JuicyBands.com: Kill Hannah

Today KILL HANNAH came in for an Interview! They're one of the new and up and coming bands so it was awesome to have them in the studio. Here's what they had to say.

JUICY BANDS: How did you come up with the name of the band?

KILL HANNAH: Its was named after an ex-girlfriend of mine.

JUICY BANDS: How long has Kill Hannah been together?

KILL HANNAH: We've been around about 3 years i'd say, but the band Kill Hannah has been around since 1995.

JUICY BANDS: How many demos did you have to send out before Atlantic signed you?

KILL HANNAH: 4,000 [band laughs] About a total of eight CDs were submitted over the course of 8 years. We've been rejected about 50 times by every single label.

JUICY BANDS: Even Atlantic?

KILL HANNAH: Yes, over the years.

JUICY BANDS: Did you ever get to the point where you said, forget it, it's never going to happen?

KILL HANNAH: We came real close but never to that point. You go online at Orbitz's and you start checking out cheap airfare for other countries and things like that in weaker moments. You come close to feeling that way but it takes a series of really shitty nights to doubt yourself. Every time we see a fan or their response to any of our songs it just reconfirms what we believe.

JUICY BANDS: How do you guys figure out which song's the band's going to open and close with?

KILL HANNAH: For the opening we usually have about 2 or 3 songs we rotate. For closing it's usually our single "Kennedy" or another song called, "Welcome to Chicago Mother Fucker." Depends on the crowd or what we feel.

JUICY BANDS: Generally speaking, how many tour dates do you do each year?

KILL HANNAH: We've pretty much been on tour from this time last year. Except for a five month period where we recorded our record. We had maybe six weeks that we didn't tour, but other then that we're constantly on the go.

JUICY BANDS: What did you guys do in the six weeks where you guys weren't on the road or recording?

KILL HANNAH: Well, its never six weeks in a row. I think in August we were home 10 days. In July something like 5 days. So, it's really just band work. The last time we were home, Matt was designing the CD cover. I was running the merchandise and all the stuff we needed printed up for this month's show and we were looking for vans and stuff to rent and all that stuff. Garret was making tapes for the live DAT that we have the keyboards on and every thing. Johnny was promoting the shows. So, there really isn't a day off. We spent a lot of time apologizing to our girlfriends. A lot of damage control [band laughs].

JUICY BANDS: Are you going to be doing any radio show appearances?

KILL HANNAH: We just started getting played on the radio recently, so that was exciting. We went nuts when we actually heard our song on the radio, we were like, "That's us, we did it!" We want to visit all the radio stations personally.

JUICY BANDS: That's awesome! I'm sure they'd appreciate that. Who designed the art work for the Never and Ever album?

KILL HANNAH: Matt did.

JUICY BANDS: Matt, what was involved in designing the art work?

KILL HANNAH: I always kinda keep ideas for concepts, you know, like a list. First step is getting the band together and trying to think of something original, but not too far out. And conveys something about the band about the sound of the band and hasn't been done a thousand times before. Once you get a concept down then I need mark ups. I shot a model like a stand in of what we might do if we went with that idea. Then I put together a few rough drafts then continue to hone it and develop it and stuff. The process begins with a drawing in a sketch book a year ago and ends with what were doing right now which is deciding between a couple of versions for the cover. I'm the organized one. [band laughs]

JUICY BANDS: Who decides on the album cover, the bands or Atlantic Records?

KILL HANNAH: I think that's our call but, it be foolish to ignore Atlantic's opinion of it. They are giving us a lot of latitude which is really cool. We value their opinion and they are all very cool about everything. We want them to be 100% supportive of it, so we know they're behind it as much as we are. With the exception of the cover we pretty much see eye to eye, they like our songs and we put them out. Then the cover represents us but we run it by them, just so they can get an idea and see what we're working with.

JUICY BANDS: Where do you see Kill Hannah five years from now?

KILL HANNAH: I see us as a world-wide success story. I see us on MTV Europe and MTV America presenting awards for VMA's maybe.

JUICY BANDS: Do you guys have any big plans for New Years?

KILL HANNAH: In a few hours we're flying back to Chicago, so that's where we'll be. New Years Eve we're gonna party like rock stars and hang with our girls.

JUICY BANDS: Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans?

KILL HANNAH: Wish you were here right now. Thank you for listening to us and thanks for buying our CD, it's been a great year.

JUICY BANDS: Thank you very much guys. I wish you all the best.

KILL HANNAH: Your welcome, thanks for having us come in. Now we can say, we've officially been here, we've made our mark. [laughs]