THE BEAST

Interview by Robex Lundrgren from Musik Blogg

Have any of you played in other bands?

Yes, we have all played in bands from as young as 13 years old. More actively were bands such as Ded End and Red Tape Rebellion. Ryan currently plays in another band called Southern Death Culture.

What are your names? / Who plays what?

Carl Retief - Vocals
Guthrie Garnham - Guitar/backing vocals
Ryan Wentzel - Bass
Konrad Vosloo - Drums

Have you had other previous members?

Yes, we have had other members who have departed the band. As much as we are friends in this and still remain friends with those individuals, we always put the band first and what’s best for the band. If someone is not pulling their weight and not adding any value, or simply not enjoying it anymore, then it’s in the best interests of the band to replace those members so we can move forward. Sadly we’ve had to do that twice but we understand that people's priorities may shift. Firstly and foremost we love playing heavy music, it is our release and escape and it should be fun. As soon as it becomes a hassle with someone in the band because they are not having fun, it just kills the chemistry like a bad apple.

Where are you from?

We are from the corruption capital of the world, South Africa. We are based in one of the more beautiful cities, but still corrupt, Cape Town.

What year did the band form?

Kill Frenzy formed in 2017

What's your style of genre?

We’ve never really put ourselves in any sort of box or label when it comes to genre. But everyone calls us Thrash Metal and normally compare us to other Thrash Metal bands.

What inspires you?

Music inspires us. Listening, writing and performing music. We also like pissing people off.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that?

Yeah of course a booking agent would be great. We work very hard trying to create shows and get onto lineups, so a booking agent would obviously be able to do a lot more for us and maybe even get us on some more “popular” shows where all the “cool” people hangout.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?

If any band said they were not looking for a label, they would be lying to you. We think that’s the end goal for most. At the moment we are with an independent label “Unscathed Records” where we have free run creatively. We would love to sign with a bigger label but we won’t just put pen to paper with anyone who comes our way. Too many bands get ripped off out there so we would definitely do it on our terms as far as possible and ask all the right questions along with guidance from wherever we can get it. There are so many labels and different types of PR companies etc out there who are quick and ready to take your money and do absolutely nothing for you in return.

What are your songs about?

Satan and murder! Hahaha kidding... Our songs are about the truth that everyone else is too scared to speak about for the fear of being labeled or criticized, or because it’s an unpopular opinion and it’s not trending to be on that side of the argument.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?

Carl writes mostly all the lyrics while Guthrie has lyrical input when it comes to the backing. Guthrie wrote the lyrics to our one song. Mostly all the guitar is composed by Guthrie, Carl comes up with cool riffs as well, which Guthrie will then take and create a full song out of it. And the rest is built from there really. Ryan does his thing on the bass, which really compliments the songs. He writes bass stuff that should a new bass player come to the band, it would be a case of playing it exactly the same. And then obviously the drums are put together by our fearless drummer because no one else in the band knows how to do that lol. But everyone has an input and a contribution when it comes to putting the songs together and structuring them. It’s like making a baby.

Do you compose in a certain environment?

We go to a rehearsal space where a lot of composing gets done. We like to get smoked up and throw some whiskey on the ice while we do so. We try to keep it light hearted and sometimes even bust out the acoustics over a braai (BBQ to the rest of the world) Otherwise Guthrie does a lot of composing from his home.

Have you done any covers live?

No, we stay away from covers. We have never been interested in doing cover songs. If we had to someday do a cover though, it would be something that nobody would know other than die hard fans of that artist and we would make it our own. If you have to play a popular cover song to hype your audience up and can’t do it with your original stuff, then there’s a problem. So many bands are fucking up really good songs just so people can get excited because it’s a song they actually recognize. “Tribute” is just a fancy word for cover.

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?

God, that’s a huge bracket. That can be from 5 to 500 and that depends if you’re including band members girlfriends or not?

What ages are most of your concert attendants?

There’s generally a variety at the shows. It’s always nice to see the younger generations there because that just shows they’ve been brought up correctly on the right music. And it’s always cool to have the older dudes there as well because you know they are die-hards.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary?

It varies depending on the time we have to jam.

Do you have a regular place you play live often?

The local scene here is pretty small so you land up at the same spots all the time. There are only a select few places that will host heavy shows and they are becoming more and more scarce.

What was your first gig like?

Our first gig was amazing. It was a launch party for an alternative modelling agency called Cult. Collective.We were fortunate enough to get on the bill and it was a ripper.

What was your latest gig?

The last gig we played was the end of last year at a small local venue. It’s one of those really dirty shitholes that we absolutely love playing. The stickier the floor, the better.

Where have you played live this year?

With the whole worldwide pandemic, we have not been able to play any shows this year. Our country went into a hard lockdown in March and our venues, or what’s left of them, have not yet re-opened.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale?

If we recall, we had T-shirts before we had songs lol. We have the usual shirts, stickers, pins, caps and all that. We will be sure to send some stuff over for you!

Where can people buy your merchandise?

From our Facebook page or Bandcamp. Otherwise we always have it out at the shows. There is also development in the pipeline on the Unscathed Records website, so fingers crossed you might see some there soon too.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records nowadays?

There’s nothing one can really do about it, this is the way things are now. But it has it’s good and bad. There’s nothing better than the smell of a brand new CD booklet but kids today don’t know what that’s all about.

How do you think the music industry has changed because of this?

It’s definitely made it easier for musicians to get their stuff out there and it’s obviously convenient. But it’s also made people lazy and the fact that the artists get paid next to nothing while the corporates running the platforms are raking it in. The value of music is pretty low these days and it’s not just because of downloading or streaming, there are much worse things or people ruining the industry.

What do you think of my work?

We think you do great work and you have interviewed a lot of bands - it’s amazing.

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business?

Any feature or coverage is always helpful. It helps get our music heard and the spread of our message. We really appreciate the interview.

Do you have any role models or idols?

Yes we have a lot of role models in the music world and in our personal lives.

Why do you think that they exist?

Because they are all human.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?

We’re pretty oldschool, so the older bands are predominantly where we would draw inspiration from. But there are a lot of active bands that we listen to as well.

What have been your biggest obstacles?

The scene in this country is very “cliquey” and purest in most regards. So unless you sound like every other generic metal band in the world, it is somewhat difficult to fit in with all the cool cats. But we’ve had our fair share of personal obstacles within the band but it just makes us stronger at the end of the day.

What advice would you give other bands or artists?

Work together, support one another and don’t be a dick.

Do you have any new material?

Our new single “Controlled” hits streaming platforms on the 14th of August. But keep your eyes on our socials for more rad stuff coming soon.

What are your web sites?

We don’t have one yet.

https://www.facebook.com/killfrenzysa/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZk-_Gk0VJyih9wAc0ioRNg