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I Killed The Prom Queen.
It's common knowledge in the world of extreme music that South Australia's I Killed The Prom Queen are adept at packing out venues in Adelaide. This is also happening more often in other states of Australia. But unlike so many Adelaidian (and, for that matter, Australian) bands IKTPQ have taken in that extra step and ventured beyond our shores to America.
One of the phrases I have heard used to describe how their tour to the USA went was that "they absolutely slaughtered it," so I meet with Crafter (one word name, as in Madonna or Adalita) to discuss how IKTPQ have been doing. Although dressed all in black with plenty of tattoos, he comes off as a hyperactive ten year old who's just found some money he had forgotten about. He is very fidgety and laughs at any opportunity. Given the outward appearance of the band, I ask Crafter whether the band encountered any problems on their recent trip overseas.
"When we went through customs I tried to convince everyone to wear hooded jumpers, but we still looked really suspicious because we rocked into Hawaii on a 40 degree day," he chuckles. "Three of us got questioned. They were asking us what jails we had been in, what our parents did and what our parents thought of our tattoos. Basically they were just punishing us. I honestly thought none of us were going to get in."
They obviously did get in, and by the sounds of things were very busy indeed.
"The first tour was about 18 shows in a row and that was with Caliban and Evergreen Terrace. We were playing to between 300 and 800 kids every night. It was crazy! Then we did Hellfest and that was unreal. Andrew WK , Mess, Killswitch Engage - just about every big band played that festival over the weekend."
Playing in another state is daunting enough. When you're not on your home turf, you don't have a comfort zone. Your mates aren't going to be there to make some noise in between songs if the rest of the crowd just doesn't get it. Overseas can't be too different.
"The first night we were pretty worried about how we were going to go down. The show got moved into this tiny little area which was the smallest and hottest venue I've ever played in my life and it seriously stunk like a dead person. It was weird - kids were dancing and some kids even knew the words. What was even weirder was that our record hadn't even come out there yet!"
I've seen the videos. I've watched 'Cops.' I've heard of the "War on Terror." But that's just the media, right? Right?
"We saw a lot of fights. There's a lot of gang violence. There's heaps of bands that fight other bands and bands that fight other crews. It was crazy. They don't fuck around: if it's a gang, they're carrying guns. I know bands that take guns on tour with them. They don't fuck around." he emphasises.
I suggest to Crafter that IKTPQ being in America was a little like being a fish out of water. "You're 100% right!" Crafter exclaims. "America was like a big shark and we were just a little fish waiting to get eaten. Everything was so hit and miss. One example: initially we had a roadie, then we had to fire him because he annoyed me and I was going to knock him out. After that we were having to get on the Internet to get directions to the shows. None of us had been to America before and it was only the members of the band in the van. We were driving ourselves around and selling our own merchandise. We really had no idea what we were doing, but we worked out in the end. It was probably the most positive thing I've ever done in my life."
Sam Vinall
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I Killed The Prom Queen play the Enigma Bar on Sun 14 Nov with From These Wounds, Jungle Fever and Carpathian.
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