I Killed The Prom Queen

Often when bands tour Australia, whether international or local, the tours can be up to 35 shows long. This in itself is quite hectic and impressive. However, if you are the latest metal success story like Adelaide's own I Killed The Prom Queen, 35 shows is almost considered mediocre.

Currently touring Australia on a national 52-show expedition, I caught up with guitarist Jona Weihofen to ask about the tour, the newest release 'Music For The Recently Deceased' and future plans for IKTPQ.

"We are 32 shows into our three-month Australian tour and loving it! We'll return to South Australia for the first time in two months to do some shows there soon and also we are about to support Killswitch Engage, Lamb Of God and Unearth on their national Australian tour. We've got to see so much of Australia that none of us had seen before, including far north Queensland. We have also played some regional and semi-regional places that we have never even been before and there've been loads of awesome people at all the shows."

The recent sophomore release from the boys has had quite a well-deserved success on the charts not only locally, but nationally, debuting at number 27 on the ARIA charts. Furthermore, the quintet also recently signed a deal with renowned record label Metal Blade to release the album in Canada and the US.

"We were psyched to be able to work with Metal Blade records. They have so many unbelievable bands that we have been fans of for ages like The Black Dahlia Murder, As I Lay Dying, Unearth and Cannibal Corpse. Hopefully we will get to share the road with these bands at one time or another.

"Fortunately, the deal gives us an option for a second album to be released through them. We are hoping to eventually sign to them and become a full-time Metal Blade band."

It's no secret that the line-up has undergone a major change with the newest album - new vocalist Ed Butcher, a former UK native, has taken the reigns formerly held by Carpathian's new vocalist, Michael Crafter. Undoubtedly, Butcher has been put to the test with this extensive and frantic national tour that the band has embarked on.

"Well, he has been crying a lot and missing Queen Elizabeth," Weihofen laughs. "Nah, he loves it. The crowds love him, especially the ladies! We've all had a lot of fun spending this time together. His voice is also holding up really well even though we've had the cold and flu experience hit us a couple of times.

"The whole tour has been pretty amazing, to be honest. Even though people still seem to be warming to the new songs a little. I think only a small percentage of our crowds so far actually own the album and this tour is mainly to try to sell the new songs to people that haven't heard them, or us, before. The tour can still get to anyone and everything though, I guess, still that's not to say we are not having fun. There has been plenty of nudity and drinking of alcohol by The Daylight Curse [Queensland metalcore band], J.J. [Peters, IKTPQ drummer] and Sean [Kennedy, IKTPQ bassist]. A few physical fights between band members and easily the world's grossest and smelliest tour van with half of Byron Bay's sand still inside it."

One would think with all this touring that the last thing on the boys' minds would be more touring, but that is exactly the plan. However, there is more to come, something that is probably well-overdue - a film clip.

"We are going to be touring the 'States with Silverstein, Aiden and It Dies Today in November. We get along really well with Silverstein, we have toured with It Dies Today before and, luckily, have met the guys from Aiden when we were in the UK. So I think everyone's going to have an awesome time. It will be a really good tour for us to be able to showcase the new record to larger overseas crowds than we are used to.

"We do finally have a clip scheduled to be filmed in late October. It will be for the single Say Goodbye. We are actually not sure ourselves what it will entail but, hopefully, there will be a bit of a storyline. It's mostly up to the director, though."

WILL OAKESHOTT



I Killed The Prom Queen play at Fowler's Live on Fri 27 October.

'Music For The Recently Deceased' is out now through Stomp.

God So Loved The World launch their EP at the Underground on Sat 14 October.