They may have a sexually ambiguous nature, like me. They may sing in a high nasal voice, like me. But unlike me, they are the future of Chicago rock."
- Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins
"We hope you grow to love them as much as we do."
- Mikey Way, My Chemical Romance
Meet KILL HANNAH - the biggest band you’ve never heard of!
Despite having no previous TV, radio or press promotion in the UK, Chicago-based five piece KILL HANNAH already draw crowds of over 1000 people to their headline shows here. Add to the fact that they have over 200,000 MySpace friends and over 11,000,000 actual song plays from their jukebox, and that their video to their first UK single, Lips Like Morphine, has received nearly 1.6 million plays on YouTube alone, and it’s clear that KILL HANNAH are rock’s best kept secret. And did we mention celebrity endorsements from the likes of SMASHING PUMPKINS, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE and Jared Leto’s 30 SECONDS TO MARS?
Formed in Chicago in the late '90s while singer/songwriter Mat Devine was still at university, KILL HANNAH issued several critically acclaimed and fan favourite independent EPs before stabilising their line-up and signing to Atlantic Records for their 2003 major label debut, For Never And Ever.
Dubbed "the missing link between The Killers, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins and My Chemical Romance", no one sounded or indeed looked like KILL HANNAH when they first broke free of their art school roots. Some called it new romantic, some called it darkwave, others called it goth, but those tags don't do any justice to KILL HANNAH's music. They are all of the above but also so much more.
Lead single Kennedy quickly became an instant cult classic and was heavily featured in such hit US television shows as One Tree Hill, Jack & Bobby and North Shore. Yet, despite this mainstream exposure, KILL HANNAH stayed true to their underground roots with a fierce DIY mentality - creating their own merchandise, passing out fliers in the snow and pouring rain and personally maintaining their heavily trafficked website and more. They still do.
KILL HANNAH have amassed some of the most loyal and dedicated fans out there. These fans show up for shows at the crack of dawn when the band arrives to town, clad in custom made KILL HANNAH attire, proudly displaying their KILL HANNAH tattoos, where they meet up with other fans who have travelled far and wide with the hopes of catching a moment with the band, and to meet other KILL HANNAH fans. These fans have set up their own cult community and fan club, called the KILL HANNAH KOLLECTIVE (KHK). The KHK has grown to have active branches in almost every major city across the USA, and now in nearly every major country as well. As the music of KILL HANNAH has impacted fans around the world, KILL HANNAH have become more than a band, they have become a movement.
Creative in every aspect of their lives, various members have also initiated other projects. Frontman Mat Devine co-founded the Chicago Suicide Club, a lifestyle brand dedicated to art, fashion and events. As part of the Chicago underground music scene, the CSC has produced DJ events and aftershow parties with Jeremy Dawson of Shiny Toy Guns, Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, Peaches, Ladytron, Paul Barker of Ministry, Chris Vrenna of NIN, Marilyn Manson, Gnarls Barkley, Buzz McCoy of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Daniel Ash of Bauhaus/Love & Rockets, Marky Ramone of The Ramones, The Sounds, DJ/Performance artists Superstars of Love, and Ronan Harris of VNV Nation.
Bass player Greg Corner is a world renowned DJ and co-founder of Chicago's Dark Wave Disco, a monthly dance party that has featured Tommie Sunshine, Classixx (formerly Young Americans), The Teenagers, Steve Aoki, Carlos D. of Interpol, Uffie, Lady Sovereign, The Sounds, MSTRKRFT and Junior Sanchez, as well as The Faint, The MisShapes, Go!Motion, Blake Miller of Moving Units and Adam 12 of She Wants Revenge. It has received national press in SPIN Magazine and URB Magazine as one of the hottest parties in America.
The band's follow-up album, Until There's Nothing Left Of Us, surfaced in 2006 debuting at number 8 in the official Billboard Heatseeker's chart. While KILL HANNAH had cut Forever Never And Ever far from home in sunny Los Angeles, Until There's Nothing Left of Us was conceived and created back home in Chicago during the dead of winter. That, according to Devine, stamps every second of the album with a distinctive energy.
"Everything came from the stimulation I get from this place," he insists. "I live in view of the entire skyline; the trains literally circle me. It’s almost like the city itself envelops me. Like any metropolis, it can be dark at times, but super-romantic too. From nine to five it's absolute chaos, and then after six o’clock it's completely desolate. At the lakeshore it might be totally placid and serene, and in the next minute these crazy waves crash in and freeze as massive piles of jagged ice. In a way, our music is like that too. From track to track on this record, and even within each song, we have moments of triumph and then we have moments of creepy romance."
The band gathered at friend/former drummer Garrett Hammond’s home studio and began taking all of their demos apart. "We’d rehearse and develop and record every single part," recalls guitarist Dan Wiese. "Every note and every word got re-evaluated several times before everyone was satisfied."
After wrapping up their intense pre-production, they hit the studio with Chicago native Johnny K. With a catalogue that includes producing bands like Disturbed, Plain White T's, Finger 11 and 3 Doors Down, he seemed like an unusual choice for KILL HANNAH. "But we wanted to experiment," Devine explains. "My personal tastes lean toward European and 80's influences, and Johnny is known for doing straight-ahead rock or metal. In Chicago terms, it's like we're North Side and Johnny is, as he calls himself, a 'South Side knucklehead'." It was, of course, a perfect match. They began by finding common ground, as Johnny seconded their enthusiasm for The Cure, Peter Gabriel, and The Psychedelic Furs. The successful plan then, was to at once expand and refine their sound without losing the primal instincts that have driven KILL HANNAH from the start.
KILL HANNAH do not like to sit still. Between 2003 - 2007, they toured the US constantly – at one stage performing more than 250 shows within 18 months. Their touring buddies were diverse, including Chevelle, HIM, Papa Roach, Evanescence, Janes Addiction, and The All-American Rejects, to The Distillers, Lost Prophets, The Rasmus, 30 Seconds To Mars, Mindless Self Indulgence, Flyleaf, Alice in Chains and Velvet Revolver, and even with groups like The Sounds, Shiny Toy Guns and Angels and Airwaves... and the list continues. Impressively, the band also managed to find time to contribute a cover of Queen/David Bowie song Under Pressure to the soundtrack for thriller movie The Invisible, following a personal invitation from director David Goyer (Magneto, Batman Begins, Blade).
KILL HANNAH made their first foray into the UK live scene in 2007. You may also have caught them at the Give It A Name festival at London's Earls Court or the Birmingham N.I.A., or more recently as main support for the sold out tour with HIM. And, like in the US, KILL HANNAH have forged a formidable reputation as an extraordinary live band.
Single Lips Like Morphine is due for UK release on March 17, 2008. The band's first album release in the UK & Japan will be Until There's Nothing Left Of Us with added songs from For Never And Ever, plus new unreleased tracks. Until There’s Nothing Left Of Us is set to hit stores on March 24, 2008. KILL HANNAH will be main support to Aidan’s UK tour in March/April 2008.
30/03/2009 - WIN A TRIP TO LONDON AND SIGNED GOODIES OVER IN THE COMPS SECTION We have a couple more cool comps that are running over in the comps section!! MSN MUSIC and 19/03/2009 - NEW COMPS LOADED- CHECK OUT THE COMPETITIONS SECTION Check out the COMPETITIONS PAGE for THREE killer new comps for you to enter!!! Up for grabs are SIGNED copies of 11/03/2009 - MADINA LAKE ALBUM RELEASE DATE CHANGE The upcoming album from MADINA LAKE has moved back 1 week to the 4TH MAY. So, update your diary and in the meantime check out ... 06/03/2009 - MADINA LAKE LIVE AT KERRANG 11/03!! It's been 9 months since these guys graced our shores and now, FINALY, they are back! MADINA LAKE are in the UK next week on ... 04/03/2009 - SUPPORT BANDS FOR MADINA LAKE UK TOUR ANNOUNCED Kill Hannah and Flood of Red have been confirmed as support for Madina Lake's forthcoming tour in April/May. Tue 28th Apr - Leeds Metropolitan University ... 23/12/2008 - TRIVIUM QUIZ AIRBOURNE Continuing our festive series of bands interviewing bands, check out the latest installment featuring AIRBOURNE answering questions 'randomly generated' by 17/12/2008 - KILL HANNAH QUIZ TRIVIUM Continuing our series of Random Question Generator interviews, below you will see Floridian thrashers TRIVIUM answering questions from Chicago's electro rockers 16/12/2008 - CRADLE OF FILTH QUIZ KILL HANNAH It's part 2 of the Random Question generator!! Check out Dani Filth of CRADLE OF FILTH having his random questions answered by 12/12/2008 - KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES QUIZ CRADLE OF FILTH We have had a mamouth number of bands in over the past couple of months, and so we have given some of them the opportunity ... 25/11/2008 - GREG AND MAT FROM KILL HANNAH CHAT ABOUT TOURING AND BUS FIRES... Check out this recent interview with Greg (Bass) and Mat (Vox) from KILL HANNAH filmed just before they hit the stage at Astoria 2 at ... 30/10/2008 - KILL HANNAH ON THE KERRANG! PODCAST True to their word, KILL HANNAH made it over to the UK for the remaining dates on the UK leg of their European tour, despite ... 22/10/2008 - THE LATEST FROM KILL HANNAH KILL HANNAH checked in late last night with the latest re the horrific bus fire they encountered yesterday. A statement from the band reads:It was ... 21/10/2008 - KILL HANNAH IN BUS FIRE DRAMA We had word this morning that KILL HANNAH's tour bus had been consumed by fire in the Swiss Alps. We were hoping to have more ... 14/10/2008 - MADINA LAKE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCE ALBUM TITLE As previously reported, MADINA LAKE have enetered the studio to record the follow up to their debut album FROM THEM, THROUGH US, TO YOU. The ... 14/10/2008 - KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES ABOUT TO COMMENCE TOUR AND SIGNING SESSIONS KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES will be hitting the road tomorrow to kick off their UK tour!If you dont have tickets yet, then there are still ... 13/10/2008 - AMANDA PALMER GOOGLES YOU... If you missed the recent tour of AMANDA PALMER, then you surely did miss a treat! As much a theatrical show as a gig, Amanda ... 08/10/2008 - MADINA LAKE'S NATHAN LEONE CHECKS IN FROM THE STUDIO... Somewhere in deepest darkest New Jersey, 4 guys from Chicago are recording their new album! Yes MADINA LAKE are currently in the studio recording the ... 26/09/2008 - KILL HANNAH FILL US IN ON THEIR TOP UK TOUR MEMORIES The KILL HANNAH guys hit the road in the UK this week and if you take one look at their current video for the track ... 26/09/2008 - KILL HANNAH VIDEO FOR CRAZY ANGEL In case you missed the KERRANG.COM exclusive of the new video from KILL HANNAH for CRAZY ANGEL, weep no more! You c 19/09/2008 - ROADRUNNER BANDS TO FEATURE ON KERRANG!- THE ALBUM '08 Monday sees the release of the Kerrang! album 08, which features some of the best rock and metal has had to offer in 2008 and ... 24/06/2008ROADRUNNER RECORDS EUROPE WELCOMES STAIND Springfield, Massachusetts natives STAIND are set to release their brand new record THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESS through Roadrunner Records in Europe on September 8.THE ILLUSION ... 17/06/2008KERRANG! GO PODCASTASTIC WITH RR FOLKS AT DOWNLOAD! This past weekend saw the Download Fest at Castle Donington and there, as ever, were sponsors KERRANG! were there with their signing tent and their ... 18/06/2008NEW VIDEOS FROM MADINA LAKE AND KILL HANNAH If you caught MADINA LAKE or KILL HANNAH at Download this weekend and you have been 18/06/2008KILL HANNAH ANNOUNCE UK TOUR Following a storming performance at this weekend’s Download Festival, Chicago rockers KILL HANNAH are excited to announce Autumn headline dates. The acclaimed alt 16/12/2008CRADLE OF FILTH QUIZ KILL HANNAH It's part 2 of the Random Question generator!! Check out Dani Filth of CRADLE OF FILTH having his random questions answered by 22/10/2008THE LATEST FROM KILL HANNAH KILL HANNAH checked in late last night with the latest re the horrific bus fire they encountered yesterday. A statement from the band reads:It was ... 04/03/2009SUPPORT BANDS FOR MADINA LAKE UK TOUR ANNOUNCED Kill Hannah and Flood of Red have been confirmed as support for Madina Lake's forthcoming tour in April/May. Tue 28th Apr - Leeds Metropolitan University ... 26/09/2008KILL HANNAH FILL US IN ON THEIR TOP UK TOUR MEMORIES The KILL HANNAH guys hit the road in the UK this week and if you take one look at their current video for the track ... 19/03/2009NEW COMPS LOADED- CHECK OUT THE COMPETITIONS SECTION Check out the COMPETITIONS PAGE for THREE killer new comps for you to enter!!! Up for grabs are SIGNED copies of 26/09/2008KILL HANNAH VIDEO FOR CRAZY ANGEL In case you missed the KERRANG.COM exclusive of the new video from KILL HANNAH for CRAZY ANGEL, weep no more! You c 19/09/2008ROADRUNNER BANDS TO FEATURE ON KERRANG!- THE ALBUM '08 Monday sees the release of the Kerrang! album 08, which features some of the best rock and metal has had to offer in 2008 and ... 30/03/2009WIN A TRIP TO LONDON AND SIGNED GOODIES OVER IN THE COMPS SECTION We have a couple more cool comps that are running over in the comps section!! MSN MUSIC and 19/09/2008KILL HANNAH REVEAL NEW VIDEO EXCLUSIVELY ON KERRANG.COM KILL HANNAH have a new video for the track CRAZY ANGEL and you can check the clip, which shows LOTS of footage from their previous ... 13/10/2008AMANDA PALMER GOOGLES YOU... If you missed the recent tour of AMANDA PALMER, then you surely did miss a treat! As much a theatrical show as a gig, Amanda ... 11/03/2009MADINA LAKE ALBUM RELEASE DATE CHANGE The upcoming album from MADINA LAKE has moved back 1 week to the 4TH MAY. So, update your diary and in the meantime check out ... 23/12/2008TRIVIUM QUIZ AIRBOURNE Continuing our festive series of bands interviewing bands, check out the latest installment featuring AIRBOURNE answering questions 'randomly generated' by 12/12/2008KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES QUIZ CRADLE OF FILTH We have had a mamouth number of bands in over the past couple of months, and so we have given some of them the opportunity ... 30/10/2008KILL HANNAH ON THE KERRANG! PODCAST True to their word, KILL HANNAH made it over to the UK for the remaining dates on the UK leg of their European tour, despite ... 22/04/2008CHECK OOT THE NEW KERRANG! POD CAST STARING KILL HANNAH If you picked up last weeks copy of KERRANG! magazine, you will have seen that there was a STUNNING poster of the guys in 14/04/2008KILL HANNAH ANNOUNCE KERRANG! RAW SHOW KILL HANNAH are thrilled to announce they have been invited by Kerrang! Radio to perform a special, one-off Raw! gig for an exclusive audience of ... Until There's Nothing Left Of Us Until There's Nothing Left Of Us Lips Like Morphine Lips Like Morphine Live Shots BOYS AND GIRLS VIDEO SHOOT Shots from the upcoming video for the track Boys And Girls, which is taken from current album UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT OF US
