The Kill Hannah interview

Last night I went to the Flyleaf w/Kill Hannah and special guests Resident Heroes and Sick Puppies show at Headliners here in Louisville and I must say it was damn good. I was surprised by how many people there were fans of all four bands and not just Flyleaf or Kill Hannah. I will point out though that during the end of the Kill Hannah set Mat Devine (yes, D-E-V-I-N-E) wiped all the sweat from his body and hair and threw it in the audience. Naughty. Also, does anyone know what's up with the white hoodie he was wearing? Oh well...


Ok now on to the good stuff


THE KILL HANNAH INTERVIEW!!!

I scored an interview with Greg Corner, bassist for Kill Hannah. To you people out there who are thinking, "She should have gotten Mat" just so you know, I could have and chose not to. Greg was super sweet and after meeting him before the show he was the first one to arrive outside to offer his services. He sold me when he said, "We can do it or I mean, do you want Mat instead?" I thought, "No doll, you're perfect!" (I don't roll like that with the, "I only interview the singer" shit.) It was dark outside so we climbed into their van (it's full of empty mini cereal boxes and crumpled paper) and started the interview.

Most HIM fans know there is a connection between Kill Hannah (KH) and our favorite Finnish goth rockers. I asked Greg to expand on this and he said that KH was one of the first bands to tour with HIM in the U.S. and touted KH as the best openers to ever play with them. Greg also mentioned that KH were actually performing covers of Wicked Game and Rebel Yell at the same time HIM were which further sealed their similarities and cohesiveness.

I wanted to discuss their image since it is a major part of their identity as a band. Needless to say their image is inspired bands like The Cure and Morrissey but Greg stated that, "(their look) is just who we are." He went on to say that Mat has been wearing stripes for as long as he's known him and that when they began it wasn't cool to wear make up and wear flamboyant clothing which now has become mainstream. He's disappointed that now as bands with similar images gain popularity KH are viewed as followers rather than leaders with the movement. As Lily Allen would say, ever since they can remember they bin poppin' their proverbial collars. He went on to mention a certain group that have recently adopted a "military/marching band" look stating that KH had done it in one of their first photo shoots but now that "said band" had done it, it was suddenly cool. I don't think he was talking about The Matches. ;)

This discussion of "said band" parlayed itself into a discussion on the term, "emo." Kill Hannah are frequently lumped into the emo category along with many other bands that are indeed, not emo. Greg mentioned that the first time he heard the term emo is was associated with bands like The Get Up Kids, and that very few bands these days termed as emo sound anything like them. I mentioned that HIM are frequently qualified as emo, news that caused him to shoot me a confused look. He and I then attempted to lump HIM into a category, which we were unable to do which brought us full circle to their categorization We agreed that KH and HIM were hard to categorize because they embodied so many different styles of music. In the same vein, I then asked him which song he felt best exemplified the KH sound. Assuming he would say "Lips Like Morphine" I was surprised to hear "Kennedy" come out of his mouth. However, after re-listening to both of them, of course, he's right. "Kennedy" is playing on our page if you're interested.

Finally, I wanted to know what would be the main reason you guys should check them out, specifically HIM fans who don't already know about them. Focusing on the HIM aspect Greg explained that HIM and KH are very similar in that their both are darker lyrically and musically, they have a pop sensibility, and they focus on writing witty, clever lyrics. All qualities one would associate with HIM.

Special thanks to Bobby, my man with the plan, KH's manager and of course Greg who was amazing and apologized twice for taking a phone call before talking to me. They were so damn good live not to mention the subtly naughty lyrics I know you kids love and the vision of Mat tearing at his clothes. For proof of these claims check out their video for "Lips Like Morphine" below.