My Turn To Kill - Part 2.
BY KELDA MANLEY.
My Turn To Kill drummer Shaun is contemplating telling us some big news. After gaining approval from his bandmates he decides to tell The Record Journal their exclusive news. ‘We’re changing our name’ he reveals.
With new material and various tours on the horizon this year the fivesome have decided that their name may be holding them back.
‘New material and a new feel to the band’ explains Shaun. ‘We actually think that the name we have could be the reason we’re put with a load of metal bands.’
Lee: ‘There’s a lot of reasons behind it.’
Jazzy: ‘But we don’t have to tell you what the names going to be. Shall we? No.’
Lee: ‘You were tempted there.’
Jazzy: ‘You haven’t got any cake on you have you?’
Mike: ‘What’s that gameshow when you have to guess the letters?’
Steve: ‘Catchphrase.’
Shaun: ‘Play hangman yeah?’
Mike: ‘Play wheel of fortune.’
Shaun: ‘We always go way off course.’
Lee: ‘See touring isn’t that bad because if we start with a subject in Edinburgh it will usually last down to Southampton . Just talk shit all the way.’
Shaun:’ Yeah we’ll go round the world and then back to the subject. Never ever come to any conclusion. Ever.’
Steve: ‘I like the fact that we never actually answer the original question. Shaun “What is your favourite drink?” “Well, you’ve got two ways of looking at it...”
Shaun: ‘I’m going to say Sunny D.’
Steve: ‘I haven’t had Sunny D in ages.’
After another few topic changes the band finally get back on track. ‘I said yesterday [the new] name doesn’t make you think of anything’ explains Jazzy. ‘Better to have a name that doesn’t make you think of a genre instantly. It’s better to listen to the music. Like what The Smiths did. There was a lot of crazy named bands in the 80s and they were fed up so they said “we’ll go for the plainest thing we can think of.”
While Jazzy is talking Steve shows The Record Journal two flyers for tonight’s show in Wrexham. One printed by the promoters the other designed by the band themselves. The first is completely black with a moody photograph while the second is colourful and shockingly the band are smiling.
Pointing at the first flyer Lee says, ‘it’s all dark and depressed.’
Mikey: ‘But we’re not dark are we?’
Jazzy: ‘On tour this is the flyer we have for every show. Promoters are like “can you put this on your MySpace?” [Our flyer is] happy, happy come listen to us. [The promoters flyer] is come listen to us an I’ll kill you!’
It’s not just the flyers that have become a problem for the band. They’re regularly confused with a metal band and have to play alongside those who are heavier than them.
Shaun: ‘We’ve suffered from that a lot on tour you know.’
Steve: ‘Everywhere you play it’s like us and 5 hardcore metal bands.’
Jazzy: ‘We end up sounding like Boyzone.’
Shaun: ‘Sometimes it’s good because a load of people come to see us and they like the other bands. [However] if we’re new to somewhere then all these metal band play then we go on it’s a crowd killer if they’re ready to throw it down and windmill and headbutt each other and stuff. They don’t feel they can do that to us so they just go to the bar and get wasted.’
Mike: ‘I usually join them.’
Shaun: ‘While he’s playing. Anytime he can. He’s got a drip at home of Carlsberg.’
Mike: ‘I don’t like Carlsberg.’
So very soon it’ll be all change for My Turn To Kill. The name change will happen suddenly and their MySpace will be completely changed. When they finally reach a comfortable point with their name the fivesome are confident the only way is up. ‘The beauty of it at the moment is we have so much in front of us I feel we can’t fail’ reveals Shaun. ‘It’s just betting bigger, bigger, bigger and bigger. You can’t fail because you’ve got people to win over. It’s a challenge, it’ll take a while and hopefully it’ll never stop if we carry on marketing ourselves the right way, writing the music. Just keeping it real.’
Please click HERE for Part 1 of the interview.
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