08/14/08
Text: Nik Mercer
Photographers: Sundance Channel
We gave you the lowdown on season two of the Sundance Channel's Live from Abbey Road series a while back, so check out that article for the full story on the stellar program.
We're so enamored with the show that we decided to chat with two artists who participated—the Kills and MGMT—about their experience at the legendary recording studio. Needless to say, the topic shifted a little...
MGMT was on last week (read our short Q&A with them here), and the Kills is on tonight, so read on for a little interview with them.
The Kills
On Recording at the Abbey Road Studio
I loved that day. The setup is amazing, the sound is amazing. You get carried away! We kind of play every day [on tour], so it's not like it's any different. But a lot went down there, and that's hard to ignore.
On being a duo
There're bands that're trying to write great songs and be amazing... but that wasn't on the agenda for us. It's about this sort of voodoo that goes on between us.
At the beginning, we were trying to get more people involved, but no one wanted to play with us. And we were working so hard, giving one-thousand percent, and then we eventually wound up... sounding like a band.
It's hard to know where you're going as a band. I tend to not think about what others think. We tend to operate in a bubble, I guess.
On their sound and the latest album, Midnight Boom
The garage rock thing came about because when we'd come [onto the scene], a new era of garage rock had come upon the world. We just always adored the Velvet Underground and recorded in a cheap, lo-fi studio, though...
This time, I wanted to make a forward-thinking record that's like the Kills in 2008; a snapshot.
On rhythm and voice and instrument
That's definitely the case for me—everything starts with rhythm. That's how it is when you're in a band with two people. You make up for what you don't have. My lyrics and sentence structures and much more rhythmical.
