by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
Take a look at biographies of the most successful Rock bands – among the traits all of them shared were perseverance and the ability to bounce back, no matter what happened. And since Rock isn’t mainstream music anymore, a band has to be even more resilient in order to survive. That’s a lesson learnt a hard way by the Italian group Beverly Killz, as now they return after five years of silence with the new album Iguana Mulata and the renewed line-up. Vince (vocals), Dany (guitar), Gabe (guitar), Andre (bass guitar) and Rob (drums) tell Hardrock Haven all about opening the brand new chapter in the band’s history and, in a way, shedding their skin – just like the iguana in the album title…
Hardrock Haven: What exactly happened to Beverly Killz between 2015 (when you released your second album Kingdom) and now? You seemed rather quiet throughout that period…
Vince: I’d love to tell you a story of mystery and thrill, people getting lost in the desert looking for themselves under the influence… In reality, we just had a lot of “grown-up” duties… like families and jobs which require time and dedication. Plus, we had a major line-up change, so it’s been almost like rebuilding the band from scratch. We focused on playing around and re-established a certain chemistry. Then we spent a lot of time writing and recording before releasing this record… but one thing’s sure, we’ve never stopped playing!
Hardrock Haven: There were some line-up changes as well. How did they influence the band?
Andre: Fun fact is that actually Rob was the very first drummer of Beverly Killz – like 13 years ago, before we even released our first EP! Gabe is credited in one of the songs on Gasoline & Broken Hearts [2012]. We played together in my previous band, so these guys are not strangers (laughs). While we all share the love for Hard Rock, Hair Metal and such, they are also very fond of heavier stuff, Thrash, Death, you name it… So, I think you can hear it in the new songs with a more aggressive, strong approach, both on drums and guitar.
And their contribution was big, not only in the performance but especially in the songwriting.
Hardrock Haven: Your new album Iguana Mulata out now, do you feel you achieved exactly what you wanted with the album?
Andre: We did, although each of us had a slightly different idea of the sound we should achieve. So it was a long process to find the right balance among our views… and then do it again with our sound engineer (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: The album title seems quite enigmatic, to say the least…
Andre: Well, well… It’s a “tradition” to come to rehearsals bringing cheap booze we find around in cheap stores… It happened at one point that we had these two bottles of rum “Mulata” and “Higuana” (with an H!). We started joking around with Iguana Mulata as a “working title” for the record while we thought about something else. We thought it sounded too “latino” for a Hard Rock album. But eventually, it stuck. And we like the fact that iguanas shed skin, they change but stay the same… like us!
Hardrock Haven: Great comparison! Especially that in spite of all these changes, Iguana Mulata sounds mostly like a natural continuation of your previous albums. As it’s been five years since Kingdom, was it difficult to pick up where you left off musically?
Vince: As I said, we’ve never stopped making music! During the last years, we had to slow down a bit doing very selected live shows only and focusing on composing, but we’ve never been on hiatus.
Andre: It’s understandable – you don’t see music coming out, you might think we are not playing anymore. But a lot goes on behind the scenes! And now we almost got another album ready…
Hardrock Haven: You’ve always been one of those bands that avoided polished, slick sound and your albums were never overproduced so to speak. Is it easy to retain this spontaneous live vibe after more than a decade?
Dany: When sound flows out rough with no frills, it goes directly into your stomach. No matter if it sounds too “old school”. It works. But if you carefully listen to the album, you
can find some delicious arrangements that bring this “old” style sound into the new era of rock’n’roll.
Gabe: Yes, all our songs are born “live”, out of rehearsals and jam sessions; it’s all very spontaneous. Talking about the recording and mixing, we wanted to preserve the original sound, the colors and dynamics, but at the same it had to sound punchy with some “blast your ears” moments. We are satisfied with the compromise, and in fact fans are positively surprised of how “big” it sounds.
Hardrock Haven: Iguana Mulata is said to be partially inspired by the “modern bombastic Scandinavian tone.” Why do you find the Scandinavian scene so inspiring?
Rob: Well, the Scandinavian scene has become the rightful promised land of hard rockers after the decline in US at the end of the ‘90s. It’s hard to find bands we don’t look up to: Hardcore Superstar, Crazy Lixx, Crashdïet, H.E.A.T, Backyard Babies… too many! They are all different, but they have a couple of things in common: the write great tunes and the sound is always modern and strong. And these are the elements we were looking for in making this album.
Hardrock Haven: What’s inspired the lyrics on the new album, song by song?
Vince: “Take Me, Hate Me” is about being unable to overcome your vices and addictions, as past comes knocking at your door. “A Girl Like You” is about a break-up… shifting from feelings of guilt to the hope of getting back together, because every other girl reminds you of her. “Insane” talks of the conflict of a man who wants to have a safe and stable life but feels a slave of the daily routine. “Lovin’ you” is about an everlasting impossible love, whereas “Over The Edge” is a friend’s monologue about heroin addiction, the guilt, misery and accepting this junkie condition. “The Boogeyman” was inspired by a brutal murder which occurred around Milan few years back, a father murdering wife and two kids with cold blood. It’s a reminder for us that the Boogeyman is not a monster form another world, but too often someone very close… “After The Rain” is about seeing a loved one being in mental distress, unable to see the light when dark thoughts engulf their mind, but knowing you need to be strong and support them. “Fast & Loose” is all about depression and dissatisfaction for life, after always playing fair but never achieving anything. “Jailbreak” is about escape from your chores and responsibilities of daily life. “Stephanie” is about a neurotic teenage girl who “had a tendency to undress with everyone” and, turned down by her mother, vanished into nothing and was never found again. So, every song has its own real story. We hate to write following the same old Hard Rock cliché of motorbikes, parties and sex. We write from the heart.
Andre: If you didn’t hear the music, you would think this is a Type O Negative album (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: Iguana Mulata was mixed by Matteo Magni (Magnitude Studios), a talented musician himself – I believe he played in Rhyme with Gab Gozzi… Anyway, why did you choose him to work on your new material and what kind of influence did he have on it?
Gabe: We decided to work with someone in our area so we would be able to actually sit in the mixing room together and interact at any time. So after scouting around, we came across previous works by Matteo and were immediately convinced he was the right guy. Sure he was very patient to put up with our strangest requests, like remixing the album a huge number of times (thirteen if I’m not mistaken!), and guide us to updating our sound.
Hardrock Haven: Your previous album Kingdom was released independently and made available free of charge in the Internet. Now you returned to Perris Records via which you released Gasoline & Broken Hearts back in 2012. What’s prompted your decision to renew your collaboration with the label?
Andre: When Kingdom came out, we were at the end of an era, with Mak and Fabio almost on the point of leaving the band. So, we wanted to “close the chapter” and take a snapshot of what we had at that point so to speak, and there were no conditions or time for an official release through a label. But we have always been in good terms with Tom Mathers at Perris, so when the opportunity came, with a well-made full-length recording, we got in touch and with just two e-mails everything was set (laughs).
Hardrock Haven: The label’s press release encourages fans of Guns N’Roses, Skid Row, Aerosmith and AC/DC to check out your latest work. Do you agree with these bands being cited as your biggest inspirations?
Dany: Yes, of course. For me, G N’R and the others mentioned should be considered as the “Big Bang” for my musical inspiration.
Gabe: Well, yes. If you’re a Rock musician, these bands are literally in your blood, so their inspiration is always there. Sure there are many others, and they are different for each of us. But as a “general reference” I would say, if you like those bands – you might probably like Beverly Killz.
Hardrock Haven: Will you be able to play live in support of the album? What is the current situation of the entertainment industry and live gigs in Italy?
Vince: Bad! Situation is bad everywhere and those who were making a living playing music are now starving. We will keep rehearsing, improve our social media channels that have been quiet for too long, and write new music. Of course we miss the stage – the days when we were performing live almost every weekend – but this is the best we can do, considering the circumstances.
Gabe: Yep. This album might not have a live support at all if the situation doesn’t change. Some lucky fans have already heard some of the songs during our last concerts before the lockdown, but we would love play them now after the album release. Who knows… we might have another album first and then bring both to stage!
Hardrock Haven: I keep my fingers crossed for that! What are your other plans regarding the album’s promotion? Maybe a Q&A session or a livestream gig sometime in the future?
Vince: We have two lyric videos ready and another one in the making – and maybe we will consider recording some acoustic and studio performances to promote the album. A small tour would be awesome, of course… maybe for the next record.
Andre: I have to admit we are not very “social” (laughs). I still believe we should dedicate 90 per cent of our time to writing music and 10 per cent on marketing/social media. Apparently, the “way to the top” is the opposite these days…
Hardrock Haven: Speaking of gigs, you’ve chosen a piece by Ennio Morricone as your live
intro…
Andre: Yes, it’s called “La resa dei conti” and it’s just awesome. It creates a great atmosphere of anticipation and suspense and kind of charges us up before hitting the stage. We started using it when we played abroad; it’s maybe the only “Italian” thing we bring on stage, but as with it being the Maestro Morricone, we are proud to have it.
Hardrock Haven: As we personally go back a long way, let’s reminisce a bit. Think about 2009 when you released your first EP Straight From Underground. Are the expectations you had at the beginning regarding the band’s future and your career fulfilled now, more than a decade into Beverly Killz’ history?
Andre: Oh wow… to be honest, at that point it felt like a miracle to have a decent EP released… not even speaking of anybody writing about it! (laughs)
Hardrock Haven: If you need a miracle, you know where to find me then (laughs).
Andre: But if I went back in time and I told to those five guys who formed Beverly Killz “Hey, you are going to play abroad and share stage with Crazy Lixx and Eric Martin,” I think these guys would have a heart attack! But in reality, while you enjoy those moments, you are already setting new goals for yourself and you are never going to be satisfied.
Hardrock Haven: If you could change or improve on just one thing about these eleven years of the band’s history, what would it be?
Vince: We’ve made many mistakes, wasted plenty of time fighting and arguing about inane things but we live and learn from the past. Ours is not a Cinderella story about an overnight success or trend-following. We’ve always had to earn our success, but in hindsight we might have wasted less energy on fruitless debates.
Andre: I would say I would struggle to play live more and more and more.
Gabe: And then the diet… we got too fat! (laughs)
Hardrock Haven: In the very first interview we did ages ago, you were particularly unenthusiastic about the Italian music scene. Has anything actually improved as years gone by?
Andre: It seems the attendance at live music clubs keeps going down, more venues are being closed than opened. And the younger generations are into crap music. So it’s easier and more convenient for the club owners to call a young rapper or hire a DJ or with his USB stick… Gabe: And also, there are less and less young guys starting bands. It’s more convenient and maybe rewarding to shred guitar on YouTube than go through the troubles of being in a band. We might face a future deprived of real good music.
Hardrock Haven: Let’s hope not… Is there anything you’d like to add in the end?
Andre: First of all, thank you for the opportunity Alexandra! Music needs passionate people like you to survive. To all of you reading: support local, small, independent bands! Buy music and go to concerts!
Gabe: Invest forty minutes of your time to enjoy our new album! And let us know what you think about it; positive or negative comments are always welcome. In return, we might reveal the recipe for our favorite cocktail, the Iguana Mulata! (laughs)
Visit Beverly Killz online: https://beverlykillz.bandcamp.com/
