| Kunstner: Deathkiller - Interview med: Matt, Vokal og Guitar | ||
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The newly formed American hardcore punk group Deathkillers, witch is made from the ashes by members, witch formerly were to find in the groups Hatebreed, Most Precious Blood and The Eventide, have now, after the great responses of their debut demo from last year (2006), signed a record deal with the hardcore/punk label I Scream Records, a label witch has released great records from Agnostic
Front, Slapshot, Blood For Blood and Ramallah amongst others. We have asked the singer and guitar player of the group, Matt, to answer a couple of questions.
Revolution-Music: Hallo Matt. Could you start out by introducing yourself and tell the readers what part in the band you have? Matt: I'm Matt and I'm the guitar player and singer for Deathkiller. Chrissy plays bass and Anthony is our drummer. Revolution-Music: The band is a collaboration of previous members of the breaktrough groups Most Precious Blood, Hatebreed and The Eventide, which I understand you've all been in before, right? How did you all come together and became the band you are today? Matt: Right. I was in Hatebreed from '96 to '99. Anthony and I were in The Eventide for some time. When that band broke up in 2003, Anthony hooked up with Most Precious Blood for a few tours. I was doing a band with Chrissy that was going nowhere. So somewhere in there the three of us got together and started working on what would become Deathkiller songs. Revolution-Music: Deathkiller, how did you come up with this name, and why did you chose this name to represent the band? Matt: Chrissy came up with the name right before our first show. We just needed something to put on the flyer. It was kind of a joke at first but then it just started to fit the feel of what we were trying to do, which was to throw out any pre-conceived ideas about our band or current music in general. It's a tough name to forget. Revolution-Music: You have recently signed with the hardcore/punk label I Scream Records, which has released albums of such great artists as for example Agnostic Front, Slapshot, Blood For Blood and Ramallah, how did you end up with this fine label? Matt: A few labels contacted us when we started playing shows and the demo began to circulate. We liked that I Scream was more focused on punk and hardcore than a lot of the labels that were showing interest. They're ambitious and kind of new to the US, and we're a fairly new band, so I think that there's this unified initiative between band and label. Revolution-Music: Your debut album is entitled "New England Is Sinking" right? What's the story behind that title? Matt: New England is Sinking is the name of a song from our demo. I was trying to think of an album title for a while but nothing I was coming up with really fit the theme of the record. New England is the region of the US that we're from- the northeast corner of the country, which was the first settled area. Every part of the country has a unique perspective of America; geographically, culturally, socially, politically. New England is where we see it from, and I think that's an important point to make in voicing our views and observations. So, that name suddenly made the most sense to us. I think you have to hear the whole record to understand the title. Revolution-Music: How long are you in the process of the new album? Matt:The album is finished and waiting to get pressed. Revolution-Music: When you started working on this album, how long did the process take from the first step to the final product? Matt: We started writing songs for it around July of '06 and the final product will be in our hands by April of '07 (God willing). I'd love to do an album a year, but it just doesn't work like that in the indie world. Revolution-Music: The album will be released the 7th April, what can we expect of the record? Matt: Mostly breakbeats and guitar solos. Just kidding. Musically, it's not far off from the demo; very aggressive and dynamic with a fair amount of melody. It's an angry record but I like to think that the message throughout is a hopeful one, or at least motivating. A band can talk about how awesome their record is, but we just want people to hear it and draw their own conclusions. Expression, communication and release are why we play music. Getting that back is the best part. Revolution-Music: I have recently had the pleasure of reviewing your demo from last year; will the new album contain some of the demo tracks from it? Matt: All of them, my friend! But we changed them up a bit for the full-length, to make them new for people that already have the demo. Revolution-Music: As I understand it you have received a lot of good response of your demo from last year, the expectations must be high, was it hard to write new material for this record? Matt: The demo was so huge for us and it made its way all over the world. We must have gotten rid of a few thousand this year. The reviews were great (thanks!). It got us signed to ISR, in a lot of great publications and we toured Europe on it. The response was immediate. I think the expectations are high, but mostly on our part. The songwriting for the full-length was a really natural process, but we were pretty discerning about the quality of the material and the projected message. Revolution-Music: I would say you play hardcore punk, which came a little unexpected, considering your previous bands, as I could think it will be for many. How would you, yourself define the style of the band? Matt: Hardcore-punk is probably exactly how I'd define Deathkiller. So many of our reviews and the reaction we get on the road is surprise that Anthony and I were in these big metal-core bands and woah, we're playing these HC/punk-rock songs (and with a girl even!). It's become kind of trendy lately that classic 80s hardcore is back in vogue, which has its good and bad points. One acknowledgement I usually try to make in interviews is that people often feel like they need to put labels on music to make it acceptable to themselves and others, and that's fine. I do it too. But rock, punk rock and hardcore are all connected. When you break it down, it's easy to see how. Those are the main references for Deathkiller at this point. Revolution-Music: So what kind of stuff did you grow up listening to, and what kind new music do you listen to these days? Matt: At around 13 - 14 I discovered punk and hardcore. It was the first music to really say something relevant to me as a pissed-off kid. Generation X, Dead Kennedys, DOA. Those were the first bands. Reagan Youth, Misfits, AF, 7 Seconds, Negative Approach, 'Flag. It was this endless stream of awesome, honest music. You were always finding out about new bands from around the country (or the world). Kids these days don't really understand that word traveled much slower back then. When a band comes out now you hear about it online before they even play a show or record a demo. It doesn't seem like there's that thrill of a new discovery anymore, which is sad. Nowadays I listen to all kinds of music. As long as it's sincere I can usually find something in it that I enjoy, wether it's brand new or 50 years old. Revolution-Music: Have any of these bands been source of inspiration for the album? Matt: Sure. They all have been an inspiration in some way. Especially the first wave of American hardcore-punk, at least in the motivation for Deathkiller. Revolution-Music: In your time as musicians, what is your biggest musical achievement so far? Matt: Well, Hatebreed's Satisfaction is the Death of Desire went gold. I guess it's pretty cool to have played on a gold selling record. But creatively, New England is Sinking has been the most gratifying acheivement. I can't speak for Ant and Chrissy but I know that everyone is proud of the record as a whole. Revolution-Music: You have recently done a couple of concerts in Germany, Belgium and Netherlands, when the album is out, could we maybe hope for an European tour, and maybe even a gig in Denmark? Matt: Yes! We had a great time in Europe and the reaction was incredible. We recently had to turn down an April tour with Raised Fist because we would have lost money. But we will definitley be overseas sometime this summer. Revolution-Music: How did you think the music scene is in Europe, compared to the scene in the US? Matt: In some ways it's very similiar in that it can be very clique-ey, and fashion focused. But for the most part the scene seems more integrated than the US, more accepting of different genres and styles. When we were in Europe it seemed like there was a show somewhere within a 3 hour drive almost every night of the week. Over here it's been more of a 'weekends only" thing. Lately, at least. Revolution-Music: Do you have any breaking news with the band? Matt: I guess the newest news is that Ian from Blood for Blood is filling in on bass for Chrissy while she takes some personal time off. Ian's one of my best friends and an excellent musician. We're all psyched that he'll be on board until Chris comes back to the 'Killer. Revolution-Music: That's all we've get this time, do you have anything that you'd like to add or say? C Matt: heck us out on MySpace (www.myspace.com/deathkillerx3) or on our website for tour announcements and news on the new CD. Revolution-Music: We would like to say thanks a lot for you're time. And we wish all you guys all the luck in the future with the album and everything. Matt: Thank you, Carsten, for your time and interest. |
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