THE BEVERLY CHILLS!
How did you start the band?
Twiggy – We were on holiday in Los Angeles, cruising through Beverly Hills with our friendly neighborhood police officer mate, Nick was in the backseat headbanging to ‘tallica and I was riding shotgun wearing a kilt. We were scoping out Beverly Hills signs saying how sick they were visually and then Nick popped his skull over my shoulder and said “Oi man, let’s start this band we’ve been talking about… Beverly Hills? More like The Beverly Chills” so we started the band, wrote a full length LP and got sick cassette tapes made. Fun fact, the first ever person to buy a TBC tape was Joel Madden. Thanks Joel, still waiting for your $20K investment mate.
Piss – The Second person to buy our tape was a 50+ year old full blown drug addict who was sharing a mansion with us in the Hollywood Hills. He came in to our room at 2 am on a Tuesday night to offer me “the best cleanest crack rock ever”.. I said “nah, it’s a bit late mate I’m already in bed”. I had a sheet up to my chin giggling cos he was standing above me in black jeans and no shirt like Glenn Danzig waving his swollen hands around. He over paid us and gave us 20 USD for a cassette. The money came from a disability pension because he has a bullet lodged in his head. Come to think of it we never even turned the light on. But yeah that’s about it, we wrote and recorded 12 songs in under 3 weeks and dropped it and people bought it. The laptop we recorded on was rented from a cop for $50 a week.
Please give an example of your music writing process?
Twiggy – I plug in, improvise some riffs and mumble in tongues until I hear a line of sound that I think has the capacity for a song. I’ll sit down, play and repeat until I’ve got at least a verse or chorus of riffs & melody, then I’ll work on it from there. I have archives of lyrical content so I dig through them until I find something fitting to the feel of the song I want to create. I see a little image in my head, it’s hard to explain, but I can match up lyrical content with a melody and build up from there. In my head I see a blank slate of concrete and I imagine myself to be a builder. My job is to create the best possible structure to house perfectly the shit I’m feeling at that point in time. Once I’ve got a rough idea I send it through to Nick, he either says it’s good or a piece of shit or he will say it needs changing here or here, he’ll make some refinements, touch it up and the song will bounce inbetween the two of us for a while until we feel it’s ready to be thrown at peoples heads.
Piss – Yeah basically we just play things to each other, mostly from the top of our heads, collaborate and hit record. Some of the time we have been in the same city and room together and other times we’ve had to send shit to each other over the net. We just wrote a collection of songs over the internet and Stix Zadinia from Steel Panther recorded the drums over in LA chilling with Dave Lombardo from Slayer. It’s all DIY.
What are you working on right now?
Twiggy – Ask our Manager cause if I say too much he’ll knock me out (his words)
Piss – We wrapped up our next release recently, I just remembered we haven’t even got a title for it yet, oopsy! We’re actually already working on newer songs. I sent Twiggy some ideas yesterday which are kinda Black Flag influenced and he got a stiffy! He is a disgusting pig!
What is your gear setup?
Twiggy – Hungarian vocal chords and a cool black guitar
Piss – Live we play the drums off an iPod we bought on Craigslist with the $20 we got from Glenn Danzig. Plus various black electric guitars and basses plugged straight in to the PA thru distortion pedals.
What do you like to do outside of music and does it affect your music?
Twiggy– I feel like Nick and I are introverts with extrovert qualities. We’re both Scorpios so we like to hide underneath rocks, wait until you lift it to take a squiz and BOOM fuckin stung ya!!! I enjoy browsing archives of 80’s and 90’s horror and dark art. I sometimes go to existential philosophy meet-ups. I do yoga with Ray Cappo from Youth Of Today and I workout 5 days a week, mostly jail style workouts but I incorporate weights or anything heavy I can find, depends where I am. I paint and edit clothing, mostly denim but sometimes Dad Nikes and items I find at thrift stores and recycle yards. My lifestyle out of music is fairly on the go, I stay on my feet most the time so I don’t get too comfortable or fall into a depression. Staying active definitely affects my music and writing in a good way but laying low gives me a moment to think and delve into my darker feelings a little more. I live in intervals of pure volume and pure silence. It feels good running around bein naughty, breaking some shit for a while and then taking a good minute to sit down and gather myself. I definitely feel like surrounding myself with fun people who are also creatives rubs off on me, we all motivate each other to keep doing whatever it is we’re doing. Someone give me $50 I’m ugly.
Piss – Full time whiskey connoisseur and heavy metal blaster. It probably has an effect on our music!
How would you describe your music genre?
Twiggy – It varies from manic punk filled with pure unrefined angst to beachy garage rock I’d say. What do you think Dad? Twiggy’s Dad: “Sounds like shit, go to fuckin bed” Twiggy: “Okay”
Piss – Manic garage punk
Do you know any music theory?
Twiggy– Yep… Do Not Fuk Mi Or Mi Gf Wi LL Ki LL U ,,|,
Piss– Only palm mutes, squealies and dive bombs
What are your plans for the future?
Twiggy– Kill Nick and change the band name to The Beverly Chill
Piss– O.D.
How did you get into music?
Twiggy– My dad held his fist up to me and said if I didn’t play solos like Eddie Van Halen he’d play my head like Vinnie Paul plays the drums.
Piss – Metallica and Nirvana.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Twiggy– Ho99o9, check them out or die.
Piss– Motorhead – “Hellraiser”
Who are your top 5 influences and icons?
Twiggy– GG Allin for his outstanding velvety vocal ability and elegant singing style. Stix Zadinia from Steel Panther has been a great friend and mentor over the years, he has always influenced me to do the best possible shit I can, so he’s definitely one person. Dune Rats have been good guys and mentors, Dunies always let me crash on their hotel floor when in need and they’ve helped pull me through some absoluuute Bullshit. Faith No More for their multi-influenced confident ever growing sound over the years. I’ve walked many a street with FNM pumping in my headphones. And at last I’d have to shoutout our good friend and hot Mom, Alice ‘Malice’ McMunn. She’s had a sick influence on my sobriety and overall character the past year or so, you’re a legend Malice!
Piss – I’ve just taken up bass after playing electric guitar since I was 12.. so RN it would be: Lemmy (RIP), DUFF, Nikki Sixx, Krist Novoselic & Peter Steele (RIP).
Your website, Instagram, any other links?
Instagram – @thebeverlychills
Merch store – thebeverlychills.bigcartel.com
Facebook – facebook.com/thebeverlychills
Photography: James J. Robinson.
