Kill Kenada
Encyclopedia
Kill Kenada are a rock music
group from Bognor Regis
, England
, formed in 2001 inspired by Fugazi
, Pavement
, Sonic Youth
, Pixies, Urusei Yatsura
, At the Drive-In
, and many more.
The band name is a reference to a character named Shotaro Kaneda (Akira). The name Kill Kenada was chosen by accident, when lead singer Tim Smithen accidentally misspelled Kaneda, and from there on kept the incorrect spelling as their own.
(well known for producing popular indie band The Strokes
). Their first release was a limited edition 7" on SUBverse Recordings - a record label set up by the band. The single, 'Choke', (released on July 28, 2003) received high praise from many media critics:
Their next single was the self-produced 'Red And Black' (with a Gordon Raphael
-produced b-side 'Hit The Floor') released on November 10, 2003. The single, released with a video and on formats CD and 7", shot the band to success and underground fame - the band reaching the top 5 in the MTV2 Chart and receiving radio airplay - as well as a Radio 1
live session with Zane Lowe
where it emerged that Lowe was a huge fan and ended the session by saying this, "I feel very honoured to be involved with the band this early on....
Through January and February, 2004, the band went on tour with local friends, and relatively unknown band, Bloc Party
and Swedish band Span
.
The band were then invited to play a special MTV2
show - Gonzo On Snow with Million Dead
, Jetplane Landing
and a few others on the 24 March 2004 (by this time the video for their next release, 'Massachusetts Murder Medallions' was receiving airplay on MTV2).
'Massachusetts Murder Medallions' (once again produced by Gordon Raphael
) was released on May 10, 2004. The single was made available only on CD format and was also given a promo video. The video received many requests on MTV2, more radio airplay and a small fanbase. To converge with the release, the band went on tour with Ikara Colt
, Bloc Party
and Yourcodenameis:milo
from May - June in 2004. The band also played with Jetplane Landing
on May 26, 2004. A live recording of this whole gig exists but only a few people have the Kill Kenada set, with Jetplane Landing
's set being used on their 'Courage/Danger' EP release.
After taking a break from touring. They returned two months after their June tour to play 93feeteast with Yourcodenameis:milo
on 5 August 2004 debuting new songs.
The band then learnt that Steve Albini
was very enthusiastic in regard to working with the band and Kill Kenada set a date to record with him. They made some new songs which were supposedly a departure from their 'mental' old style, yet was more focussed and aggressive. In August, 2005 Tim and Danny received a phonecall from then-drummer Stewart Fairhurst (aka 'Stoo') who told them he would not be able to make their next practice, or the trip to Steve Albini
's 'Electrical Audio' studio in Chicago.
The band's scheduled date with Albini was in six weeks time. The band rapidly found a new drummer, known as 'Eldge' and practiced for 4 weeks solid and just made their Heathrow flight to Chicago. They spent 10 days recording with Steve and came back with 8 songs.
With an absence of 10 months. Kill Kenada and had to work at retrieving their fans' attention. They did this by first releasing a CD-album (on 28 September 2005) crammed full of Gordon Raphael tunes. They did their best to make it clear that this release was to hammer the final nail in the coffin for those songs (which could have been released ages ago) and to illustrate this, the release was very modest (the album was simply a pink CD in a pink wallet - no artwork, no lyrics, no tracklist) - only 500 (each were numbered) were made and the album was only able to purchase from their label's website - SUBverse Recordings and from Rough Trade.
During this time, the band returned to touring through September–November, 2005 and were unexpectedly featured on Channel 4
news where they reported Kill Kenada as being an aggressive art-rock trio from Bognor who released their singles entirely independently through the Shellshock distribution network and also through their website.
Their next release wasn't until 27 March 2006. The release, 'Fly', (featuring new drummer, Eldge and recorded by Justin Lockey of Yourcodenameis:milo
) was a politically-charged offering, with both their aggressive and soft, reflective modes both employed to great effect. The music of the single is organised in a timelike state to reflect the thoughts and feelings of anti-American terrorists (most notably those involved in 9/11) and took on-board their perspectives.
The video for the song is viewable on the band's MySpace page and was made by Red Snow Studios who also made a video for the Kill Kenada song, 'Sado Maso' (a song from the Pink Album) which has never been seen. Due to the song's lyrics, it was a hard release to promote and the excitement behind promoting the song and single died down.
After touring extensively, Kill Kenada released 'In Your Throat' on 7" vinyl format only. The video reaching #1 in both the MTV2 NME Chart Show and MTV2's 'The Rock Chart Show'. The single also received radio airplay from many stations, most notably Radio 1's Zane Lowe who affectingly stopped the backing music to introduce the band's return. A live session on BBC6 Music's Tom Robinson show followed where the band performed 'In Your Throat', 'She's Red' and then premiered their current single at the time 'Saline'.
On the 12 Mar 2008 a message appeared on their official website:
They also uploaded a new song called "Welcome To Hell" on their myspace page which is suspected to be on the new album. Other tracks that will appear on the new album are "From Maggots To Flies" and "ABC" No date had been confirmed for the new album as of yet, although artwork by Dan Baldwin has appeared on the band's official website.
In June 2010 the band released their second full length album 'From Maggots to Flies' via their own website and label SUBverse Recordings.
's song 'Your Honor' which was released as a single and on the album, 'Soviet Kitsch'."
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group from Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, formed in 2001 inspired by Fugazi
Fugazi (band)
Fugazi is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1987. The band's continual members are guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty....
, Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Pixies, Urusei Yatsura
Urusei Yatsura
is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...
, At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...
, and many more.
The band name is a reference to a character named Shotaro Kaneda (Akira). The name Kill Kenada was chosen by accident, when lead singer Tim Smithen accidentally misspelled Kaneda, and from there on kept the incorrect spelling as their own.
History
Kill Kenada first success was winning a battle of the bands contest in Portsmouth. They then went on to record some songs with Gordon RaphaelGordon Raphael
Gordon Raphael is a record producer and musician from Seattle, Washington and New York, currently working in San Antonio, Texas.Gordon Raphael is most widely known for his work with The Strokes, whom he met while attending one of their very first shows at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side, New...
(well known for producing popular indie band The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
). Their first release was a limited edition 7" on SUBverse Recordings - a record label set up by the band. The single, 'Choke', (released on July 28, 2003) received high praise from many media critics:
Their next single was the self-produced 'Red And Black' (with a Gordon Raphael
Gordon Raphael
Gordon Raphael is a record producer and musician from Seattle, Washington and New York, currently working in San Antonio, Texas.Gordon Raphael is most widely known for his work with The Strokes, whom he met while attending one of their very first shows at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side, New...
-produced b-side 'Hit The Floor') released on November 10, 2003. The single, released with a video and on formats CD and 7", shot the band to success and underground fame - the band reaching the top 5 in the MTV2 Chart and receiving radio airplay - as well as a Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
live session with Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...
where it emerged that Lowe was a huge fan and ended the session by saying this, "I feel very honoured to be involved with the band this early on....
Through January and February, 2004, the band went on tour with local friends, and relatively unknown band, Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
and Swedish band Span
Span (band)
SPAN was a Norwegian rock band that formed in 2000 from the ashes of two other outfits; Explicit Lyrics and Squid. Self-proclaimed as "Norwegian Turbo-Rock 'n' Roll Commandos" , the band spent much of the years between 2002 and 2004 touring the UK and Norway as well as spending a brief time in the...
.
The band were then invited to play a special MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
show - Gonzo On Snow with Million Dead
Million Dead
Million Dead were a hardcore punk band from London, UK, active between 2001 and 2005.-History:The band was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, after both came to London from Australia. They were joined by Ben Dawson, who had worked with Dean in a record shop in the city...
, Jetplane Landing
Jetplane Landing
Jetplane Landing is a four piece band from Derry and London . They comprise Andrew Ferris , Jamie Burchell , Cahir O’Doherty and Raife Burchell . Jamie and Raife are brothers...
and a few others on the 24 March 2004 (by this time the video for their next release, 'Massachusetts Murder Medallions' was receiving airplay on MTV2).
'Massachusetts Murder Medallions' (once again produced by Gordon Raphael
Gordon Raphael
Gordon Raphael is a record producer and musician from Seattle, Washington and New York, currently working in San Antonio, Texas.Gordon Raphael is most widely known for his work with The Strokes, whom he met while attending one of their very first shows at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side, New...
) was released on May 10, 2004. The single was made available only on CD format and was also given a promo video. The video received many requests on MTV2, more radio airplay and a small fanbase. To converge with the release, the band went on tour with Ikara Colt
Ikara Colt
Ikara Colt were an English four-piece art rock band, formed by art students at London Guildhall University. They had a five-year career, beginning in 1999 and ending on 17 January 2005...
, Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
and Yourcodenameis:milo
Yourcodenameis:milo
-External links:**...
from May - June in 2004. The band also played with Jetplane Landing
Jetplane Landing
Jetplane Landing is a four piece band from Derry and London . They comprise Andrew Ferris , Jamie Burchell , Cahir O’Doherty and Raife Burchell . Jamie and Raife are brothers...
on May 26, 2004. A live recording of this whole gig exists but only a few people have the Kill Kenada set, with Jetplane Landing
Jetplane Landing
Jetplane Landing is a four piece band from Derry and London . They comprise Andrew Ferris , Jamie Burchell , Cahir O’Doherty and Raife Burchell . Jamie and Raife are brothers...
's set being used on their 'Courage/Danger' EP release.
After taking a break from touring. They returned two months after their June tour to play 93feeteast with Yourcodenameis:milo
Yourcodenameis:milo
-External links:**...
on 5 August 2004 debuting new songs.
The band then learnt that Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
was very enthusiastic in regard to working with the band and Kill Kenada set a date to record with him. They made some new songs which were supposedly a departure from their 'mental' old style, yet was more focussed and aggressive. In August, 2005 Tim and Danny received a phonecall from then-drummer Stewart Fairhurst (aka 'Stoo') who told them he would not be able to make their next practice, or the trip to Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
's 'Electrical Audio' studio in Chicago.
The band's scheduled date with Albini was in six weeks time. The band rapidly found a new drummer, known as 'Eldge' and practiced for 4 weeks solid and just made their Heathrow flight to Chicago. They spent 10 days recording with Steve and came back with 8 songs.
With an absence of 10 months. Kill Kenada and had to work at retrieving their fans' attention. They did this by first releasing a CD-album (on 28 September 2005) crammed full of Gordon Raphael tunes. They did their best to make it clear that this release was to hammer the final nail in the coffin for those songs (which could have been released ages ago) and to illustrate this, the release was very modest (the album was simply a pink CD in a pink wallet - no artwork, no lyrics, no tracklist) - only 500 (each were numbered) were made and the album was only able to purchase from their label's website - SUBverse Recordings and from Rough Trade.
During this time, the band returned to touring through September–November, 2005 and were unexpectedly featured on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
news where they reported Kill Kenada as being an aggressive art-rock trio from Bognor who released their singles entirely independently through the Shellshock distribution network and also through their website.
Their next release wasn't until 27 March 2006. The release, 'Fly', (featuring new drummer, Eldge and recorded by Justin Lockey of Yourcodenameis:milo
Yourcodenameis:milo
-External links:**...
) was a politically-charged offering, with both their aggressive and soft, reflective modes both employed to great effect. The music of the single is organised in a timelike state to reflect the thoughts and feelings of anti-American terrorists (most notably those involved in 9/11) and took on-board their perspectives.
The video for the song is viewable on the band's MySpace page and was made by Red Snow Studios who also made a video for the Kill Kenada song, 'Sado Maso' (a song from the Pink Album) which has never been seen. Due to the song's lyrics, it was a hard release to promote and the excitement behind promoting the song and single died down.
After touring extensively, Kill Kenada released 'In Your Throat' on 7" vinyl format only. The video reaching #1 in both the MTV2 NME Chart Show and MTV2's 'The Rock Chart Show'. The single also received radio airplay from many stations, most notably Radio 1's Zane Lowe who affectingly stopped the backing music to introduce the band's return. A live session on BBC6 Music's Tom Robinson show followed where the band performed 'In Your Throat', 'She's Red' and then premiered their current single at the time 'Saline'.
On the 12 Mar 2008 a message appeared on their official website:
FROM MAGGOTS 2 FLIES-----> WERE BACK! :)
YO YO YO U MONKEYYYYS!
HHHUH? OK WE BEEN AWAY LADIES AND GENTS BUT SINCE OUR ANTI TANK SLIP SHANK CRIOGENIC STORM SLEEP WE HAVE BEEN WRITING AND RECORDING I PROMISE!!!
ARRGGHHHHH.
NEW SONGS NEW DRUMMER AND NEW BOOTS! BE EXCITED AND READY BABY COS WERE COMING TO GET YA... YR NUMBERS HAVE BEEN FILED AND U WILL BE COUNTED...
THE REVOLUTION SHALL BE TELEVISED... KK AM/FM HIFI HD READY MUTHA FUKKKRS.... WATCH THIS SPACE! NEW SINGLE FLOATING ON LA HORIZON IN THE SUMMER HATRED...
LOVE KK X X X
They also uploaded a new song called "Welcome To Hell" on their myspace page which is suspected to be on the new album. Other tracks that will appear on the new album are "From Maggots To Flies" and "ABC" No date had been confirmed for the new album as of yet, although artwork by Dan Baldwin has appeared on the band's official website.
In June 2010 the band released their second full length album 'From Maggots to Flies' via their own website and label SUBverse Recordings.
Albums
- The Pink AlbumThe Pink Album (Kill Kenada)The Pink Album is the debut album of Bognor Regis band Kill Kenada. It was limited to 500 copies. Each album presented in a pink sleeve with a handwritten number written in the bottom right hand corner...
(September 28, 2005; SUBverse Recordings) - From Maggots To Flies (June 31, 2010; SUBverse Recordings)
Singles
- Choke (July 28, 2003; SUBverse Recordings)
- Red And Black (November 10, 2003; SUBverse Recordings)
- Massachusetts Murder Medallions' (May 10, 2004; SUBverse Recordings)
- Fly (March 27, 2006; SUBverse Recordings)
- In Your Throat (SUBverse Recordings)
- Saline' (June 25, 2007; SUBverse Recordings)
Other appearances
Kill Kenada feature on Regina SpektorRegina Spektor
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor is a Russian American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.-Early life:...
's song 'Your Honor' which was released as a single and on the album, 'Soviet Kitsch'."