In today’s indie scene there is so much potential for great collaboration. So many bands share shows, rehearsal spaces and often times even CDs, so why is it rather rare to see indie supergroups? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do of a band who has done it.
Killed Two Birds, One Was Stoned is a fusion of Joel King and Joe Berben from Seclusion, and Phil and Alex and Hugh from Captain Kickarse & The Awesomes. Joel, or The King as I call him, hatched the idea for one day in the Secluded Studios. “ I was trying to tell the guys that making folk music was easy and I was going to write an entire album in one day and call it Killed Two Birds, One Was Stoned.”
“So I recorded one song, Better Plan and the band sort of laid dormant for a year till we got the Captain Kickarse guys on board. I did a gig at the Hopetoun and it went off, we’ve got one at the Excelsior on the 6th of September, and another one at The Gaelic on the 10th of October, with Captain Kickarse as well, and that’ll hopefully be our album launch if we’ve gotten of our arses and recorded it yet.”
The idea behind the band is instead of having one band that releases 10 albums; you have 10 bands that each release a couple of records. “With the death of the CD, I decided that it’d be cool if people would start thinking of artists in terms of different bands, rather than different albums. It gives artists more freedom to allow their music to evolve and not face angry fans. But also I remember in ’99 listening to Californication and whenever I listen to it again I remember that era. With the death of the album I want people to associate an era with bands instead.
The songs are washed out, airy folk-rock jams, or as Joel puts it “They’re just two minute folk song turned into ten minute mayhem when the Captain guys get behind it.” It’s the sort of music you could sit down with your mum and have a cup of tea to, yet at the same time dance the soles of your shoes to dust to live. Simply, they rock, in laid-back way, and they are worth seeing before Joel goes off and starts a band with Jason Lowe.
You can see Killed Two Birds at The Excelsior on the 6th of September or at The Gaelic on the 10th of October.
