According to a report by Lambgoat and Metal Sucks, Australian bassist Sean Kennedy, best known for bands such as Deez Nuts and formerly of – I Killed the Prom Queen) has died. He was just 35 years old. Kennedy died on Tuesday, February 23rd and so far, no cause of death has been revealed. Kennedy played for I Killed the Prom Queen from 2003 to 2013. Michael Crafter (Confession), the former frontman for I Killed the Prom Queen commented:
Don’t let the name and the pink album cover fool you; Deez Nuts are out to stomp yours.
Originally a one-man band formed a decade ago in Melbourne, Australia—that man being JJ Peters, one-time drummer of I Killed the Prom Queen—Deez Nuts have spent the last ten years showing crowds and critics across the world that, despite their name, they are no joke.Continue reading
Australian metallic hardcore crew I Killed The Prom Queen are enjoying their time on the Vans Warped Tour, in support of their latest album Beloved. While on the tour, they quickly learned about the other fellow Aussies who will be taking part on the tour with them.
Guitarist Jona Weinhofen spoke about some of his fellow country people, and how he detects if that person is actually Australian. “I know there are but I can’t remember the names. They’re bands I don’t know personally. It’s the thickest accents. You can hear it within ten meters from where you are.”
Being that he is currently situated in the United States, he found himself getting more in touch with his Australian roots. He shared his thoughts on staying true to that plus how he sees his home country from afar.
“Honestly since moving away from Australia, I think I found myself a little more patriotic. It’s one of those things – you don’t know what you’ve got until you’ve lost it. It goes with the place you’re living as well. When I moved to America – I love it here in California. There’s so much opportunity, beautiful weather all the time and so much cool stuff to do all the time, but I did find myself missing certain things about home and that made me appreciate things about my home country a little bit more”.
“If you hear me around Warped Tour putting on a thick Aussie accent, that’s me trying to regain my patriotism,” he said, with a smile.
In recent years, he also spoke about another band he is very familiar with – Deez Nuts. The band features two former members of I Killed The Prom Queen – frontman JJ Peters and bassist Sean Kennedy. Weinhofen explains the connection between the two bands and his thoughts on his former bandmates’ new venture.
“He was our original drummer, JJ Peters. He was in the band with the reformation in 2011 and when we wanted to go full time again, he was already doing Deez Nuts full time. They have a huge following in Europe, so he left Prom Queen to focus on Deez Nuts. We’re totally cool with that. Our old bass player Sean Kennedy left the band for personal reasons and joined Deez Nuts the second time.”
“The Aussian music industry, especially with the heavy music with punk rock, hardcore – is quite incestuous. Everyone knows everyone, everyone’s played in everyone else’s bands. Our bass player Ben [Coyte] played in Deez Nuts. Our singer Jamie [Hope] played in Deez Nuts. I played one show with Deez Nuts. Everyone’s good at maintaining friendships no matter what band’s doing what.”
I Killed The Prom Queen’s newest bass player comes out of Day of Contempt, a veteran of the Australian hardcore scene. “Our bass player Ben used to be the vocalist of this band called Day of Contempt from Adelaide. We basically grew up and they were our idols. They were the Adelaide band we had to play with. I think they were the first Adelaide band to sign to an overseas hardcore label, the first Adelaide/Australian hardcore band to really come over and tour the US hard. I know they did some tours with Terror, Bleeding Through, 18 Visions and even Good Charlotte. They did some really good tours. They were a band we always looked up to. When he approached us to join the band, we were like ‘duh – let’s do this!’ “
Deez Nuts is streaming their music video for “What’s Good?,” here, off their new album Word Is Bond, out April 21, 2015 in North America and April 27, 2015 in Europe via Century Media Records.
Word Is Bond showcases frontman JJ Peters at his most real. It’s a short, sharp shock of pure honesty delivered in inimitable old-school style, and shouts loud and proud that Peters, guitarist Matt ‘RealBad’ Rogers, bassist Sean Kennedy and drummer Alex Salinger are here to stay. The half Melbourne / half New York City based four piece has been touring the world constantly for seven years, becoming one of the most well know hardcore bands Australia has ever produced.
And sure, Deez Nuts still go harder than any other motherfucker in the room but now, with Word Is Bond – their fourth album, produced by Andrew Neufeld (Comeback Kid) and Shane Frisby (The Ghost Inside, Bury Your Dead), Peters is confronting exactly what happens when the party stops. And with a little help from his boys Drew York (Stray From The Path, who also guests on ‘Party At The Hill’) and Sam Carter (Architects), he decided to open up like never before.
DEEZ NUTS – Word Is Bond – track listing:
1. Word
2. Yesterday [feat. Dre Faivre]
3. Pour Up
4. What’s Good?
5. Behind Bars [feat. Andrew ‘Goose’ Neufeld]
6. What I Gotta Do
7. Chess Boxin’
8. Don’t Wanna Talk About It
9. Face This On My Own
10. Wrong Things Right
11. Understand
12. Party At The Hill [feat. Andrew ‘Drew York’ Di Jorio]
13. The Message
14. Word Is Bond
Upon the release of Word is Bond, Deez Nuts will embark on an extensive European tour with Stick To Your Guns, Trash Talk and Being As An Ocean.
DEEZ NUTS TOUR:
w/STICK TO YOUR GUNS
Special Guests: Trash Talk, Being As An Ocean
Apr 24: Impericon Fest – Zuerich (CH)(without Trash Talk)
Apr 25: Impericon Fest – Oberhausen (DE)(without Trash Talk)
Apr 26: Amager Bio – Copenhagen (DK) (w/Madball)
Apr 27: Sub Scene – Oslo (NO)
Apr 28: En Arena – Stockholm (SE)
Apr 29: Arena 29 – Gothenburg (SE)
Apr 30: Übel Und Gefährlich – Hamburg (DE)
May 02: Impericon Fest – Leipzig (DE) (without Trash Talk)
May 03: Amsterdam – Impericon Fest (NL) (without Trash Talk)
May 04: Impericon Fest – Manchester (UK)( without Trash Talk)
May 05: Cat House – Glasgow (UK)
May 06: ULU – London (UK)
May 07: Glazart – Paris (FR)
May 08: Longlive Rockfest – Lyon (FR)
May 09: Vidia Club – Cesena (IT)
May 10: Live Forum – Milan (IT)
May 11: Gala Hala – Ljubljana (SLO)
May 12: Arena – Vienna (AT)
May 13: A 38 – Budapest (HU)
May 14: Explosiv – Graz (AT)
May 15: Posthalle – Wuerzburg (DE)
May 16: Astra – Berlin (DE)
May 17: Hydrozagadka – Warsaw (PL)
May 18: Lucerna Music Bar – Prague (CZ)
May 19: Weekender – Innsbruck (AT)
May 20: Rosenhof – Osnabrueck (DE)
May 21: Substage – Karlsruhe (DE)
Summer festivals:
May 29-31: Der Ring – Nuerburgring (DE)(Grüne Hölle) (without Trash Talk, Being As An Ocean)
May 29-31: Rockavaria – Munich (DE) (without Trash Talk, Being As An Ocean)
Jul 03-05: With Full Force Festival – Roitzschjora (DE)(without Trash Talk, Being As An Ocean)