The Kills Eccentric Car Collection MTV Interview

(Source: youtube.com)

The Kills: The Last Goodbye

Samantha Morton Helms an Emotive Music Video Portrait of the Rock Duo

The Kills celebrate 10 years of musical partnership with this poignant and playful video, directed by Oscar nominated actress Samantha Morton. The captivating, melancholic song “The Last Goodbye” offsets the hard-edged sound Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince are known for with haunting vocals and a nostalgic piano loop. “I wanted to make it completely different from anything we’d normally do”, explains Hince. “I used an octagon keyboard from the 60s which takes flexi-discs with real bands playing and mixes them together.” For the video—an experience Hince and Mosshart usually find unfulfilling and frustrating—the duo enlisted the talents of Morton, who made her directorial feature debut this year with The Unloved. Shot in monochrome on crisp, silvery 35mm, the video reflects the beautiful simplicity of the track, with an old-school photo booth providing an intimate backdrop for Mosshart’s intense and heart-warming opening performance followed by a series of touching to-camera poses reflecting the musicians’ longstanding, spirited friendship. “Life goes on,” says Mosshart of the touching ballad. “It starts off being the end of the world but then ends up alright.” Here Mosshart and Hince share their memories of their first meeting and a decade of collaboration.

Alison on Jamie:
“When I first met him I thought he was the coolest guy in the world; I was completely fascinated by him. I had an immediate desire to do something with him – it was the best decision I’ve ever made. We’ve had so much fun over the past twelve years. I’ll never forget our first gig—February 14 2002 in front of 70 people. It was the scariest moment of our lives. We couldn’t believe we were doing it. We’d spent six months booking the tour, by letters as it was before email. We stayed wherever we could, going on the greatest adventure of our lives. By the end of the tour the rooms were full because of word of mouth. I remember those first years so clearly because you’re so involved and so in charge of your destiny. I don’t take any of this for granted—it’s still as exciting and interesting and there’s still more to discover.”
 
Jamie on Alison:
“In 2000, I was in another band and she was staying in the apartment below. Se would sit outside my window and listen to me play guitar, a bit like a stalker. When we first met, she was painfully shy. She’d grown up in a skate scene in Florida so she wasn’t really aware of any bands. It felt incredible to be able to introduce her to the music I loved. She absorbed it all and loved it all. The first time I saw her perform was like watching Patti Smith for the first time. This awkward little sparrow on stage just had so much confidence and was obviously so comfortable performing. It was fascinating. I thought if I was going to be in another band it was going to be with her. She’s my best friend and has been in every aspect of my life.”

(Low Quality) The Kills playing Fuck the people at Beco 203, October 26th 2011

(Source: youtube.com)

Short clips of The Kills performing Heart is a Beating Drum and DNA at Lollapalooza 2011

(Source: Billboard)

The group’s fourth album, “Blood Pressures,” released April 5 on Domino, is the garage-rock duo’s darker and dirtier return from a hiatus and follow-up to 2008’s breakthrough “Midnight Boom.” Mosshart says that she and guitarist Jamie Hince are happy to road-test the new material, especially at festivals like Lollapalooza. 


“My favorite part is when bands I like play the same day, and you get to hang out with people,” she says. “Some summers it’s really great, you’re just kind of traveling the world together and playing all the same places, so it’s really fun.” 

Last week the London-based group perked up music blogs with their stunning cover of Marilyn Monroe’s “One Silver Dollar” during an Australian acoustic session for Triple J studios.  Mosshart jumped at the opportunity to cover the screen siren’s obscure 1954 recording.

“I’ve played it to a lot of people, and everyone becomes obsessed with it immediately,” she says. “That’s a song I’ve really always liked. I’ve always kind of played that song to myself and hoped that Jamie and I would do it at some point.”

While not alongside Hince onstage, Mosshart is one-fourth of the Nashville supergroup the Dead Weather, which features Jack White. The singer says that the writing process for the Kills and the Dead Weather couldn’t be more different. 

“Jamie and I… both individually write quite a lot of material and bring it to each other,” says Mosshart. “A band like the Dead Weather writes completely spontaneously — four people in a room, press record, play together.” As for new material from the Dead Weather, Mosshart insisted the subject hasn’t even been breached. “We haven’t talked about it, thought about it, nothing.” She continued, “Right now I’m focusing on this record and Jack is doing his thing. It’s as simple as that.”

After performing in New York this Monday, the Kills will head overseas for a European tour.

(Source: Billboard)

After extensively touring North America, The Kills have returned to Europe for festival season and more live dates, conjuring support for their fourth full-length release, Blood Pressures, and perpetuating their romanticized legacy and unique dynamic . AUX caught up with Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince in Toronto before their gig at the Sound Academy, where we talked about their humble beginnings, what makes them magical and how what they do isn’t a choice.

(Source: aux.tv)

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