BIO
+ personnel
Mat Devine: vox
Dan Wiese: guitars
Jonathan Radtke: guitars
Greg Corner: bass
Garret Hammond: drums
+ quick history
Kill Hannah formed in 1995 in a dorm room at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Although the line-up morphed over the first few years, until the addition of Jon Radtke in 2000, one thing has remained consistent: From the very beginning Kill Hannah have been one of the hardest-working groups in the city. It was not uncommon to see members of the band endure rain and snow to hand out flyers to strangers after shows, as they still do to this day. Eventually the band's determination paid off as a following exploded to the point where Kill Hannah were selling out bi-monthly gigs at Chicago's world-famous Metro club, forging the same path as previous local legends, The Smashing Pumpkins.
Between 1996 and 2002, Kill Hannah also released a slew of albums, singles and EPs independently. –All of which quickly sold out of multiple pressings. (One rare EP recently sold at auction for $260.00)
Today the fan base is devoted, passionate and monstrous. They mimic the band's fashion, max out the bandwidth at the official website (over 20,000 hits per week), and have generated over 110,000 posts on the official message board in the last 4 months alone.
+ the current album
Kill Hannah recorded their Atlantic Records debut ‘For Never and Ever' in Los Angeles in the winter of 2003 with producer Sean Beavan (No Doubt, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails) and mixer Tim Palmer (U2, The Cure, Tears For Fears). In support of the album, the band has been touring relentlessly. Over the last year Kill Hannah have gone on the road separately with Chevelle, H.I.M., and The Sounds, while also opening for such heavyweights as Evanescence, Jane's Addiction, Everclear, Eve 6, The All American Rejects, Fuel, P.O.D., The Distillers, Story of the Year, Three Days Grace, Alien Ant Farm, The Buzzcocks, Andrew WK, Trapt, and many others. The single 'Kennedy' debuted at #2 on modern rock radio, was performed on "Last Call with Carson Daly", and featured on such hit television shows as "Jack and Bobby", "One Tree Hill", and "North Shore".
+ Releases
1996 Hummingbirds The Size of Bullets: 6-song CD EP
1996 Sleeping Like Electric Eels: 4-song CD EP
1997 Lovesick: promo cassette
1997 Stunt Pilots: 4-song promo CD
1998 Here are the Young Moderns: CD LP
1999 American Jet Set: CD LP
2000 Welcome to Chicago, Mother ********: promo CD single
2003 For Never and Ever: CD LP
FAQ
+ How would you describe the band's sound?
Mat: “Our look and sound began a result of having completely immersed myself in my older sister's vinyl collection as a teenager: The Cure, Smiths, Bowie, Pixies, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Siouxsie and the Banshees. I must've listened to Staring at the Sea every night for 4 years. But it's always been important that we update and sort of ‘Americanize' the sound. We've added electronics and at times it's more raw and aggressive, but at other times more fragile. I don't know. I hate this question.”
+ Who is Hannah?
Mat: “I went to school for a while in a tiny farm town called Normal, Illinois. One night I was at some basement party where a horrible college band was playing Hungry Like the Wolf and I met this waif with purple hair, 3 nose piercings, dressed like a train wreck. She was 16 and attended the local Catholic high school. I thought she was amazing. -turns out she was also completely insane. We had a short, bizarre relationship that ended in my first heartbreak ever. -really messed me up for a while. Last I heard she's living in Switzerland. Probably stirring things up over there.”
