Killing The Dream Interview

There are very few bands that really stand out in hardcore these days. It's safe to say that Killing The Dream is one of those bands. It'd be near impossible to find a band with more raw emotion portrayed in their music. With vocalist Eli's angst driven lyrics and gut wrenching vocals over the driving tempo of the instruments, it's hard to not feel the anger behind it. Their latest and first full length attempt, "In Place, Apart" blew through the national hardcore scene, leaving an impact that will definitely influence HC acts in future years. This month (June 10th) Killing The Dream hits us with another hard hitting Full length titled "Fractures" out on Deathwish Inc. With the release of this record, they'll be hitting the East Coast, playing This Is Hardcore fest and Florida. Eli took the time to answer some questions for the blog. Check it out:

FU: Alright dude, lets start this off with some light questions. Who does what in Killing The Dream?

KTD: My name is Eli, I answer questions and lose my voice. DJ plays guitar and handles food consumption. Chris plays bass and sleeps all the days. Patches plays guitar and is only crying because of the adrenaline. Isaac plays drums and listens to an unhealthy amount of U2.

FU: You guys have a new record coming out on Deathwish. When does this thing drop?

KTD: June 10th, 2008. Check it out anywhere music is sold.

FU: Judging from the songs on the DW Audio Player, Fractures is lining up to be one of my favorite releases this year. How does the writing process for KTD usually go? Did it change at all with this record? 

KTD: It definitely changed for this record since we lost Joel and Bart right after we recorded "In Place, Apart". Joel was our primary songwriter so obviously it was going to be a new experience writing another record. For a while we just focused on playing those songs and promoting that record, but we knew eventually we were going to have to get down to writing new stuff. It took a while to get into a rhythm and figure out exactly what kind of record we were going to be making, but once we did, it just all sort of fell into place.

Overall, the record is the product of over two years of writing, rewriting, and waiting...but we couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Hopefully everyone else agrees.

FU: How would you say the band has changed since the release of your previous full length, “In Place, Apart”?

KTD: Most obviously, we've had some member changes, as i alluded to in the last question. A couple months after "In Place, Apart" got recorded, Joel and Bart quit, and we recruited our old friends Phil and DJ to fill their spots. Phil left us in december of 2006, and we decided we need some more viking in our band, so we scooped up Patches O'Houlihan, the littlest viking. He's been great to have around, he works hard and has such a great attitude about everything. I'm really happy he's in the band.

Musically, I think a lot of things have changed, if nothing else just from the standpoint that we are a new band with new people writing music. In a lot of ways, "Fractures" is really a record we all wanted to write. We're all so happy with the other records and proud of the work we did with them, but I think with "Fractures" we were able to put everything together. When you start writing a record, I think you always have certain goals for it - We wanted the songs to be fluid, to transition well into one another; We wanted to try new tempos, new progressions, and to take chances without going too far out there and being something we aren't. 

FU: I take it youre a bigtime fan of The Office, from your bulletins, and show flyers. How do you feel about the finale of this last season? Any predictions for the next season?

KTD: Dude, best show ever. I was kinda late to the party on this show, because I don't really watch a lot of current TV, but I watched all three seasons last summer in like two weeks. I was pretty stoked on the finale this year. There were a couple of episodes this season that honestly weren't that funny...I feel like they were trying to set up plot lines more than be funny, which is fine as long as they don't overdo it. So it was good for them to end with a really funny one. haha Kevin..."I am TOTALLY gonna bang Holly."

Anyways, yeah. I hate Jan. What a heinous B. It will be interesting to see what they do with that story...and the Jim and Pam thing is frustrating, just because I really hope they don't make them break up for the sake of drama and stuff, when they've spent the last four years showing us how good they are together. Man, I could go on forever. I'm gonna miss Michael hating Toby, though. Seriously that was one of my favorite parts of the show.

FU: At the end of this summer, you guys will be heading to the East Coast to play some dates including This Is Hardcore fest, and Florida. After that tour, do you guys have any extensive touring plans to promote this new record?

KTD: Haha no! This is pretty ambitious on our part...We'll be gone for almost half the summer, so we are really gonna need a break from stuff. We'll obviously go out and do more shows sometime, but we don't have any definite plans for a while after this summer.


FU: What would you say is the overall theme for “Fratcures”, lyrically? What inspired you while writing for this record?

KTD: "Fractures" is just about breaking away, moving on, growing up...in a lot of different aspects. Basically, I'm just not as young as I used to be, and I'm at a point where I'm having to face decisions that I've been putting off for years under the guise of being young, you know? At some point, you can't just keep gliding through everything and doing everything exactly the same way, and that's what a lot of the songs are about. There's a lot of looking back, looking forward, trying to come to terms with letting certain things go, that sort of stuff.


FU: The Song “Thirty Four Seconds” seems to have a pretty interesting meaning. Care to clarify this songs message?

KTD: Not really. It's a pretty personal song, even though I think a lot of it is pretty obvious. You should know that when I say "You are who you fuck.", I'm not talking so much about sex as I am other stuff.


FU: You guys have a tour in Japan with Ruiner coming up in July. I know you have already been through there before. What is the hardcore scene like there, and how does it differ from the states? Any more info on that tour?

KTD: It's funny, as different as things are, they really are the same everywhere. I think that's one of the really awesome things about hardcore. There might be a few cultural differences. Obviously language is a barrier, but for the most part, hardcore shows are hardcore shows. I don't think there's a lot of things in life you could say that about.

The people in Japan are great...They are so gracious and so stoked to be at shows, and just are very giving, unselfish people. The food takes a while to get used to, but other than that, it's pretty awesome, haha.

Here is the list of shows for that tour-

July 4th (Fri) Fly in ~ Chiba Shinmatsudo @FIREBIRD
July 5th (Sat) Day off
July 6th (Sun) Tochigi Ashikaga @NORTH BBC
July 7th (Mon) Yokohama @LIZARD
July 8th (Tue) Tokyo Kichijoji @WARP
July 9th (Wed) Shizuoka Shimada @CLUB CANDLE
July 10th (Thu) Nagoya @ZION
July 11th (Fri) Osaka Namba @BEARS
July 12th (Sat) Fukui @CHOP
July 13th (Sun) Tokyo Shinjuku @NINE SPICES
July 14th (Mon) Fly out


FU: With two EP’s and two LP’s under KTD’s belt, what’s next for the band? Any talks of writing anymore music or are you guys just going with the flow?

KTD: Definitely just going with the flow. Right now we're just focusing on playing shows for "Fractures" and having as much fun as we possibly can. I guess we'll just let everything else fall into place after that.

FU: That’s it man. Leave us with some inspiring words or a good plug.

KTD: Do something nice for someone today! Seriously, whether it's big or small...you won't be sorry you did.

Thanks for the interview man...See you this summer! Egg House! Haha I forget what that place was called, bummer it closed.

"FRACTURES" June 10th everywhere that has music!

Killing The Dream MySpace
Killing The Dream Website
Deathwish Inc.

Although KTD are one of the most powerful bands in HC today, it's a rare occasion for them to venture outside of California. With KTD delivering an unmatched live show, it would be extremely foolish to pass up an opportunity to catch them while you can. They're hitting Tampa on August 27th, I'll see you there. Be on the lookout for another update this week or next including full sets from the Blacklisted/Paint It Black show along with a video interview with Dan Yemin.

-JP