Bristol two piece Miss Kill have recently released a new single 'Being Young' which is another fine addition to their catalogue of songs, with its lilting feel, soaring vocals and explosive interjections of grunge noise. Sisters Alannah and Fliss kindly took some time to answer a few questions about the new single, the band, the Bristol music scene and their plans for 2021.
Miss Kill are Alannah Jackson (Guitar / Lead Vocals) and Felicity Jackson (Drums / Backing Vocals).
'Being Young' is available on all the usual digital channels and you can also still pick up last year's 'Explain Yourself' and 'Prescriptive Poison' singles.
Hi Alannah, Felicity, thank you for taking some time to answer a few questions. First off, for those readers who might not be familiar with Miss Kill, could you give a short history of the band?
Alannah: Hi Simon no worries at all thank you for having us! Miss Kill started when I forced Fliss to play drums as I just couldn’t find a band that was reliable, so I thought well why not get my sister to play drums, so I made Felicity get drum lessons then she absolutely loved it. We then started booking gigs and playing as many places as we could, playing places such as our hometown Bristol, alongside London, Plymouth, High Wycombe and many more. We began releasing singles and eventually an EP, our latest single ‘Being Young’ you can listen to now on all streaming platforms!
And who would you say were the main influences on Miss Kill?
Felicity: I would say our influences contain a huge range of artists and that continues to grow every day. Some of our biggest influences would be the likes of Blood Red Shoes, Pearl Jam, Placebo, Dilly Dally, The Vines and many many more!
Where did the name Miss Kill come from? Did you have any other names you were considering before settling on Miss Kill?
Alannah: It started when Felicity went clay pigeon shooting with our dad and grandad. As they shot the clays, the scorer said “miss” when you miss the target and “kill” when you hit the target. Fliss and our dad then realised that would be a pretty cool name and it stuck from then on.
Did you ever consider getting any more band members or were you always intent on being a two-piece?
Felicity: We have considered getting a bass player and have tried playing with a bass player twice, however we found that it didn’t make a huge difference or impact on us or our music and we are known for being a boisterous sounding two-piece. I think adding a third member into our band will be more of a future thing and they’d have to be the right person for the band for it to work. It does limit what we can do but there’s always a way around that and we still manage to pull off a huge sound to create cracking songs with lots of potential to go further. So for now we are sticking as a two-piece but maybe one day that will change when the time's right.
There seems to be a number of two piece bands around at the moment - Royal Blood and Black Keys to name a couple. Why do you think the two piece has become a popular format for bands?
Alannah: As a band I think it is a lot easier to organise two people rather than four or five. Two people are generally more focused on a common goal and I think energy levels especially on stage seem to be a lot higher, with two piece bands you really have to work that stage.
You've got a new single out - 'Being Young'. Do you feel it's a step forward for the band from your previous releases?
Felicity: We feel this latest release is a step towards a new feel of what we are evolving into. The song is different from what our genre was previously focused on, that being ‘grunge’. It still has elements of grunge but it’s evolved into a newer sound that we have incorporated in our newer songs. We are still blasting out new songs that are very grungy but we want to evolve more and add more elements of other genres into our music. ‘Being Young’ gives our audience a glimpse of what you can expect coming up in our future releases.
You've released a few tracks now - what is your favourite track you've released so far? And do you have any songs that are awaiting release that you're particularly looking forward to releasing?
Alannah: Well that’s definitely a hard question as we’re both really happy with the songs we have released. I love ‘Explain Yourself’ and I’m really happy with ‘Being Young’, and on songwriting terms and the musical side I feel like that song is a big step forward for us and something more listenable for a wide range of audiences and we seem to be getting a lot of love from it so far. In terms of new songs we have been writing loads recently creating some absolute bangers, but a favourite of mine that we have written recently needs a working title but at the moment it’s called ‘Wanna Let You Know’ and it’s definitely one of my favourite songs we’ve ever written. I can’t wait for it to be recorded properly and released.
You joined HUBB Records last year; how did you come to be involved with them?
Felicity: We joined Hubb Records through BIMM Bristol University. We were chosen to be part of their roster alongside 9 other artists for their Vol III album that will be released soon. HUBB Records are great supporters and they’ve definitely helped push us to be better musicians and think more in-depth to what we create with our music.
I notice you've done a few live streams during lockdown - how did you find them to do? And do you think bands will continue to carry on with these methods if we do return to some sort of semblance of normality and live gigs return?
Alannah: Yes we have been doing a few live streams which we’ve loved. We got contacted to do some of the live streams and for our most recent Louisiana Live session we got in contact with them as we saw they were hosting gigs again and we really wanted to get back on that stage. The Louisiana is definitely one of our favourite places to play. I think some bands may continue to do this as it was definitely something a little different and also a great way to find new fans. However, I do feel that when live gigs return all people will want to do is go to them so maybe bands won’t see the point in doing these as most people will be out watching gigs and or bands will be playing the gigs.
Do you feel that the scene in Bristol currently is a good one? Are there any particular bands from the Bristol area you'd recommend readers to check out?
Felicity: The Bristol scene has definitely always been a good one and we’ve met some good friends and some amazing fans who found us when we first started the band who are still supporting us now. We have also met lots of wicked bands who we’re good friends with and continue to play gigs with and support each other. Bristol has a great scene for supportive people and musicians who love what they do and love sharing their passion. There’s definitely loads of great bands as we’ve played with so many! Some we’d recommend would be ‘Sœur’, ‘Garden Party’ and ‘Crashland’.
And finally, what are your plans for Miss Kill in 2021?
Alannah: We would like to release a few more singles and potentially release an EP in Autumn. Doing a tour would be brilliant when things go back to normality, although at the minute we’re just writing as many songs as we can getting them ready to be recorded. We can’t wait to be back out on the road playing everyone the new tunes.