching, none of us are when we are on stage; it's just a way of release. - Ben : We want people to come to us and appreciate what we do, not for the image or commercial reasons, only for the music... - Matt : We want people to stand on the front and relate to what we are saying. -There are some techno parts and samples on "Deviate", in "Crucified", for exemple : do you like bands like Aphex Twins or the Chemical Brothers and do you intend to do more samples and use more machines in the future ? -Matt :I don't think it's an option, and if we move further away from the band's basis : guitar, bass, drums and vocals, it would be no matter of playing live, if we were like the Chemical brothers... -Ben : It's about our balance : we don't want to turn into a dance band, we are not a band like Pitchshifter who rely heavily on samples; for us, it's like a fifth member of the band : if you take the samples away, which is not a big part, we'll still be able to play through the songs. We try to preserve this balance. -Tairrie B. guest on the album : how did it happen ? -Matt : Basically, we made some shows in England with Tairrie B, and her and the rest of her band became good friends of us, she loved the band, she tought we were great and she wanted to do some work on the album ; so we said right, we sent her a tape, and asked if she could record some back vocals on it, so she did on two songs... - Ben : She really relates to Mark's lyrics, that's what stroke her the most, and the two bands became very close for that reason. -31th december 99 : Big party or desert island ? -Matt: We won't play anyway : Mark is going across to the States for Christmas, and the three of us left will spend time at home, after this Spliknot tour... - Ben : There's a massive hype around it and it doesn't appeal much to me. - Matt : The rock star is definitely not our trip, and it won't be a huge metal extravaganza party with us... - Ben : Maybe I will commit suicide and blow some things up, it depends on the mood (laughs !) -And your wishes for the future ? -Matt : As a band, we all agree with the fact that we're gonna keep on working, touring, playing live, doing good shows : the work we have done this year has been good for the band, and this tour too and the ones before, and putting out our new lp, and build our reputation and becoming bigger than we've been this year... - Ben : Once again, it sounds clichéd, but to make a career in music, we want people to appreciate what we do, so we can make a living out of it and do better each time and carry on for a long time. - Matt : The life of bands is very short in general, we want to be a band that stays, like Metallica did, even if we can't be compared to them... Five years, and I'll be happy. - Ben : Couple of cans of coke - Matt : And a house, and a nice car, a swimming pool... - Ben : We want millions ! ! ! Tell people to buy the record, we need money : we're starving at the moment, it's only dreams... JP Coillard |
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