KilPress

The Star - Thursday, February 15, 2001                                musiclook                                 11

Local band set to debut switched lineup Saturday at Sputnik

By Jessi Virtusio

     Saturday night at Sputnick Coffeehouse in Homewood will mark a comeback of sorts for local band KilSwitch.

    The band, which hasn't played out since it's Markham Park District show about six months ago, will take the stage with a new drummer, Keith Sickles, as well as a tighter musical sound.

   "We've grown. We've changed. I think a lot of people are getting sick of what's out there, and no one goes out and supports small shows," vocalist John Goldyn of Oak Lawn says. "I just think the Sputnik show is going to rock."

   Goldyn, 24, and the other three KilSwitch members-guitarists Gibbs and Dave Wiegers and bassist Guy McNulty-have played together since 1996, when they were in another band, Insane Youth.

   McNulty of Bridgeview actually converted from playing guitar to join the band, while Gibbs of Burbank formerly served as the band's roadie, lighting guy and all-around helper.

   The guys contend that having Sickles, who makes a living as a session musician, in KilSwitch has added a new dimension to the band's sound.

   "It's a fresh, nice new vibe," Goldyn says.

   Riverdale resident Sickles said he was happy to find a band near his hometown after auditioning for other gigs in New York and California.

   "I wanted to do something out of Chicago so I didn't have to move, and KilSwitch was cool and the music was cool," the 24-year-old said.

   As for KilSwitch's music, it's not easily categorized and features styles as diverse as punk rock and hip hop to industrial and funk-and-groove metal.

   "It's got a little bit of everything," McNulty, 23, says.

   Wiegers of Oak Lawn adds, "There is no limit, really."

   In addition to no limits on KilSwitch's music, there's been no limit on where the band will play, from downstate shows and parties to now-defunct local venues Struggles in Crestwood and Off the Alley in Homewood.

   "We try to play as much as possible," says Goldyn, a manager with a specialty merchandise store.

   The group's musical roots are as diverse as the music it plays.

   Sickles, who enjoys all types of music, started the earliest, playing drums at age 4 and taking after his father, who is a professional drummer.

   "It's a natural gift. I've been playing forever. I've been playing drums so long that I'm used to it and it's ordinary for me," he says.

   The rest of KilSwitch started getting into music while in their preteen years of early teens.

   A lover of heavy, bluesy and funky music, 22-year-old Wiegers bought a guitar about age 14 and an amp soon after. And even when his parents took his guitar away for a short time, he cut a hole in a shoebox, attached some rubber bands and practiced as if it were a real guitar.

   "I wanted to play since I was a kid," the warehouse receiving supervisor says.

   Goldyn, who's into everything from old-school hardcore punk to death metal, recalls getting into music in the seventh grade after hearing Guns N' Roses' "Appetite for Destruction." He even performed one of the release's hit songs, "Paradise City," for a talent show.

   "I like being in command and on stage. I just love screaming. It's an art form," he says.

   Gibbs, an auto technician, and McNulty, a disc jockey who produces compilation compact discs, both started playing music around age 11. Gibbs cites a range of musical faves from old-school thrash to German progressive, while McNulty's musical range is jazz to newer metal.

   With a revamped lineup, the bandmates and friends hope to make their presence known in 2001.

   The group is still pushing it's self-financed "Chi-Core 2000" four-song demo, which is available both at shows as well as at Unabused Music in Bridgeview, Wind Records in Oak Lawn and Threshold Music in Tinley Park.

   KilSwitch is planning to record a new demo, though, starting in April through McNulty's Black Rain Productions home studio.

   Meanwhile, the band continues to practice at Chicago Music Services, a studio that also functions as a practice spot for local bands such as Floor 13, Lifeblood, Sevendaze, Soundmaster T and The Slackers.

   Gibbs, 23, says practicing at a studio is so much better than practicing in a basement or a garage because everything a band could need is in one spot.

   The band also has thrived from a presence on the Internet both on it's own Web site, www.kilswitch.com, as well as having its music posted at: www.mp3.com, www.farmclub.com and www.garageband.com.  sd

   "I really do believe the Internet helps spread the word," Goldyn says.

   But the most important thing to keep in mind, advises McNulty, is to play the music that is real. "If you stay true to yourself and stick with it, you never know what can happen," he says.