What happens when you can’t break into the LA scene? Well, you know what they say; Can’t beat ’em? Fuck ’em… Glorious Noise interviewed Matt Southwell of the band Bang Sugar Bang, who started their own club when they found booking by traditional means to be a hassle. Instead of try and try again, Southwell and Co. took matters into their own hands and ended up with a fanbase that’s small but dedicated—something most bands would kill for.
GLONO: What is Kiss or Kill?
MS: Kiss or Kill is the name given to a Tuesday nightclub in LA that has since grown into a full-blown DIY movement; a community of musicians side-stepping the typical lone gunner band approach in hopes of founding something greater. Basically, exploiting the fact that 10 or 20 bands are much stronger than one. Exponents are groovy, man!
GLONO: How did it start?
MS: It began as a reaction to not originally fitting in anywhere in the current Hollywood scene. When our band first started gigging, it didn’t seem like gigs were as productive and as fun as they should have been. So, I approached longtime LA music veteran, John Arrakaki of Silver Needle about doing something more akin to what I experienced in Madison WI.
Back then, bands used to piggyback on each other to build their fanbases, steal each other’s beer, etc. He wasn’t sure it would work in the “land of me, me, me” but still thought it sounded like a good idea. Over the next few months, our bands gigged together constantly and then John and my bassist Cooper took over this idea and expanded it into adding more bands as packages to clubs. After some stumbling in the beginning, Cooper and John found Kiss or Kill a home at the famed “Garage.” It built up from a monthly event into a weekly club.
GLONO: Are those two still in charge of Kiss or Kill?
MS: It’s really tremendous that it’s grown into a full-blown community now. Many of Cooper’s duties have been assumed by other bands in the scene. Ilsa from Ze Auto Parts works on the web site and emails, Matt from the OAOTs handles press and radio, Andre from Silver Needle does the flyers and works on the site. Danny Poulis runs the street team, and Robin Holden of King Cheetah runs sound. The Dollyrots were incredible as far as planning and executing the tour. Members of Midway and Bobot Adreniline have offered help. All these duties where once on Cooper’s shoulders. Now it really is a movement.
GLONO: You’ve been in bands around the country, what’s different about LA?
MS: LA is a really tough market in comparison to most of the Midwest. It most likely has to do with the sheer volume of entertainment available. I once read that on any given night, something like 300 to 400 bands are playing different gigs in the greater LA area. Not to mention the comedy shows, plays, nude interpretive dance karaoke, etc, ad nauseum. This can make it extremely difficult to gain any name recognition for a band. So the best way around this is to A: keep your damn band TOGETHER; B: promote like crazy ; and C: team up with some like-minded bands and start a club/movement. This way you become press worthy.
GLONO: When the Kiss or Kill scene was developing, what were the common threads that brought the bands together?
MS: I think what really helped it take off and continue to stay strong chiefly, was the fact that the bands were all big fans of one another. We all displayed something unique and resistant to what was common, marginal, and being beaten to death on the radio and TV. And frankly, we deserved an audience. All the bands were sort of looking to become part of something bigger. Y’know, something we could own. What’s really my favorite element of Kiss or Kill is the bands’ willingness to strongly support each other. I remember one particular evening, while standing in the foyer of the Garage (the club’s original home), I observed Tony from Billion Stars sitting with member’s of the Randies, while being taunted by a drunken Eddie (of the OAOT’s), as Cooper sat drinking with the Dollyrots and the girls from Ze Auto Parts. I just sort of thought. “Yeah. This is how it’s supposed to be. Rock and Roll is fun with your friends.” It was the first time it really felt like a scene.
Another major element is the songs. All the KOK bands possess the common characteristic of great songwriting. I think the Kiss or Kill compilation CD (review) illustrates that quite vividly. Hooky, unique, important songs. Ugh. That sounded so Rolling Stone. Forgive me, I gotta go barf on myself.
GLONO: You recently brought Kiss or Kill on the road, how were you received in different parts of the country? The Chicago show went well, but I know you had some stinker shows too. What seemed to be the difference?
MS: Honestly, the tour was a scream. I’d say 90% of the gigs were great. The shows that really sort of tanked had more to do with whether the clubs were about music or just sort of had music to have it. I mean, some of the alternative venues were awesome. The skatepark in Omaha was one of my favorite shows ever. The kids there were one of the greatest, most enthusiastic audiences I’ve seen. Yet, at one of the NY shows we encountered the complete opposite. This Lit Lounge in New York just sort of got the bands done really early so the DJ could start. And then of course the club filled right up. They had a 5-dollar cover during the bands and then the show became free when the DJ started. Live music just really didn’t seem a priority there.
GLONO: Two bands crammed in one van for two weeks can get “uncomfortable.” Any funny stories?
MS: One of the funnier moments occurred in Omaha, NE. As I mentioned, we played this great skatepark. An Omaha local band called Flurry set up the show. (Excellent band, by the way.) Flurry’s bassist Matt, very nicely offered his home as a place to crash. So, after this really cool show, we all headed back to his place with his band. We arrive at his home, armed with boatloads of beer and Taco Bell, only to find his pregnant girlfriend at the door. She sweetly greeted us all and then announced to Matt that she was in labor and had to go to the hospital… NOW! She was in labor! Everybody’s jaw just dropped. It was like 20 people instantly became expectant fathers! “Boil some water… find clean towels… get the keys!” Matt shot off to the hospital and the rest of us drank beer and awaited the arrival of his new baby girl, Isabella. Two hours later the police came to the door with news that a gas station down the street was just robbed by a man with red hair. Josh, the Dollyrots drummer, sporting a fine red Mohawk dove beneath a sleeping bag! The other members of Flurry finally got rid of the police and Josh was able to pass out knowing he wasn’t going to experience the Omaha dungeons. But other than that, nobody got arrested, nobody got VD, and we proved that four men could simultaneously fart and still get the two girls to return to the van the next day.
GLONO: Five of the eleven bands on the Kiss or Kill Comp have female members. Is this some sort of girl power statement? Or are we finally growing up and realizing that chicks can rock just as hard as the guys?
MS: Wow. I didn’t realize the numbers looked like that. I would definitely say the latter. We just try to find really good bands. Los Angeles is actually a pretty good place to be a female rocker, I think. I mean, unfortunately, girl bands are given kind of a novelty tag here at first, but if they are truly good, they also seem to advance much faster than their male counterparts. I can’t speak for this trend nationally, but at least locally that’s what I’ve observed. Kiss or Kill dedicates one Tuesday a month as “Girls Rock Riot” which is comprised of all female or female-fronted bands and it has proven to be our best night of the month. I can say, at least in respect to L.A., that whole stigma of ‘resistance’ to the girl rocker has really faded. I mean, hey! Most guys dig chicks. Guys dig chicks who rock even more. At least I do. They always bring so much more style along with the substance.
GLONO: You moved to LA for acting. How did you end up getting back into music? How did Bang Sugar bang start?
MS: Well, yeah. I came out here to go to grad school for acting and spent a couple of years kicking around neurotically trying to weasel onto the lots. Actually, it wasn’t that bad, I got to wait on Marlon Brando and met John Doe of X while filming an episode of Roswell. Cooper and I actually met as actors. She wanted to learn to play the bass and start a band. So, I taught her some stuff and off she went. I’ve never seen anyone work so hard. Next we started writing and I really dug what was coming out. I still thought of myself as an actor though. One night she peeled off the bass line to Bowie’s “John, I’m only Dancing” and I figured it was probably time to get a band going. I still only planned on playing with her as a hobby, however. But after [Bang Sugar Bang’s drummer] Pawley came bouncing up the doorway and we had our first rehearsal, everything changed. It was so damn fun. Like back in jr. high, when I played in punk bands at friends’ basement keggers. That kind of fun. That coupled with Cooper’s almost obsessive drive and the great songs that were emerging, well, my priorities changed overnight.
GLONO: How did Pawley come into the picture?
MS: I’d known Pawley from college at Western Michigan University and he was a really good fit. Pawley and Cooper were both kinda green, but the chemistry was really positive, open and unrestrictive. I think that had a lot to do with how much fun it was. I got to relive my own early days, via their enthusiasm. Kind of strange really; I came out here to teach intro to acting at grad school and ended up teaching old school punk to a couple of actors. I always joke that Cooper dragged me back into music kickin’ and screamin’, but that’s really untrue. Rock and roll was always my greatest love. I made a lot of excuses for leaving music and all of them were total horseshit! I don’t think anyone should ever turn their back on their passion, regardless of anyone else’s opinion. It’s your fucking life. Live it your way and be happy. There are a lot of miserable people out there, just looking for company. Leave them to the misery and get on with your sound.
GLONO: Where does the name Bang Sugar Bang come from?
MS: We were originally called, “Leather David and the Angry Housewives” for reasons that are far too stupid to expound upon. It didn’t take long for anyone to realize we needed a name that wasn’t… y’know… stupid. Besides, I think there’s a band called, “The Angry Housewives.” One night Cooper was sitting at her computer, quite intoxicated, and was just spitting out her favorite band names. Stuff like Cop shoot Cop, Love spit Love… stuff like that and I guess Bang Sugar Bang just popped into her head. I tend to favor things that leave themselves open to individual interpretation. Besides, it was way better than my suggestion of “Retardo, the Magician.”
GLONO: The BSB fanbase seems pretty tight-knit and that’s something you seem to really foster (with the monthly Best Bang, crowd participation moments in the live show, etc). It’s almost a throwback to the Fugazi mentality or a rejection of the cult of personality we have in big rock today. Besides being a riot at shows, how else does this approach help you as a band?
MS: Well, we call them “the Punters,” after the Brit slang term for the pogoing masses of ’78. And they all have nicknames like Gorby Bang, Bang-a-Long, Puntacious Pilate, Paul-o-matic, Sandblaster, Bang, Bang Crayons… it just makes it more like a really twisted clubhouse. But what all that has really done is to let people know that they are the scene. It’s them and the music. It’s that they totally belong somewhere; in a city that often tries to make you feel excluded. So it’s helped us by gaining many wild, loyal, and real honest-to-goodness friends. We always wanted the club’s vibe to be like; if your best pal in high school threw a huge bash with all your friends’ bands and everybody was there, and the cops never came, and that girl named Pam, who was one grade ahead, dragged you into the bathroom and made out with you for an hour. Basically, the first really cool party you ever went to EVERY Tuesday night. So I guess what I’m saying is, we wouldn’t have an act without the punters. We’re their band and they’re our gang. I honestly love every one of those bastards and bastardesses. That whole detached, cooler-than-thou thing is the most boring, stale and overused schtick in music. And it does absolutely nothing for anybody.
GLONO: How is BSB perceived in LA? Gaining any ground?
MS: Oh man… Depends on who you talk to. Some probably say that we work really hard; play our asses off live; and that we really care about this scene and all the bands and people involved. Others would probably say we’re mouthy as hell; think we’re too good to play the Viper Room; and sound way too much like X. Who knows? I really don’t pay too much attention to our perception beyond occasionally reading something about us that pisses me off. Then I put it down and get back to the mission, y’know? Sometimes, a few beers will cause that ire to resurface. But hey, I started out a punk, and will probably always approach life that way. Sometimes it’s fun to be drunk and surly.
All that aside, I think we will keep gaining ground, whether it’s in L.A. or via strategically touring elsewhere. Local radio has been very cool to the whole Kiss or Kill movement. The comp release as well as many of the bands own CDs are being featured every week on Indie 103’s Check, One, Two program and KXLU’s Noise Pollution, which was our hope all along.
You see, I want all these bands to hit it as bad as they do… really! Cooper and I won’t have it any other way. My motto is: I’m not leaving this town without a big fat check.
GLONO: I know you’ve had some issues with certain members of the press in LA. Is that intentional at all? Maybe a way to stay out of the LA scene and develop your own scene?
MS: Oh, I don’t know. I’m not at war with anybody. I just think it’s silly that certain writers never seem to leave the same club. They’d rather revel in their scenester status. Happy to be a supposed tastemaker than really, honestly exploring what is out there, or truly write critically about local music. It’s just my hammerhead, knee-jerk reaction to absolute, bought-and-sold pretense in some of the local press. I don’t know. Shit. They just make me want to fight. I just really hate the whole hipster mentality. It’s difficult to bitch too loud, because the perception is of sour grapes about your band being ignored. But I care so much about all these bands and the songs they write, that I’m compelled to shoot my extremely big mouth off sometimes. If I’m guilty of passion about this music. Passion to a fault. I say, full speed ahead. Put the money down and let it ride. It’s probably not a good quality for a starship captain, but for a punker trying to change music’s views, I’ll take it. It’s the ex-hockey player in me, Derek. I like a few beers and a good fight.
Matt Southwell sings and plays guitar in the Los Angeles band Bang Sugar Bang and is the founder of War Room Records.
big thanks to everyone at kiss or kill for giving Los Angeles a music scene!!!
Hey Derek, Jake, et al, at GloNo. Thanks for boosting the cause! Very appreciated. I gotta also give big props out to a fella named Mike TV., who taught us how to do it right! Everything we learned as far as building a scene, came from his shiny mind! Thanks again!
Great interview-awesome band-there’s nothing like true originality and talent.
Bang Sugar Bang is my mistress. Keep up the good work. Down with hipsters.
great article on a much welcome addition to the la music scene. having just come home early from a kiss or kill night – i can honestly say that matt’s words and enthusiasm about supporting local la bands is not just his mouthing off. the people responsible for this club and those that show up every week have given tuesday nights in la a much needed shot in the arm.
I tell everyone I see, these guys single handedly saved the L.A. music scene in my book. Kiss or Kill best club in L.A.!
Punk rock and uncooked fish!! Yeah!
i don’t know where i’d be w/out kiss or kill. probably hookin’ on santa monica and labrea.(i do have nice gams) 10-q kiss or kill
Rob’s “gams” scare almost as much as that nasty “tequila” in his squirt-gun. Did Matt mention that we have a guy who shoots people? Shoots ’em in the head? Puts a gun in their mouth and pulls the trigger, and out comes tequila? I don’t remember seeing that in the article so it oughta be mentioned. Madness! They’re all mad I say!
Good interview, btw.
Jesus! What are you doin’ up already? Didnt I just see you stumblin’ down the street, Andre? None the less, it was a great night, last night. And this article just further illustrates what a true bunch of real shitheads we all are. I love it.
Great interview!
This is the scene that my friend Corey (DJ Cheese zombie) and I always wanted to find in the the Bay Area. No Attitude, Great Music, and cool people in cool bands that you can come up and talk to.
I’ve known Matt for years and he’s about the most enthusiastic performer you’ll ever see. Anyone on the West coast should check these bands out. Jake and I caught them here in Chicago a couple months ago and were blown away (even though we kinda knew what to expect from Matt). Great show and a great time. No bullshit, just good rock.
Thanks to Glorious Noise for giving Matt a forum to express the passion & dedication behind Kiss or Kill. Hell, I’d rather get press in the Midwest than LA anyways…cities with good pizza=good taste in music anyways…LA=bad pizza, but nice weather & good friends.
Glorious Noise rocks!
99
PS – how come no one will introduce me to Pam? matt, I am a bit offended. I want to make out with her in the red room after Midway’s set…
One more thing…
In that Kodak moment…
Is Cooper from Bang Sugar Bang playing Mercy with that poor guy in the audience?
Jesus…
must be a shot from the New York show.
99
“must be a shot from the New York show.”
Nope. It was from their Chicago stop at Wise Fool’s Pub.
where would i be without kiss or kill??? tuesday is my favorite nite of the week (besides sunday). this is the only club where a patron like myself, feels like a rock star just showing up. i tell everyone to check their couch cushions for change because 2 dollars for five bands that are this good is amazing
I checked out Kiss or Kill last night. It was one of the best nights of rock I have ever experienced. I’m going back next week for sure!
This is so beautiful. Matt, you make me want to start of a magazine so I could interview you too. I was at Kiss or Kill last night and was just happy as a clam. So much love, so much talent…yes Virginia, there is still good rock ‘n’ roll in Los Angeles.
Ever Forward.
It’s hard to put into words the feeling that you get from playing a night at Kiss or Kill. But I’m gonna try… It feels like home. As a band you go out into to the harsh, rugged, unforgiving and unthankful wilderness of a pretentious, self-absorbed unsupportive, lack-lustre Los Angeles scene and battle it out gig after half-assed gig at careless venues full of jaded hipsters with their arms permanently crossed, getting nowhere fast and just as your about to light the gassoline soaked rag at the end of a molotov cocktail and fire bomb the fucking assholes someone taps you on the shoulder. You turn around and see Matt and Cooper and their loving family standing right behind you firebombs in hand too. They convince you not to waste the time or the gassoline and drag you back home, brusied and bloody to a magnificent dream land where the beer spills, the fists pump, the bodies form a wall at the front of the stage, the voices cry out in harmonic unisen and the blood that spills actually matters. That is what it’s like to play a Kiss or Kill gig and it has set a pressidence for us as a band. We will not have it any other way. Nor should we have to. They have created a family for us. A family that makes us feel part of something big and meaningful. A family that treats us with respect and sincerity as though we’ve been part of it all along. We all respect each other as artists. It is not a competition it is a celebration of passionate driven professionals that want every gig, every perfomance, every single moment to not only have a memorable quality but to get somewhere. We all watch each others sets, we all watch each others backs and THE KNIVES are here to do what ever they can to help contribute and conquer. Together we will turn this cancer ridden scene around and leave the money stealing do-nothing promoters, the arm folding envy rockers, the ignorant burgoise press and the decaying DJ dance clubs labelled venues behind us and reffer to them only as a model of how things are not supposed to be done. This is the way of the Kiss Or Kill Kingdom mother fuckers! No inbetween.
Kiss or Kill is truly a phenomenal weekly event that brings together people who care about live music. I know of no other place where people hug you, shake your hand, smile and call you a complete bastard (in a nice way, of course) all in recognition of the fact that you’ve been there before. People actually introduce themselves AND remember your name…. Yes, this is L.A. and it can be your town too!!!! All it takes is the will and the desire to make it happen. Well done all the bands who so enthusiastically sign on for this deep commitment… and the fans who stay for the next band, and the next band, and the next band…. But thanks especially to Matt Southwell and Cooper Gillespie who decided to stick their necks out to make it all happen. There are a lot of people out there who’s Tuesday’s mean more than any other night of the week. And for a measely two dollars!! Crazy!
Kiss or Kill is a splendid time for all. Good people, good drinks, and good comraderie, for bands and fans alike. It’s kind of like a portal into West-Coast CBGBs circa 1978, only Cooper is sexier than Debbie Harry ever was, and The OAOTs 2-minute blasts of pop perfection could rival the dumbed-down songwriting craft of the Ramones. Yeah, I said it. The fucking Ramones. Keep fighting the good fight!
Thanks for running an article in your magazine on the greatest movement to hit the LA punk scene.. without KOK i’d be home sober on a tuesday night instead of rocking out to consistently fantastic bands.. thanks to all the bands for being so supportive of each other and being so damn good.. everyone who has helped KOK become what it is deserves recognition.. thanks for giving Kiss Or Kill a spot in your mag
keep rocking
Kiss or Kill saved me from bordom in LA. this is how every scene should be. in LA there is no “LA” scene. sunset strip? sunset Rip is more like it. plus many of the KOK bands play gigs @ other cool cheap clubs around the town. KOK is a virus,baby. watch it spread.
I can’t explain how great it feels to go out and see a hundred familiar faces!! Talk about a movement…the people involved are genuine, passionate and the most fucking fun you could imagine!! Here’s to more than an average life of rock and roll…..here’s to the extraordinary!!!
Great interview, great bands and a great idea. There is hope for Los Angeles after all…
Thanks for writing about the best night of music not only in LA but possibly the whole country. There is no other community of people who work so hard and care so much about great music. We just want to hear some good tunes, hang out with people that actually give and fuck and have a few drinks in the process. If it wasn’t for Kiss or Kill a lot of these bands probably wouldn’t still be in LA and even more probably wouldn’t even exist.
Does Kiss or Kill give the LA music scene a shot in the arm? No. It gives it a much-needed steel-toed reverse hurricane kick in the shriveled, puny nuts.
Somebody tell me where else I can go where they have crowd-surfing bunnies, a hairy MC who shoots tequila from his plastic Doom Cock, ruthlessly cheap booze, lots of fun loud music, moshers who’ll kick you in the head and then give you a big hug, and a gaggle of the most intense music lovin’ bastards what ever graced the Shitty of Angels.
Tell me there’s somewhere better, and I’ll poke you in the eye and tell you that there is no subsitute for Kiss or Kill, spotty.
Great interview!
I agree that the common denominator between all the bands is the songwriting. Every Kiss Or Kill band knows how to twist a phrase and throw in some cool chord changs.
Kiss Or Kill is kind of like a really cool party with all your friends. Except that the bands are playing in the “red room” next door and not the living room.
And, everyone is so friendly! It’s all about the music, and not about being in a “scene”. Know what I mean?
Plus, let’s face it…there have been a ton of babes at every Kiss Or Kill I’ve been to…
All in all, though, it’s the music that matters.
Then, the babes. Followed by the friendliness and cheap drinks.
I just want to thank Derek for interviewing Matt and for supporting our Kiss or Kill community. A bunch of my love goes out to all you who work so hard to ensure Kiss or Kill is successful. I am so lucky to rock’n’roll with each and every one of you. See you Tuesday!
i am not at all suprised with the reaction people get from kiss or kill. in this damned city where everyone is always thinking about taking and seeing how they can screw other people to get ahead its awesome that a few bands can actually come together like this and realize that, duh, if five bands work together to put on a rock show, there will be five times as many people than if a band goes out alone. and now if any one of us gets a chance to get ahead, it doesnt create competition among the bands, we are actually happy for each other. their success if our success and that is friggin beautiful. as one of the youngest members of kok, i really feel like everyone, the bands and the fans, are my family. matt, you are my rock and roll dad, and youve done so much for us it amazes me that people can actually genuinely want to help each other and can believe in each other the way everyone in kok believes in each other. oh, and one thing that cant be ignored is what, for us anyways, is kok’s predecessor, launchpad. we had been playing with bands like the letter openers, the randies, billion stars, and the dollyrots way before tuesday nights even existed for us. led by mikeTV of get set go, launchpad was the same idea, trying to unite the forces of a lot of bands in order to make a scene in LA. kok took it a step further and really made it a family. i love all of you guys. but not like that, joe. sorry.
This scene sounds inspiring. I was lucky enough to see Bang Sugar Bang when they recently played in New York and they were amazingly high-energy, tuneful and fun. The Dollyrots were also really good. The night was a reawakening about how great fast, loud, punky music still is!
Kudos to Matt and Cooper for helping to create such a strong, supportive scene. The KOK solidarity is as impressive as the music.
It’s all true. I’ve been going to KOK every week for about 3 months and have been having a blast. I know some Hollywood rocker types that I swear don’t even like music; who seem only interested in going to shows that they’re playing and won’t hang out for other bands. For me, there’s nothing like spending 30-40 minutes listening to some random group of people making whatever noise they want. They got the stage; I’ll listen. I’ve not been let down yet at KOK. Everyone’s doing they’re own thing, but it all seems to work together somehow. I moved to LA from DC in 1997 and have been looking for something like this. Thanks Matt and Cooper and everyone else!
If I hadn’t met Cooper and Matt on that fine strange night at one of Arlo’s Acoustic nights at Mr. T’s, my life would continue to be boring and totally meaningless. I fell in love with BangSugarBang, Silver Needle, their music and their good karma. Kiss Or Kill and The Punters welcomed my band with open arms and we’re [Midway] honored and privledged to be a part of their family. Thank you for giving us a place to come home to and a place to get nice and pissed from a tequila gun! (wow, that was total mush-what the fuck???) :-)
Great interview. I had never seen Bang Sugar Bang or the Dollyrots until they came to Omaha, NE. They were totally awesome. Not only on stage, but also afterwards. I’m friends with the band Flurry and had the privilege to hang out with the bands after the show. and as they already said, it was an eventful night. They’re a great bunch of people and are welcome back to Omaha anytime. You guys rock!!
I was at the first BangSugarBang show ever and I was the first “Bang of the Month”! What Cooper and Johnny 99 have done for the music scene in Los Angeles is immeasurable. Kiss Or Kill has grown by leaps and bounds, not just attendance-wise, but musically and spritually. You’d have to be pretty hard-hearted not to want to participate in this carnival every Tuesday! Long live Kiss Or Kill! Thanks, Cooper and Johnny!
Thank you for the great interview Derek & Glorious Noise. Matt, you’re as refreshingly sassy and honest and fun as ever, and that pic of Cooper is awesome.
What gets me is that this is not your typical LA hype and no follow-through, it’s actually true: every Kiss or Kill is loaded with talented musicians who are also fun & interesting people, you can pogo or get shot with a Tequilla squirt-gun — all the while sampling the finest bands around and screaming out the lyrics to your favorite songs. If you’re anywhere neare LA and haven’t come to a KOK night yet, get yer arse out here!
This scene is so friggin rad; it’s like a slightly more dysfunctional Cheers episode except funnier and add the loud/sincere rock and roll spirit of ’76, ’81, or ’92…packed shows, crowd surfing, pogo dancing unlike anything you’ll ever see in Los Angeles’ usually stale corporate rock shows…the kind of scene you grow up seeing documentaries made of and all of a sudden one day you look around you and it all looks strangely similar to everything you idealized while strumming your guitar in your bedroom as a kid…woo hoo hoo at its finest.
I’m damn glad that I work with people who talk too loud. Otherwise I’d never be able to hear them on Wednesday mornings. };-)
I started watching BSB at the Kibbitz Room and it was totally awesome! I couldn’t believe how worked up the crowd got. Then they disappeared for awhile and came back with KOK.
Now I’m one of those freaks bouncing around in front of the stage and I never seem to be able to leave early!
Thanks guys! I’ll probably lose my job or my hearing but you still ROCK!
I DON’T GO TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY BUT I MOST CERTAINLY ATTEND KISS OR KILL EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT RELIGIOUSLY.
THANKS TO MATT AND COOPER AND ALL THE BANDS WHO ROCK KISS OR KILL.
ever been to LA???
“WE LOVE IT!”
King Cheetah arrived from London three years ago and immediately noticed that LA nightlife sucked by comparison, that is until KISS OR KILL arrived. Great rock’n’roll, people who care, bands getting better and better, there’s no way I’d ever quit K.O.K. and LA for London now.
And K.O.K. is a VERY SEXY night.
This is special. You’ll see! THANKS!
Kiss or Kill rocks my world. If you’ve never been then you’re missing out on a fabulous night of rocking and rolling. rock on, thank you matt and cooper and everyone else
Kiss or Kill is super fun. I just love watching all those bands rock out. Especially the O.A.O.T’s. Ladies, if you want to see some sexy men rocking hard, go to kiss or kill. smooches
Thanks for introducing us to LA in the right way, cous.
The last I remember, Matt was wearing Uncle Terry’s leather jacket and covering “Panama”…
I’m glad he gave music another shot.