Aussie Indie Artists is a series of interviews with lesser known Aussie creators across all forms and fields. The goal is to share exciting new works, find new angles towards the art, and peek behind the scenes.
Punk rock trio Kill Bell play it loud with fuzzy, distorted guitars and battlecry vocals. In the lead up to their new album, they’ve released three singles, with ‘Breakneck’ being the latest. Dripping with 90s grunge style, the raw and heavy song was inspired by the theme song to the cult classic show Daria.
This week, I got the chance to catch up with Kill Bell’s Charlie to learn a little bit more about the song’s origins and their upcoming album.
I like to think you were laying on the couch watching Daria like real 90s grunge rockers when inspiration hit but was that what really happened?
I assume I would have watched some Daria around the time because that line had to come from somewhere. Maybe all those years of reruns have just burned their way into my subconscious – I can see her letting the volleyball drop in my head now. The rest of the lyrics really stemmed from a bit of a negative space, a feeling of deflation and exhaustion from the state of the world. You see news articles one after another of atrocities and injustices being committed and it can make you feel powerless. This song was sort of written as a motivation to myself to take action where I can, and it definitely adopts Daria’s defiant objection to the world.
Is that usually when inspiration strikes?
I’d say the majority of my lyrics come from lulls in mental health – write what you know, right? Sonically Jimmy and Nick are the driving forces, and once they’ve tightened up the instrumental we bring in the vocals. It’s been an adjustment learning to write in a more punk style over the years – it’s definitely a genre where less is more, so trying to find a short and simple way to express more complex subjects is always my challenge.
Which other artists have been inspiring you lately?
We’re forever inspired by 90s icons like The Breeders and L7, but some newer ones include Destroy Boys, Momma and IDLES. As for local artists we’re so stoked to have DOLLS and Bughunt on support for the Breakneck single launch – they both go HARD, and we love ’em to bits. We also love Bitumen, Blonde Revolver and Baby Mullet. Be sure to check them out!
Can you tease a little more from your upcoming album?
It’s our sophomore album which is really exciting. It comes out on 20th of September.
I think I’m most excited to release our track ‘Server’ which we’re planning to release in the next few months. Nick originally wrote the guitar for it almost 4 years ago, and I think I rewrote the vocals about 3 times before we got the current version – we almost scrapped it but we knew it had potential. Now I think it’s my favourite song we’ve ever written. It comes from the many years I’ve worked in bars, and the experiences with customers that would almost be funny if they weren’t so emotionally taxing.
What’s in the works that you’re most excited for people to see?
I think we’re just excited to have recordings for songs that have been part of our repertoire for so long. We were recording a track recently and it was the first time Nick was able to hear the lyrics; “Those are pretty funny, I’ve never actually heard them before.”
I was originally trained as a jazz singer, so I think as a leftover from that I still put a lot of effort into lyrics and melody – even if you can’t quite hear them live.
And your distorted music videos rock, they’re super experimental, what’s it like filming those ?
We recently had the chance to work with videographers Micah Poulton-King (@emerald__woods) and Louis Bergemann (@xzx.xzy) on our latest music vid “What Has Become Of Me”. Usually we are fully DIY on that front – Breakneck music video included – so it was such a fun experience having someone else take the creative reins and direct us where to go. We really lucked out to find people who so effortlessly understood our brand and brought their own flair to it.
As for our other vids, we have Nick’s partner Lucy Travis to thank for her natural aptitude in creative direction and style, she always nails it!
Are there any other genres or sounds that you’re thinking to experiment with?
I still think back on the week Nick presented me with an album of synth-laden demos. “Did you buy a synth recently?” I asked him. “Yeah, why do you ask?”.
Maybe we will divulge into punk’s successor New Wave at some point, but for now we are still enjoying wallowing in fuzzy 90s grunge for some time to come.
Thanks for the interview!
Thanks for having us!
To celebrate the release of ‘BREAKNECK’, Kill Bell will play at Nighthawks in Collingwood on May 3 with Bughunt and Dolls. You can also listen to Kill Bell on Spotify. And you can follow their work on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
