Why We Kill are a freshly-minted band hailing from Costa Mesa, California comprised mostly of members of OC punk band The Uprising. Considering the band’s pedigree you’d expect a similar street punk sound, right? Wrong. Why We Kill are heavily steeped in metal. Blistering, punishing, face-melting metal. Just look at their logo up above; face sufficiently melted.
Why We Kill’s drummer, Danny Thompson, whom you may be more familiar with from his day job as drummer for legendary SoCal punk band Face To Face, took some time out from his hectic schedule to answer a few questions for us about the new project, his other business ventures, and why Alberto Contador is such a douche. Read the full interview here.
Dying Scene (jaystone): First off, congratulations on the new project. There are a lot of people stoked to hear new music from members of The Uprising. What was the catalyst behind getting together and working on new material (even if it isn’t The Uprising, per se)?
Danny Thompson: We never really stopped working on music, we just took our time as we made this change into a different genre. That mixed with my touring schedule with Face just added to there being a long stretch of no new music from us.
On a related note, what was the origin of Why We Kill…did it come out of The Uprising jamming new tracks but finding that they didn’t fit the old band stylistically, or was this a conscious decision to start a new project with a totally different direction?
This was definitely a conscious decision brought on by a few things. First, Brett “the brutal truth” as we call him, is really an amazing metal guitar player. That’s really where his roots have always been and I think you can hear that in Uprising material. So for him this was really what he wanted to be doing and what he’s best at. Crabby has always been a long term metal fan as well. I think the other factor was that we were just burned out on doing the same old stuff.
3/4ths of line up from The Uprising is now in Why We Kill, but the sound is obviously a lot more straight-ahead metal. Can we expect anything new out of the Uprising in the future, or has that project run its course?
Well, never say never right? We may decide to do some stuff as the Uprising later. Ya never know.
Steve “Crabby” Cabler handles vocal duties for Why We Kill. He’s obviously been in the news lately for courageously being the only American to return to Bali to testify in the trial surrounding the 2002 nightclub terror attack that claimed 202 people. Obviously living through a horrific event like that changes you, but do you think reliving it through the trial has reignited some of the rage that comes across loud and clear in the Why We Kill tracks?
Absolutely! WWK is a direct reflection of someone who is still dealing with the aftermath and long term scars of an event like that.
What has the songwriting process been like in Why We Kill so far? Does everybody bring ideas to the table, or are there one or two principal writers (like in Face to Face)?
We write the songs together for the most part. Sometimes Brett will come in with some riffs and we build it from there and other times I will start some type of drum feel and that sparks an entire song. It is definitely a full collaboration.
You mentioned recently via facebook that we can expect a Why We Kill full-length in the future. First off…how “near” is that future? Secondly, can we expect any WWK tour dates to follow?
We will be putting a 7 song EP up on all the digital portals in the next week or so and then we head back into the studio in July to do 5 new tracks and the full length will follow shortly after that. By end of summer for sure. We have some big plans. Some top secret stuff I can’t mention yet haha. We will be getting out there and touring after the full length. No dates yet but I’m sure we will put it together.
In Face To Face, you spent the last two summers on the Warped Tour and on an extensive headlining tour with Strung Out. You’ve got a handful of gigs planned this spring and summer (particularly international ones), but it seems like the focus is on Trever and Scott doing the acoustic tour for a while. What’s next in the F2F camp?
I’m sure we will be doing some more extensive runs of shows later in the year. Beyond that, you would have to talk to Trever. Certainly for me, I would love to get into the studio and do another record and do some more long US and Euro tours. We leave for Brazil later this month and I am really stoked for that.
In addition to playing in Face To Face full time and getting Why We Kill off the ground, you also co-own and operate The Music Factory, a music school in Orange County. At The Music Factory, you employ a fair amount of teachers who themselves have been (or are currently) in well-known bands like Rufio, Lit, No Use For A Name, etc. Given the current economic state of the music industry, do you think that making a living in music is going to mean having a lot of diverse projects like that?
The idea there was that lots of musicians in bands like you mentioned could certainly use some extra cash when they aren’t out touring. This is a great way for them to do that without having to try and find a regular gig. In the big scheme of things, I think you have to have multiple things in the fire. If I were 22 and doing this all again, I would be starting businesses along with making music. The two compliment each other quite well. If I had a huge hit song tomorrow and was raking in huge cash, I would still have other projects. I like to create things and build things from the ground up.
When you’re giving lessons at the Music Factory, particularly to the next generation of musicians, do you ever cringe at the music they want to learn to play? Have you instituted a Bieber-free rule?
I would like to put some ground rules about the music but we would probably go out of business in a month. Surprisingly though, it’s not as bad as you would think. We have a ton of 14 year old kids in our band classes playing Misfits, Clash and a huge range of material. And they are suggesting it. Most kids who want to learn guitar or drums are into cooler music. It’s really the voice students who bring the American Idol vibe into the school.
You’ve mentioned previously that The Clash are your favorite band. Are there any bands nowadays that you think capture their sort of ethos or even touch the level of importance of The Clash, or are we not going to see that ever again?
Ummm..let me think…No..I’m sure it will happen again though, It always does.. I hope i’m around to see it..
You and I share a love of cycling. Alberto Contador will be noticeably absent from this year’s Tour de France due to a doping-related ban. Gratifying because he’s such a douche, or will you miss being able to root against him or to hope a cameraman takes him out a la Johnny Hoogerland last year?
HAha..Only you and I will care about this question. I’m not a fan of Contador. He’s just to weasely for me. I’m always stoked when July rolls around and I get to listen to Phil and Paul call out the races every day. I always feel this sense of loss when it’s over. I miss the daily routine of watching and following the drama as it unfolds. I have always told people that bike racers are the punks of sports. They don’t get paid shit comparably and even after huge crashes, they get back on the bike. I’m done with mainstream spots like NFL and NBA. Millions of dollars and they whine like little bitches. Bike racers crash at 45 mph, break bones and get back on and finish another 100k race. I’m all about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA, bike racing and my two new favorites are MOTTO GP and Rugby.
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