Krill photo by Brendon J
by Debbie Stevens
They hail originally, from a little Queensland town known as Yeppoon, but were full of big dreams. The kind only real artists/musicians dare to dream. What’s great about this story, not only a gifted and talented group, but they are keeping it in the family! Four sisters and a brother, shaking up the music scene with a sound that will have you screaming for MORE! Even though their target was a tough competitor, they knew what they wanted so set their sights on making it, like KRILL-
Sydney has a new sound!
When I first heard their ‘demo’; “Shake it up ma”, it was during the usual music cruise around the MySpace circles. I heard it only once. Thanks to our very own Mike Goldman of Big Brother’s ‘Uplate’, I’d caught the same catchy sound. This would quickly go on to see them the winners of MTV’s UncharTED contest, signing with Sony BMG Red label!
Krill blend their pre-punk-pop with a hint of good old rock and roll and just as I predicted, are just warming up! So where to now?
D.S: Okay guys, please introduce yourselves to our readers and maybe share your ages??
K: We’re KRILL, an 80’s inspired synth rock band from Sydney.
To spell the name out there’s:
Kim Jackson– Synth/Keys – Age-29
Roy Jackson – Lead Guitar/Vox – Age-26
Jan Jackson – Lead Vox – Age= 23
Lee Jackson – Bass Guitar/Vox – Age – 21
Lea Jackson – Drums – Age-21 (the twin rhythm section)
D.S: You originally hail from QLD, but where does the story to Krill really begin? What sparked the idea for the band?
K: Crazily enough we’re all classically trained in piano. The folks have always wished they were more musical, so as time went by, musical instruments other than piano started to turn up under the Christmas tree…and the rest is history.
The twins keep the solid rhythm section with drums and bass, Jan had the voice, Roy wouldn’t not play lead guitar, and Kim had the piano fingers.
D.S: How did you know this was your calling?
K: Calling? Wow that’s a strong word. I wouldn’t say it was a calling, but more of a passion that we all shared, which is very rare in a family. Usually brothers and sisters hate each other, so the one thing we all got to argue in, but still have a blast was music. Plus through school the music to let the right side of the brain on wild rides.
D.S: You guys are obviously close but was this always designed to be a family performance?
K: It just kind of happened actually and now we wouldn’t have it any other way. It sounds very corny I know but there’s a huge advantage in that if you argue, which you always do in music, you’ll get over it with family.
D.S: Are there any other talented family members we aren’t aware of? If yes, did they inspire you in any way?
K: Well Dad is pretty mean on the triangle, and Mum has one of those powerful voices that can sing and scream, but fortunately the folks left the band up to us otherwise we would truly be the Vontrap family rather than the second Jackson Five!
D.S: What is the process of your lyrics? Are they written by any particular member or is it a collective effort?
K: At the moment Jan and Roy work part-time so that they can write the lyrics and underlying guitar for our new songs. Then they take it to the rest of us, we jam and discuss the idea. We sort of transform the song and lyrics together in a collective effort. We all have different writing styles, so it helps to create some interesting lyrics.
D.S: Where do the songs come from? What inspires the words?
K: The songs can come from a movie that sparks something in us to absolutely anything in our lives. The great thing about having five people is that there’s so much to choose from there. It can be something as simple as being yourself and shakin’ it no matter who you are, like in “Shake it up ma”, to the world’s obsession with image in “Kicking and Screaming”.
D.S: What do each of you feel you bring to your band?
K: Well we all have varying tastes in music, so we all bring lots of different ideas forward. We’re all very opinionated but not controlling so we always manage to find a common ground among all five of us which can be hard. And aside from us all bringing our skill with our own instruments, we take a lot of interest in each others instruments which allows us to communicate our ideas better and allows us to express our music in a deeper sense.
D.S: Has there ever been any ‘sibling rivalry’ along the way? What’s the toughest decision that you feel you all had to agree on as a band?
K: There’s never really been any sibling ‘rivalry’ with us. We try to keep it relatively equal, while knowing that the audience needs a point of eye contact, being Jan. Tough decisions come up all the time, for instance, arranging ‘leave’ for five people at once, Jan and Roy giving up two days of their day-job salaries to focus on writing etc. It’s one tough decision after another. You’ll never get an exceptional outcome if it’s not a tough decision.
D.S: When and where was your very first ‘gig’?
K: Our very first gig was at the one of Yeppoon’s two pubs, The Strand. It was a four hour set with our originals stuffed in between Credence Clearwater Revival, Hootie and the Blowfish and many many more. I still remember we got three army guys from the reserve sign in our ‘fan book’!
D.S: You guys performed as a support act to the Hoodoo Gurus, could you tell us more?
K: Sure did, playing with the Hoodoo Gurus was unreal. Being able to hang out and chat with them about their experiences was even better. They’re one of Australia’s longest lasting rock bands, so it’s an honour really. You can learn so much from them.
D.S: Apart from appearing on stage at a couple of Aussie festivals, you also represented Australia during the FIFA Soccer world Cup. What was that experience like?
K: One word…crazy! It was amazing to have the opportunity to take our music to Germany in the first place, and at such a festive time was even better. We played nine shows over 15 days to crowds from all over the world. One show played to over 10,000 people in a stadium, where we got to stay with the other fifty bands together for the celebrations. Bands have to remember that Australia is such a small part of the world, there’s so much more out there to be a part of.
D.S: If you had to pick just two artists, past or present that you feel epitomize your own music, who would that be and why?
K: Different elements of our music have been influenced by different bands, so I’d say the strong melodic focus and shiny 80’s synth of The Cure is a definite, along with Blondie and the Divinyls with the strong female fronted attitude, backed up with the dirty 80’s feel. I know that’s three bands not two. Sorry.
D.S: What are each of you listening to when not performing? Any favourite CD’s?
K: I could give you a 20 minute spiel going through all the different music we listen to, so I’ll just give you a few. Of today’s music, I’d say Razorlight, Hot Hot Heat, Hard Fi, The Scissor Sisters and Ok Go would be a few of the favourites. But the ones that remain the favourites from way back include Queen, The Divinyls, The Cure, Blondie, Simon and Garfunkel and Fleetwood Mac.
D.S: It must have been a huge thrill winning the MTV’s UncharTED competition, congratulations! What songs did you sing in the contest and when do you begin working on the album with Sony BMG Red Label? Does it have a title?
K: After five months of our dedicated fans voting daily (thank you!)… it was definitely a huge thrill to win the UncharTED Competition. The competition allowed our music to be heard all around the world by music lovers and music industry people, as well as getting us a spot on the 2008 Big Day Out tour and a single with Sony BMG Red Label. That kind of exposure you can’t buy. With the Red Label we have just recorded our first single “Shake it up ma”, which will hopefully be followed by an album mid next year.
D.S: Will your first EP’s; The Sweet Side Of Cider and Into The Woods be included?
K: When we come to choosing the songs for the EP, we’ll definitely look upon our two first EP’s to include some of the fans’ favourites. However, I think we’ll try to keep most of the material new and fresh. You’d be surprised at the different style of sounds written only a few years apart. We’re still growing as musicians, and we want the new album to reflect that journey as well.
D.S: Well it’s no secret I am a Krill fan, and am looking forward to having my own copy of “Shake it up Ma!” What songs have been the most popular to date, and are there any newbies in the wings?
K: “Shake it up Ma” is definitely the song where you know the words after 30 seconds. Ever since we’ve added it to the set list it’s been a crowd favourite. There are lots of newbies in the wings, with more to be written, which are receiving an awesome response because of the increased ‘dancy feel‘. Other favourites are “See me cry” which we also played at the Uncharted final and “Pass the pepper on”, which was our very first single from ‘The Sweet side of cider”.
D.S: Where does Krill see themselves, five years from now?
K: Haha this sounds like a job interview…Five years from now we’re hoping to have ventured our music outside of Australia, both in terms of touring and releasing, hopefully building and building on the success that our first album will be …… hahahahaha
We’re hoping to tour more, and of course we’d love to be able to do music full time but until then we’ll be dedicating every spare moment to music. Right now we’re having a blast writing new songs for our debut album to be released next year so that’s the next thing on the long “to do” list.
People say that nothing is guaranteed in music, and we love that. It makes us work harder, dream more, and play like each gig like it’s the first and the last! We’re just gonna give the album our all and see where we go from there.
D.S: So what’s next for KRILL?
K: Well we’ve actually just finished a week’s work in the studio recording our first single with Sony “Shake it up ma” which will be released early next year. After that we’ll be shooting a film clip for the single, and heading on the Big Day Out 2008 tour around the country with the likes of Rage Against the Machine, Silverchair and Regurgitator.
D.S: Finally, what are your website details for our readers?
K: You can check us out at:
www.myspace.com/littlekrill
We’re upgrading our website and it should be up and running soon.
You can check out their music at our studio:
http://www.livestream.com/flipsidetomusic
So without further ado i bring to you….
