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Credit: Kill Matilda
A couple of us here at Yell! Magazine ventured out to Montreal during some inclement sub-zero weather to check out Kill Matilda (you know, when we get an e-mail with the subject line “sexy bitches” inviting us to check them out we’re not going to be all prudish about it). First we had to check out some of their videos online, and we felt pretty amorous about those “sexy bitches.” How could you not feel that way about heavily tattooed women playing punk- and grunge-infused rock?
Kill Matilda, comprised of Dusty and Mykel (the wedded couple) and Marlene and Pynner, put on a highly energetic show despite a relatively thin crowd. And that Dusty girl, she likes her beer. If you want to get into her good graces, just plant a tall cold one on the stage for her; who knows, she may let you motor boat her. But they’re not all jokes, they actually play hard and Dusty wails on vocals while engaging the audience with ease.
After their set, we all went into the closet for an interview. We talked about censorship, female-fronted bands, zombies, their upcoming album, and their recent move from Vancouver to Montreal among other delightful topics that may or may not titillate you.
Yell! Magazine: Where does the name “Kill Matilda” come from?
Dusty: We don’t like to talk about her too much because she’s dead. No criminal activity was involved.
Marlene: Not by us anyway.
Pynner: We’re planning on changing the name to “Killed Matilda.”
Mykel: “The bitch has it coming.”
Dusty: We’re planning on changing the name to “Matilda probably just moved.”
YM: Why the move from Vancouver to Montreal?
Mykel: It’s really easy; the venues are shutting down in Vancouver…”
Dusty: Or they were when we were there.
Mykel: …and they still are, actually, ‘cause we hear stories of this venue shutting down or that venue shutting down… besides the geography of Vancouver, having like six hours away from Montreal is Toronto…
Dusty: And two hours away is Ottawa.
Mykel: …it gives us the opportunity to get out there and be heard by more people.
Dusty: We can access a lot more cities and there are just way more rock venues and rock fans, like punk, metal, rock venues, whereas, in Vancouver there is a really small scene that is constantly shifting from one venue to another. It’s just a hard go.
YM: Have you guys played in Halifax yet?
Dusty: No, we haven’t gone that far east yet. We will though.
YM:Who’s the lyricist?
Dusty: Me and Mar.
YM:Dusty, you’ve openly said on KillMatilda.com that you draw from issues of homophobia and poverty.
Dusty: Yeah, social issues. And we’re definitely a feminist band.
YM:Does that fuel you? Does it help you express anger on stage?
Dusty: Absolutely.
Mar: Yes, definitely. Because when I know what the lyrics are about, especially the ones I wrote because I wrote them, like when I’m playing those songs on stage I’m thinking about what those songs are about and it angers me and that gives me a lot of energy on stage.
Dusty: I just feel angry all day, all the time. I think I have a problem.
YM:On the way in tonight, I heard that the CRTC just banned “Money for Nothing” by the Dire Straights because he says “faggot” in the lyrics; do you guys have an opinion on that?
Dusty: On censorship?
YM:On censorship, or just the fact that this song that’s 26 years old is just being censored now.
Mar: I think it should be taken into context because a lot of singer/songwriters/performers, when they write a song and sing about something and use an offensive word in it, it’s not because they are against that demographic but they are pointing to society’s fears and hatred of that demographic.
Dusty: In short, that is lame.
Mykel: I think it’s silly that they’re doing that now because that song already has cultural impact and it’s already ingrained in people who are over 20 years old, it’s ingrained in their heads.
YM:How often are you guys on the road and playing in different cities? Or do you mainly focus on the local scene?
Dusty: We actually have a show in Toronto on the fourth of February and we plan to be out of town every weekend in May. But, we’ve played a lot of shows in Montreal and we plan to regularly visit other cities.
Mar: We’re also new to Montreal so we are establishing ourselves here and we’re first-time performers at a lot of venues, for example this one tonight [Katacombes], so we’re even getting to know the venues around here.
Mykel: Actually, we’ve found that since we came here that contacts are falling out of the sky, showing us that our move out here was really worth it.
YM:Any plans to tour in the U.S.?
Dusty: Yeah, we’re going on tour in September and October and we plan to try to tour the U.S. We’re gonna do our best.
Mykel: We actually have a pretty big fan base in Maryland, so there are cries for Kill Matilda down there; we want to go down there and satisfy them for sure.
Dusty: Baltimore, Philadelphia. And when we go on tour, instead of going up and over the stupid Great Lakes, we want to go through Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee.
Check out what zombie considerations Kill Matilda takes into account when relocating…
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