Today we’d like to introduce you to Killed by Kiwis. They share their story with us below:
Killed by Kiwis started with just 3 guys making music in our friend’s unfinished basement. These 3 guys were Griffin Baumann playing guitar, Simon Midtbo playing bass and vocals, and Quinn Siebers playing drums (he was also the one whose basement was used for practice, shoutout to the Siebers family for dealing with all our noise over the years). As we started to make music that was more complex we added more of our friends to the band to grow our sound. We added Annie Thoma to take over vocals as her voice is literally godly. Then we added Frankie Carlson to play guitar and Eli Haugland to play synthesizers. Together we are Killed by Kiwis, we like to describe our music as “psychedelic hard rock” but at the end of the day, we just make what we want to make.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our two biggest struggles have been distance and Covid. In terms of distance, we all go to different colleges around the midwest so practices and gigs are much easier during breaks. But, breaks from school are only about 4 months out of the year. Scheduling overall is pretty difficult for us because we are 6 college students with part-time jobs and other commitments. And while it’s fun to be in a larger group with lots of unique ideas, it is damn hard to get a date set for shows. In terms of Covid, we started gigging in the summer of 2021 which means that so far we have a 30% cancellation rate for our shows (7 shows completed, 3 canceled). There is a constant anxiety within the band that any show we schedule has a decent chance of being canceled.
In terms of struggles within the band, we actually have a very positive and friendly dynamic. In fact, our only real band argument came about while deciding whether a song should end with an E chord or a C# (C# was the “1” of the chord progression and thus the “correct” ending according to western music theory but the E sounded good as well and was in a lower register on the guitar implying a conclusion). Overall we work very well together and we all bring different things to the table while making our music.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We specialize in making sounds that are f*cking cool. Seriously, there is a theory in music production that says “if it sounds good, it is good” and we strive to make music that we personally believe sounds good and is enjoyable to hear. We are most proud of the fact at shows people seem like they genuinely enjoy our music and our presence. We will never get enough of people cheering us on as we perform something we created. There is truly no feeling quite like it and it’s not something we plan on giving up anytime soon.
Also, we’ve been told by our friends that when they show our music to their friends or family the reaction is usually “wow, that’s not too bad,” which honestly is all we’re looking for.
What sets us apart is that we aren’t afraid to try new things and combine the styles of each band member. None of us could or would make this music if we were working alone.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
We haven’t actually learned this lesson but we assume it would be helpful for one’s emotional well-being to not place so much weight into whether or not a show happens. We all get so excited to perform because it’s our favorite thing to do but when you are a musician during a pandemic, case spikes and cancellations are inevitable. That sh*t is really disappointing and honestly, we haven’t learned our lesson.
Pricing:
- If you want a Kiwi t-shirt we sell them for 20$ at our shows!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/killedbykiwis/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw3gzBrRjCBx51wFAb3uz1w
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/17HtziZ3UYAPmybJp7y8wd
Image Credits
Lydia Smith
Zara Siebers
