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Here at the start of 2006 many in the music world are bandying about their predictions for the break through band of the next twelve months. One such band whose name seems to be on the lips of everyone who’s anyone is Boy Kill Boy. After two highly acclaimed singles on Fierce Panda in 2005 they are set to make their debut major label release ‘Back Again’ on Vertigo next week. This will be accompanied by a huge UK tour; together they look set to launch Boy Kill Boy into the hearts and minds of music lovers everywhere. Gigwise dully spoke to Keyboardist Pete Carr about the origins, present and future of the band everyone’s talking about.
With their combination of soaring rock melodies and the odd synth movement Boy Kill Boy have been compared to an array of bands including The Smiths, something Pete doesn’t quite understand. “I’ve only ever listened to, I don’t know about the rest of the band, but I’ve only ever probably listened to the introduction to one of their songs and that’s all I’ve ever heard. So if there is any musical link it’s purely coincidental!” he says. “I’ve heard Morrisey’s most recent stuff on the radio, and I don’t know if that is a reflection of what the Smiths sounded like, but I don’t think we sound anything like them”. Gigwise tends to agree, think more along the lines of Editors on speed and you'd be a whole lot closer.
When we speak to Pete the East London four-piece are in the middle of recording their debut album, due out in May. “We’re kind of trying to be really regimental. Rather than record a track every three days or something like that we’ve tried to put a timetable on things, but it’s all been going really well,” enthuses Pete. They’re working with legendary producer John Cornfield who has produced albums for the likes of Supergrass, Oasis, Muse and too many others to mention. “There’s a big thing about when we record, there’s a whole sort of ‘demo mentality’ feel, just play the song and play it with all your heart kind of thing and you’ll get your take." He also says that working alongside Cornfield has helped the band immensely, especially himself: "He’s shown me a few more technical things to do with synthesizers which has really interesting for me. As far as playing is concerned it gets you in the right frame of mind”.
The Boy Kill Boy story goes right back to Pete’s school days where he met frontman Chris Peck. Drummer Shaz was someone he’d known for seven or eight years through playing in various bands together and they met bassist Kevin a year ago at a party. Luckily they all hit it off straightaway says Pete, adding: “Sometimes it’s really difficult with musicians because you can be on the right wavelength but it would just not work. I’ve been in bands with Chris and we’ve always clicked really well and Shaz, and we all clicked straight away and Kev the same. But in a way I think we were lucky that it has all worked out. I think a lot of it’s got to do with how much you want it”.
While they look certain to be huge in 2006, it's not always been straight forward for the boys and they've faced the perennial problems of any up and coming new band. “The biggest obstacle that we’ve had to overcome and have overcome was being in a band and holding down a job. We managed to do that for a year”, he explains. “I’d be up at six in the morning going to work at an office in charge of a couple of people, finish work at 4 o’clock then I’d go straight to the venue and then we’d sound check ad then I’d get home at about one or two o’clock in the morning and get up the next day….Basically I lived on 4 hours sleep”.
Boy Kill Boy have had the fortune to tour with some of the hottest groups around, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be says Pete. “You get to play on the bill with… you know we’ve played with Maximo Park and Bloc Party, bloody loads of bands! But you never get to see anyone because you’re always backstage or you’re always doing other stuff then you’d go on and do your gig and then you’d come off and then you’ve got to go off and do something else”. They’ve also supported Staines rockers Hard- Fi several occasions. “We’ve done a couple of tours with them. We did our first proper tour with Hard Fi in think in April or March last year. It’s been really good to see like we’re on tour with them, then a few months later their album was released and we went on tour with them again and it was great to see the change in the venue size and people who are into the band and playing in front of bigger audiences. It’s been a real good experience with those guys”.
The future does indeed look bright for Boy Kill Boy and the music press seem to be in agreement, but Pete closes by saying the band will not be put off by the increasing praise and will instead thrive off the hype surrounding them. “You put pressure on yourself as well. So it does put a bit of pressure on you but that’s good. I think it’d be harder if there was no pressure. It makes you strive for more”.
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