MAY 20th, 2013
STARKILL WRITTEN EXCLUSIVE
By Metal Mom
After seeing STARKILL for the first time in Vancouver at the Rickshaw Theatre, we knew we had to find out more about this band from Chicago, Illinois. They have only been around since the tail end of 2008, getting signed onto Century Media, one of metal’s most well known labels, and they are making a name for themselves real quick. To learn more about these guys, read the interview below:
Welcome to MetalTitans, Guardians of Metal entertainment, worldwide. We got a chance to do a written interview with Parker and Charlie of STARKILL. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us.
1. You are still a fairly new band on the scene, so for those that don’t know, how did you come up with the name “Starkill” ?
We wanted a name that wasn’t exclusively tied to one genre. We wanted something brutal, arcane, and fitting with both death and power metal styles. Starkill fit the bill.
2. You cant really put your band into any one genre, it encompasses many, what made you decide to go that way ?
It wasn’t really a choice. That’s just how our writing style works. By default we just write music that blends most of our influences together.
3. Is this your first band, or have you been in some before ?
Parker, Charlie, and Spencer have been the core of the band for five years. We’ve had a couple different names, but for all practical purposes, yes, this is our first band.
4. How did each of the members come to be in the band ?
Parker and Spencer are brothers. After jamming together for years as kids and seriously wanting to form a band, Parker went to Indiana University in hopes of finding more like-minded musicians, as there weren’t many in their hometown. Parker met Charlie in his first weeks of attending school, and after realizing their similar influences and musical goals, the core of Starkill was formed. After playing and touring under a few different names with other bass players, the band moved headquarters from IU back to the Chicago suburbs and added Mike Buetsch on bass, longtime friend of Parker and Spencer.
5. You were just on tour with Krisiun / Arsis, how was that ?
Awesome. It sucks that Hypocrisy had to drop, but the crowd response was great and we made a ton of new fans.
6. Vancouver, BC was your last show on the tour, you didn’t do the whole tour, what was the reason for that ?
That was just the way the tour was booked. Even if Hypocrisy had managed to make it over, we were only scheduled for the first half of the tour before another band took the opening spot. That’s why we booked a bunch of headlining shows ourselves on the way back to IL.
7. Any city stand out for any reason along the tour ?
Montreal was pretty awesome. This was our first time in Canada, so being surrounded by a different culture, as well as playing in a kickass venue, was pretty cool and new for us.
8. You have a new album out now, “FIRES OF LIFE” it was released here Apr.30, this is your first album, was it exciting to do and see it released ?
Of course. We had been dying to profession
ally record and release these songs for years, so it was extremely rewarding to see the final product make it out to the public.
9. Who wrote the lyrics for “Fires of Life” ?
Parker wrote almost all the lyrics, with Spencer writing most of the lyrics for Withdrawn From all Humanity.
10. Fires of Life is both lyrically and musically overlain in medieval fantasy-themed battles, what made you decide to incorporate this into your album?
The music itself is pretty epic and cinematic. It would be weird to write lyrics to these songs about anything other than pagan gods, warfare, and humanity and kingdoms on the brink of destruction.
11. Do you have a favourite song on this album and why that one ?
Nah, we love them all. The goal of this band is to make every song the best song we’ve ever written. Every song should be strong and memorable, and I think we did a great job of that.
12. Who is the artist for the album ? And how did you choose that particular person ?
Joshua Bellanger. We had checked his stuff and liked it, and after an email discussion, he understood exactly what we wanted. He really delivered.
13. How do you pick the song that’s to be the first release to the fans ?
Our band incorporates a lot of aspects of many subgenres, so we wanted to first release a song that was an equal mix of all of our influences. Sword, Spear, Blood, Fire goes all over the metal spectrum, so we released that first.
14. What is next for STARKILL ?
We have a SICK tour lined up for late this summer. More info on that will be released soon.
15. Is there anything you would like to say, that I might have missed asking, that you want fans/future fans to know about STARKILL?
Come to shows, support the band, and tell everyone you know about STARKILL.
Just want to say too that STARKILL’s performance in Vancouver was outstanding.
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us here at METALTITANS.