Kilkus

From their website

formed in the outskirts of east london, kilkus came together in may 1998, united by a love of bands like machine head, pearl jam, pantera and other diverse and powerful outfits. the band immediately began writing their own original material. and for once this means original in both senses of the word; kilkus' songs may be their own, but, perhaps more importantly, the band's sound is their own also. although schooled in the traditions of modern rock music, kilkus still manage to avoid tipping their hat too noticeably in any other band's direction.

"i'd like people to really get something from our music," explains vocalist kris macarre. "i don't want us to be doing something that's just viewed as party music, something that people can just jump around to and nothing else. i'd like us to reach out to as many people as possible and in as real a way as possible as well. i'd like the people who listen to our music or who come and see us live to feel a real connection with the band and what we do."

in order to achieve this, kilkus immediately began honing and shaping their live show into the powerful, purposeful beast it is today. they did this the only way any band worth their salt can: they humped gear, traveled miles and plated any show they could find. kilkus played the toilets of essex and london, local battle of the bands competitions...basically, any place that would take them, any time, anywhere.

so kilkus built it and people came. and whilst these maybe early days the band have already cultivated a small but loyal fan base, a fan base built around their intense and compelling live shows. kilkus have also shared bills and tours with other notable british acts such as one minute silence, lost prophets and stamping ground.

"if you want to describe our sound, and what you can get from hearing us, then i would describe us as being 'post-thrash-emo'," believes decks-man edo trowse. "if you wanted to put a label on us then that's the one i would use. if you listen to what we do then you'll find that we're emotional, we're heavy and we're also quite dark. we're a lot darker than a lot of the music that's coming out today. we're a lot more introspective. it's a very sensory experience. kilkus is the name we give to what we do.

suitably sharpened, kilkus began attracting the attention of record labels, and the beginning of last year signed a deal with the independent visible noise label. earlier this year the band's debut album, 'the pattern of self design', saw the light of day. produced by the band themselves and recorded and mixed together with grant mathews (at studio adelaide) the album is a dozen songs that display all the potential you could possibly hope to hear from a band making their first cuts in the studio environment.

"although the album is very heavy, it's done in a certain, definite way," explains trowse. "we're not heavy just for it's own sake, we do it for a reason and with a purpose. we tend to take our songs through sounds and moods, to build things up and drop things out. we're not just relentlessly heavy, because i think we'd find that quite boring and i think the people that listen to our music would find that quite boring as well. there's a lot going on in what we do. and there's a lot of thought been put into what we do."

evidence of this thoughtful and purposeful approach can be found all over 'the pattern of self design' whether in the opening track 'a.o.c', the title track itself, or the album closer 'no time for myself', kilkus, throughout their debut album, display a maturity and a potential which seems astonishing and advanced considering each member's tender years.

subsequent to the release of 'the pattern of self design', kilkus underwent a significant change in personnel with the departure of vocalist paul and bassist david. rather than stall the momentum, the split - which the band describe as "an amicable and mutual parting; it was just time for both camps to move on" seems if anything to have spurred kilkus on. in a decisive shift of musical chairs the band decided that guitarist kris macarre would drop his six strings and pick up the microphone, with the band carrying on with just the one guitarist, and tom the newest member to fill the position as bassist.

"i won't try and rap, because i can't rap," explains the new frontman, "and it's important to me to be very natural in what i do. if i do something that i'm not comfortable with then the fans will see straight through me. so i found my own style, which involves plenty of singing and plenty of screaming too!"

and now all that is left to discuss for kilkus is the future, which appears so bright the band will probably still be wearing shades long past the summer. the group would like it to be known that while they're all proud of ' the pattern of self design', they see it as only a first marker - their first steps, if you will - and thus something they will soon improve upon.

"when we listen to the album, it sounds to us as if it's just our first demos," explains trowse. "we're very pleased that people like it , obviously , but what i'd say to them is just wait til you hear what we have planned for the future. the stuff we're doing now is so way beyond what we've done before that it's difficult to put into words. i just can't wait til people hear it."

kilkus plan to re-enter the studio to record a second album early next year.

and in case you were wondering, kilkus is a made up word. everything else about the band, though, is very, very real.