(EDITOR'S NOTE — Kill Uncle officially hit the scene in early October and a few days after its first show dropped a debut demo now available on Bandcamp. The band plays Area 54 on Monday Oct. 23 (doors at 6 p.m), and we look forward to where they go from here. Kill Uncle is Sean - bass, Khari- guitar, Dan - drums, & Billie - vocals — Photo by Jennifer Page... See the video of the band's first show below.)
1120PRESS: Congratulations on everything you have going on — the demo having been released and your debut show now in the books. Kill Uncle is a new band, but the members have been around the scene. Can you tell us about how the band came to be, how long you’ve been working together now, and how it feels finally being out there?
BILLIE: I put up a post trying to find people for a new band. For once, there was actually a good response but all guitar players and bass players. I’ve known Sean and Khari for a while, and they knew each other. I’ve liked every band each of them have done and they are people I’ve wanted to work with. Finding a drummer is always a problem but one night at a dinner party with friends, it came up that Dan played drums. I’ve known him for so long but had no idea. Fortunately he was down to be in the band.
We’ve been playing since April or May of this year and everything really clicked. We are really happy with these songs we’ve been writing so we are excited that the first bunch are now out there.
1120: Please tell us about the demo and how would you describe the band’s sound overall?
B: The demo is the first four songs we wrote. We also recorded a fifth song that is not on the demo. The recording experience was great. It was the first time I’ve ever recorded with Eric Hughes (Bankrupt Studio) and I thought it was a wonderful experience. When we were discussing who to approach about recording the demo, he was at the top of our list because his bands & recording always sound great. It seemed like he’d be best to get the feel we wanted and he did. I’m really looking forward to working with him again… We are a punk hardcore band. I know the two genres are closely related and I think we are really on that line between the two, but probably leaning more to the punk side.
1120: Your first show was captured in full by lakeeriemonster, (Brandon Finnegan), who credits you with introducing him to the scene years back. The video already has a good number of views in a just a short time. The demo has been well received. There was also buzz around Kill Uncle even before the first gig at the Hostel. What are your thoughts on the overall reaction to the band so far?
B: We are really happy about it. It’s kind of weird because I’m not really use to that, but it obviously feels good to have people be excited about what you are putting out there.
1120: A lot of bands we speak with – especially newer bands – talk about how the pandemic impacted them in terms of their writing during and/or coming out of that period, (i.e. subject matter etc) … But besides the pandemic, the formation of Kill Uncle and its first show also marked the first for you since coming out as a trans woman. How have these events collectively, if at all, or singularly, influenced the band’s music?
B: The pandemic really didn’t affect us at all. Personally, it influenced me as just pushing an idea I always roll with: That being, 'this can all end at any time so try and do everything you can.' Me finally accepting that I am a trans woman did have a big effect on my lyrics. I didn’t really aim for that, but having had these feelings pent up for so long, and with everything going on now with the overwhelming amount of transphobic rhetoric, it ended up being all this demo is about. It’s a new area for me as I’ve never done a complete release with a theme, but our demo definitely does. I’ve also never written lyrics that were both personal & socially conscious at the same time.
1120: What’s next for Kill Uncle moving forward?
B: We are working on a physical release of the demo and once we get that ball rolling we’ll put it out there for those interested. Having it out streaming is great but I’ve also been a fan physical media so hopefully we’ll have something out there soon. We are also working on new songs and hoping to play more shows.
1120: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Is there anything else you want to add that we haven’t touched on?
B: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us and thanks to everyone checking us out. We really appreciate anyone caring about what we do because it means a lot to us.
Yorumlar