Monday, February 22, 2010

FRIGID New York Interview - Kelly "Killy" Dwyer of Kill The Band

By Byrne Harrison
Photo by Craig Schober


Name: Kelly "Killy" Dwyer
Show: Kill The Band
Website: www.KELLYBDWYER.com

How did you first get involved in theatre?

I saw my mom do community theater when I was very young ... I was sitting with my dad in the audience and when I saw my mom take the stage. I recognized her, but she had turned into an old, OLD WOMAN!! I was so freaked out! I started crying and yelling because I just couldn't wrap my 6-year-old brain around the fact that my mom was now older than my grandma. The actors stopped and everyone in the audience watched as my father carried his wailing 6-year-old out of the theater, screaming that "theeeeyyyy turrrrrned Mommmmmmmy into an ollllld ladyyyyyyyy!!". She had to physically come out to calm me at intermisson and show me that the "old" was all done with make-up and wigs and ACTING! It was a revelation for me. People can pretend to be somebody else and a lot of other people will come and watch and be entertained! I was fascinated and HOOKED. My first musical in gradeschool was You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. I've never stopped performing since.

Who are your biggest influences?

My Mom and Dad. Lucille Ball. Andy Kaufman. Carol Burnett. Steve Martin. Spinal Tap. My dog.


Tell me a little bit about Kill The Band.

Coinciding with the release of our debut album, I wanted to have a bit of a unique "coming out party" for the band and our music. Kill The Band is THE original, rock and roll anti-cabaret. It is an unpredictable, outrageously funny musical experience of both the band’s breakdowns and breakthrough. It's high concept, comedy rock music experienced in a theatrical way. Kill The Band is all the drama and ego that every band experiences throughout their career, smooshed into an hour of hilarious power!

So it was the upcoming album that inspired you to write the show?

I was inspired to write the show from the music I was making over the last year and a half, and the band I was playing it with for the last 6 months. It's very dramatic working with other people in a creative setting ... and funny. I wanted to write about the experience artistic collaboration. It's a constant rotation of power struggles, fighting, falling in love, riding the highs and hating each other.

Who else is in the show with you?

My band (Mike Milazzo, Joe Yoga and Bamboo Silva) play themselves in this show ... well, themselves sort of. I took a lot of artistic license with their personalities and our creative and personal conflicts to up the stakes and add to the comedic value of the show.

What's next for you after FRIGID?

We have a lot of gigs booked as a "regular band" and we all have solo projects as well. I myself am overbooked until the 20th of March, and then I'm going to Belize with my husband for a week for some seriously needed R&R! I am headlining at Austin's LAFF Festival in May and then I'm taking my solo show "Hysteri-Killy"! A One Freak Show! international with a European Tour in August.

And finally, if you could say anything to your potential audience what would it be?

See Kill The Band now while our egos and ticket prices are still reasonable, because we'll be rocketing into super stardom soon and you can say "I saw them back in the day!!"

Kill The Band

UNDER St. Marks
94 St. Marks Place

Wed. 2/24 - 10:30 PM
Fri. 2/26 - 10:30 PM
Tue. 3/02 - 7:30 PM
Sat. 3/06 - 10:00 PM
Sun. 3/07 - 4:00 PM

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