The Refrain Interview: To Kill A Monster

To Kill A Monster was born in 2008. Since the beginning, they have set out to produce a sound that is nearly indescribable and a live show that is totally unforgettable. To Kill A Monster maintains that music is better as an inspiration to be happy than a tool to promote negativity, this is why their songs are almost always upbeat, dancey, or at least about nerdy subjects. Not taking after any one band or a specific sound, they have always been influenced by bands like The Offspring, Story Of The Year, Eve 6, The Used, Every Time I Die, Weezer, Tenacious D, and countless others.

To Kill A Monster’s mission is simply to help add some fun back into as many people’s lives as possible by means of their intense blend of super high energy alternative rock, dance, hardcore, punk, and pop that is lovingly full of rhythmic energy and originality. To Kill a Monster loves to write songs that provide inspiration and energy to achieve any goal and to do so with a smile on your face. Each song is written to be a direct reflection of the life, love, fun, and feelings of everyone and everything around them. Music is their life, passion, and dream. Music saved their lives and they do this in the hopes that To Kill A Monster can do the same for others.

We had the chance to Interview To Kill A Monster as part of The Refrain Interview Series. Check it out below.

Refrain Music Blog: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You have a new single out now. What’s it called?

Joey – “Whiskey”

RMB: What is the song about, in terms of lyrics? Any overarching messages or themes?

Joey – In short it’s just a fun song about a girl being the whiskey I crave instead of “That tall drink of water”. Song ended up surprising everyone in the end with how catchy it turned out to be.

RMB: Is this single part of an album? If so tell us a little bit about that.

Joey – An album is definitely in the works but we still have a long way to go before it’s ready. All the new tracks are vastly different and great in there own ways. So for now it’s just a single, but will hopefully end up on an actual album release.

RMB: How does this single differ from your previous work?

Joey – This all started lyrically as a country type theme. Ended up way more like “us” than we thought it would. This is definitely a more radio pop friendly type song than the rest of our catalog though, and yet still fits in perfectly.

RMB: What’s the story on how it was recorded? The Who, When, Where etc. Was it a long process or quick? Any good stories about the recording process?

Joey – This one took awhile honestly because I almost had to convince the band to create it. While we were working on it, we were demoing ideas at our guitarists James house and our drummer Corey looked over and asked why we were even making this song and was afraid we were going in a new direction. The guys just replied “Cause it’s funny”. Corey understood finally. I love playing with different ideas and making them ours. This song definitely started as a joke but came out as so much more. Recorded at Black Moon Recordings with our guys Unnus Latif, and Bryan Ream back in April. Highly recommend them.

RMB: Tell us a little about the band. Who all is in it and how did you form? How long have you been together?

Joey – Tkam started all the way back in 2005 and played with mostly the same lineup until about 2017. Had a bunch of friends come and help out along the way but this current lineup started coming together these past 3 years. “The Broken” and now this new song are the first songs fully written by this new lineup and we have so much more on the way.
Joey Lawson – Vocals
Scott Borealis – Guitar
James Barron – Guitar
Josh Spence – Bass
Corey Melton – Drums

RMB: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Joey Lawson – The Offspring, Alexisonfire, Tenacious D, Eve 6
Scott Borealis – Killswitch Engage, The Used, A Day To Remember, Story Of The Year
Corey Melton – Foo Fighters, Green Day, Kiss
Josh Spence – Silverstein, Blink-182, Yellowcard
James Barron – A Day To Remember, Counterparts, Story Of The Year, The Story So Far

RMB: What’s the one thing you are most proud of in your career so far?

Joey – Warped Tour was always the dream and thankfully we had the honor of playing it twice. Once in Cleveland, and once in Cincinnati. We also played The Nutter Center in Dayton with Secondhand Serenade to 3000 people. Completely sold out of merch and stayed by the merch the entire night until every fan left happy. Not sure which I love more.

RMB: If you had to pitch your music to a potential fan in less than 10 seconds, what would you say?

Josh – It’s like the best party you’ve ever been to and who doesn’t like to party?
Joey – For fans of 90s rock.

RMB: What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten that you think everyone needs to hear or that has meant the most to you?

Joey – One of the main things I had to learn over the years is that if you screw up during a live show just keep going. Chances are most of the crowd didn’t even hear it or notice. But they’ll sure notice if you talk about it. Other than that, record or write down everything you make. You never know when it’ll come in handy.

RMB: If you could go back in time, what’s a piece of advice you would give to a younger you?

Joey – Trust and believe in yourself and learn anything and everything you can about music, video, photography, and design. Do it all yourself as much as possible.

RMB: What’s coming up next for your musical project?

Joey – Our main goal right now is just to finish a bunch of the songs we’ve been working on and get them recorded. As well as an acoustic album too. Time to release way more music!

RMB: Anything we haven’t thought of that you want to talk about?

Joey – I’m just happy to be able to be releasing music still after all these years. I’d be lost without a way to get my stories out, and without something to be working on. Music saved our lives and continues still to this day. All we hope is that it reaches someone that way.