As their 15th anniversary tour continues, The Kills‘ Alison Mosshart has opened up about the secret to their survival – and what the future might have in store.
It’s been 15 years since the duo of ‘VV’ Mosshart and Jamie Hince put out their first EP with ‘Black Rooster’ in 2002, and to mark the occasion they’ll be celebrating their back catalogue with a run of special shows – including headlining Margate Wonderland at Dreamland this weekend, alongside Carl Barat & The Jackals, TOY, The Duke Spirit and many more this weekend.
We spoke to Mosshart about how they first formed, and the magic of their continued collaboration.
“Jamie and I talked a long time before we actually wrote any music,” Mosshart told NME. “We had this whole mentality more than an idea, but we talked about what we loved. We wanted it to be about life, and art, and music. We spent a long time getting to know each other before we got to go into a studio and so it does feel like it’s a lot more than the band. It’s like it’s everything.
“There’s never really been any rules. Therefore, it can exist forever if we want it to.”
Asked if she’d ever be able to work with anyone else the way she works so closely with Hince, Mosshart replied: “I feel so lucky to have found Jamie. It’s the luck of my life really, to find someone who is as passionate about it as me, and is willing to go through that crazy shit – willing to give up everything else.
“It’s very trying and you can’t really have too many dreams of a normal balanced life. It’s just one thing or the other half the time. You do catch breaks, but I think that’s more to do with it than anything, so I always have a lot respect for bands that have stuck around for a really long time. Especially the ones that aren’t playing stadiums and arenas, because I know that until you get to that level it is really, really tooth and nail.”
She added: “Whatever crazy idea comes into our heads, that’s like gold. I don’t know that many people that would put up with me for that long and I don’t think he knows many people that would put up with him for that long.”
And when can we expect to hear more new material from The Kills?
“Well, we were on tour for nine straight months last year, and then got off and then went back on the road,” Mosshart told NME. “It’s was really crazy. We haven’t really stopped, but I’m always writing, I know Jamie’s always writing. We just went and recorded, for fun, some covers of some songs. It’s been fun. We’re just trying to figure out the rest of this year and it looks like we’re pretty much gonna be touring for the rest of this year.”
While discussing the potential of The Dead Weather reuniting for a new album and tour, Mosshart also spoke to NME about defiance in the age of populism and Donald Trump,
The band have also covered Rihanna’s track ‘Desperado’, taken from their upcoming ‘Non-Electric EP’, ‘Echo Home’ – due for release on June 2 digitally, before a physical 10″ vinyl release.
As well as performing at Margate Wonderland and Liverpool Sound City this weekend, The Kills will also headline London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on Tuesday 30 May.