Interviews

Kill Your Idols

Interview with Andy on Nov 30, 1999 by Archive Bot

Thanks to Eddie of Side One for all of his support and of course Andy of Kill Your Idols for standing outside in the cold-ass Virginia weather to do the interview.

PB: I heard that Kill Your Idols will be taking some time off in the near future. What kind of toll has it taken on the band constantly being on the road for the past five years? 
KYI: It's been amazing. As far as being in a band, it's more than we ever expected. We never even thought we would tour the world.... we never thought we would tour the U.S. at first. It's been amazing and lately it's getting better and better. We just can't make ends meet at home. We're not taking a break from being a band, we're just taking a break from being on the road. We'll still totally record, and anyone that lives a couple hours from New York will see us. Jersey, Philly, as far down as D.C. and Virginia and as far up as Vermont. We just can't do it anymore. A lot of people lately have been on this kick lately that we are this huge rock star band making money off of hardcore, but we've never made anything. I'm like fuckin.... now that it's April I'm officially four months behind in my rent now. That's a direct result of living on tour all the time. It's been amazing, it sucks at home, but I have no regrets at all.

PB: Side One Dummy seems to be a label so supportive of it's bands and the scene. Have you ever thought of wanting to be on other labels?
KYI: As far as Side One goes I think they're amazing. You know what? They heard about us, they heard our music, and they wanted to come check us out. The know we do really well in Southern California and it's easier to do your thing there when there's 200 kids when they're totally into you. So they without telling us, flew out to watch us play at a record store in Las Vegas. There were 20 or 30 kids, so they saw us and watched us and saw we were as comfortable there as in front of a big crowd. They were really impressed by us and wanted to sign us. Lately for some reason we seem to be getting all this feedback. People seem to think that with Side One there's some kind of sellout in that. It's just a great label that gets behinds it's fans and we're labelmates with 7 Seconds, what more could you ask for. 7 Seconds is one of three of our favorite bands. They've been amazing, and aren't funded by any major labels or anything like that. We were really worried because when we were looking for a label one of the biggest appeals and why so many labels got in touch with us is because we're always on tour. When we told them we were going to stop touring we thought they were gonna be like "Well it's been fun!" but they were like whenever you guys have another record written and wanna put it out you're still part of the family. That shows that they're just not some label looking for the next big thing. As far as working with other labels there's a lot we wanted to work with. We really wanted to work with Jade Tree and we got to do a split with Good Riddance on Jade Tree. We always want to be able to work with smaller labels of kids who have always supported us, and kids that do totally independent labels out of their houses and stuff. Again, Side One was totally cool with that. We just did something on Bridge 9, and they are totally into it.

PB: MacRock's a festival celebrating truly independent music. Would you ever consider a major? 
KYI: NEVER! Lately this has really been on my mind about this sellout thing. It seems to keep coming to us. To me selling out is compramising ideals to get big. We've never done that, so if someone says we have they don't know our ideals. I believe that labels could if they want, use major distributors. Everyone wants to get their music out, so people who have these ethics that, well that's fucked up..... whose rule book are they following. Who said that was fucked up for that to happen. Some of the earliest hardcore bands I know are bands like Black Flag that used major distribution. I wouldn't use a major label because I think they only got involved in punk when they saw they can make money off of it. Therefore, hardcore means more to me than that, so I don't do it. As far as distros....that works to band's advanatages. People say they're gonna take their money and as a band in six or seven years I have never gotten a royalty. We've never gotten wripped off but we are always behind in one way or the other. A band is a sellout that meets with a label that says, "We'll make you famous if you just tone it down a little." It's like if you want to do that to me, if you claim to be a part of the underground and you're willing to change to get big, that to me is what selling out is.

PB: I read on your site we can expect an American Nightmare split in the near future.... what kind of material can we expect? Also how did the Good Riddance split come about?
KYI: The Good Riddance split came about because we had been talking to Jade Tree for a while about working together and Jade Tree is a great label. It's run by two guys who have always supported Kill Your Idols and always liked us, so we've become friends... ya know? So we had a chance to work with them and we were totally psyched. Then we had the chance to tour with Good Riddance and became friends with them a long time ago. All parties involved, it's all a big friendship. The split with American Nightmare doesn't look like it's going to happen. The stuff recorded for that will be on Bridge 9 as like a one sided EP. There's three new songs and it's pretty much like this... If you like Kill Your Idols you'll like it, if you don't we won't get any new fans. It's straight up. There's one song that's straight up, a song that's more melodic, and a Jawbreaker cover.

PB: How does the criminal history of Kill Your Idols look and have you done any crazy shit?
KYI: We've all done crazy shit, and I'm not at liberty to say who may have a criminal record and who may not... as criminal activity goes. We love to party. We're not afraid to defend ourselves if people fuck with us. Sometimes things get crazy, because we're just not the type to back down. If someone wants to stand up to us I can take a beating. I'd rather get beat up for my principles, and I wouldn't be able to look in the mirror if I was the type that would just run away. That doesn't mean going after people. We've never been bullies or thugs. We just seem to be a target because we're from New York and people know we're not violent. Physically don't get me wrong! We've done about 40 tour and never really have had personal confrontations, but we're had run in's here and there with the law

PB: Getting to a more serious subject, does the band want to come to Room 313 at Motel 6 after your set and party it up?
KYI: Tonight? The only problem is that we have to be home by tomorrow at 11am and I don't..... it's going to be close. When we're on tour we always love to party.

PB: Lastly, thanks so much for your time. Who are some up and coming bands Kill Your Idols thinks the readers should check out? 
KYI: There's a lot of bands. There's this band In Control from California... a great up and coming band. Down In Flames from New Jersey another young band, this band from Long Island called Gleaming The Cube. A lot of people get jaded and only want to see older bands, but the new and upcoming bands are tomorrow's big bands. They are the ones you want to pay attention to. I like to consider that I'm pretty on top of what's going on in hardcore. Like I said, we'd rather play smaller shows with a bunch of smaller bands than just go out and play shows like this. Don't get wrong... any band would like to play this, but when we play local and stuff we don't wait for the "big show" to come through and play. We wait for our friend's band who are on tour to come home that no one really knows then hopefully help them draw people to the show. There's a lot of upcoming bands. Don't wait for them!