WATCH THE VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE ‘WESTERN SHORES’ HERE:
PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM HERE:
As a creative, Stephen Gibb has everything and nothing to prove at the same time. After all, there aren’t many musicians who can claim to have played shows with Slayer, Anthrax and a Bee Gee within a 24-hour period. But right now, having spent the best part of three decades playing music, Stephen’s new band Kill The Robot has landed to truly showcase his own songwriting talents.
Kill The Robot’s debut self-titled album, due for release July 11th via Dark Lab Recordings, is an eclectic and yet decisively cohesive piece of work. Produced by multi-Grammy-award winning Warren Riker (Down, The Fugees, Lauryn Hill, Santana), it takes the listener on a journey that incorporates massive stadium rock anthems akin to the Foo Fighters, QOTSA and Muse, the prog of Pink Floyd and Steve Wilson, hints of Killing Joke darkness, and adds a hefty dose of 80s UK pop and electronica – à la Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, Tears For Fears and even mid-career Adam Ant.
The band have now presented the first taste of the album with new single ‘Western Shores’, which serves as a touching tribute to their friend, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
“It was written the day after we learned that Taylor Hawkins had passed,” explains Stephen Gibb. “We were all heartbroken. He was a dear friend who truly loved music more than anyone I’ve ever known. He and I had talked about creating some new music together. So, this song was born with the intention to create a song that hopefully he would’ve dug… and in a way, it even felt like he was being channelled in the room when we wrote it. It happened fast and organically, and we didn’t have to overthink it. It was just a great vibe immediately. I think of him often. This one’s for him.”
Watch the video for ‘Western Shores’ HERE:
Born in St John’s Wood, London, Stephen moved around as a youngster living on the Isle of Man and Australia, before settling in Miami, Florida, a place he calls home.
Stephen’s musical trajectory has been unique. The eldest son of legendary Bee Gee Barry Gibb, he has toured the world playing in his father’s solo band, including Barry’s last show to date on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury festival 2017.
In contrast, as a life-long metalhead, which began with his discovery of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, Stephen has spent decades playing with some of modern rock and metal’s most iconic figures.
He’s played with Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx in a project called 58; played bass with former Ozzy Osbourne/ current Pantera axeman Zakk Wylde in Wylde’s band Black Label Society; toured the world and recorded guitar with New Orleans’ sludge legends Crowbar; was a member of Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta’s doom-laden project Kingdom of Sorrow, as well as Jamey’s solo project Jasta; and finally currently tours with reformed legendary 80s rockers Saigon Kick.
Right now though, Kill The Robot (named as a reaction to current times and obsessions with AI, technology and humanity) is allowing Stephen to step out into the limelight and truly show the world the extent of the musical craft he and his cohorts have created. While Kill The Robot does acknowledge death and sadness, its main focus is one of positivity and celebration of life and the beauty of music and the importance of ‘the song’.
“I’ve been lucky in that I’ve always been in bands that had songs. I come from a world of songs; they’re actually the meat on the bone. Melody is a big deal for me, in the music I listen to and in the music I like to make,” he states. “So, it was fun to flex more of that and those influences like Tears for Fears or Porcupine Tree, where there’s real imagination and touches of melodic, harmonic sophistication and layering.
“I want to write a song that people will remember, not some bubblegum shit that people can forget, something that somebody has an emotional response to”, he continues.
“I’ve gotten to a point where I like my life simple and humble and I just really love making music,” he says in conclusion. “I love playing music and if I wasn’t able to do that, I would probably be following around tribal people recording them playing music because I love music from everywhere. It’s an interesting time to be alive and to be creative.”
Album track-listing:
1, Mothership
2, Western Shores
3, See The World
4, Better Than
5, Summer Days
6, No13ise
7, Agave
8, Right Now
9, Drug
10, Atomic Haze
Pre-order the album HERE:
Kill The Robot are:
Stephen Gibb (guitars/ synth/ vocals)
Gil Bitton (vocals)
Gordon Myers (bass)
Jean-Pierre Espiritusanto (drums)
Find Kill The Robot online at:
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
