Interview with Kill All The Gentlemen

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

I can always remember liking music at a young age but I think things really clicked for when I was a teenager. That's when certain songs felt like they had a hard-line to my very core. Be it angry songs, sad songs , happy songs.....it was just this great gift to be able to tap into those feelings with music.

I actually dropped out of studying mechanical engineering to change over to studying music. So would mostly likely have done that.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

I tend to spend my time watching films, playing games and socialising. I get a lot of inspiration from movie soundtracks. Maybe not the musical ideas but the feeling around it. Some of my favourite pieces of music are from scenes in movies. 

How long has your band been around?

All of us have been in bands in the local scene at some point or another. But Kill All The Gentlemen was formed around 2015. That's when all the ideas started to come together.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

We are from all across Devon and Somerset. But we normally say the band was formed in Exeter as that's where anything remotely musical happens in our area. As Devon is a fairly remote place there aren't many metal heads you come across. So it meant those friendships built on music were really strong. The scene may not be massive but there's a great unity.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

It's actually from a local story around class struggles and change. Basically lords of a local countryside oppressed locals to the point where they rebelled and made a degree to "Kill all the gentlemen". I think there's a book about it now. I should probably read it!

The story is fairly badass and  it's about not taking any shit, especially from people in a stronger position then you. We have that same mentality.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

There's been a few but I reckon the opening night on the napalm death tour we went on a few years ago. It was in Ukraine at this old skool theatre in Kiev. There was this huge curtain in front of the stage for when the band's change over. We went on stage, chugged a quick beer together and said "let's do this!" The curtain went up to hundreds of faces. That moment was all we needed to kick the show off. It was a great set, definitely not forgetting that one anytime soon.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Favourite venue.....that's a tough one, theres been so many. We have our classic venues like Exeter Cavern and Cobblestones in Bridgwater which are always great. There was this sick venue "The Bridge Inn" in Rotherham. Awesome vampire themed pub and some great live rooms. Would love to play there again.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

That's a tough one aswell. Would be sick be play a show with classic Pantera or something like that. Black Dahlia, Cradle of Filth, At the Gates and Decapitated would be solid line up for us I reckon.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Shit I don't know.  I guess not being overly invested in that "first" band. Where you think you are going to make it, and then end up dragging dead weight members around. If it isn't working out cut your losses and find people that are just as keen as you are!

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

How to bet on a certain sporting event and place all your money on it! Or invest in bitcoin nice and early.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Think for me it has to be either "These are godless times" or "Death Black". I tend to like an "epic" track with a lot of melody. Death black in particular is right up my street. Black metal influences into death beatdowns, awesome duel solo, clean guitar epicness, strings and huge outro. What more do you need! Plus I love screaming the backing for that one. I get this odd emotional with the last few lines. I end up screaming so hard it wrecks my throat but it's an amazing release for me. A lot of pain and anger to tap in to.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

There's a few bangers that I always enjoy live. "Colder" is always great to get the party started. We've had requests to play "welcome the horror" again. Forgot how much fun that one is, so that went into the set recently. Also get the odd request for an old skool song "deepest depth" but I fairly sure that song has been retired.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Well we definitely all contribute towards the overall structures and energy of the songs. But in terms of riffs and first ideas. It's a good mix of Adam, Mikey and myself. I tend to struggle to write a whole song, I'm more of a riff guy. But Adam or Mikey can just come up with a whole song in their own time and share it with everyone. Keeps it fresh with all of us writing and contributing. Adam does all the lyrics tho, best leave that to him.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

That's something you'd have to ask Adam I'm afraid. We aren't overly political or anything. Adam writes some great lyrics so I just leave him to it.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Nah, we are all past that now. Maybe in earlier bands but we have all grown past that. I sometimes fall out with the drummer Tom when he insists on taking all the gear ever to every show! So much gear to drag around, I hate it. But he does a great job so who am I to question him. We have a good laugh about it now.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

Going to continue touring the new album "Black Canvas". May be planning a little tour around the Nordic countries but let's see. Other then that we have talked about the next album, have maybe 5 songs in the bag. We want to push ourselves more and more. Especially with song structures and keeping things diverse. But let's see....