The São Paulo, Brazil quintet Ego Kill Talent are starting to turn heads in the music community. Legends Metallica hand picked them to open stadium shows in their native country. The band recently released an incredible new single and video titled “NOW!” taken from their second full-length album to be dropped this spring/summer. If this is any indication, it won’t be long before we witness firsthand the energy and South American flare tearing up summer and fall tours across the United States. As we all wait for the worldwide health epidemic to calm-down, Alt Revolt had to opportunity to check in with EKT and talk to them about their new music and how they can keep the momentum while staying connected to fans without live shows.
Alt Revolt: How has the reaction been to your new single and video “NOW!”?
EKT: Hey, whats up! So far so good!! We are really happy that the song is connecting with so many people.
Alt Revolt: How does it feel to have your video “NOW!” selected to be part of the London Music festival?
EKT: It feels amazing. We loved the video and it feels great to see it is also touching more people all around.
Alt Revolt: Was the concept of the video a direct collaboration with director Denis Carrion and the band?
EKT: Indeed. Even more with Jonathan who was directly involved in the whole process and very active in the editing process.
Alt Revolt: Did you approach the recording of your new album any different than your debut?
EKT: In some senses it was similar and in others it wasn’t. It was similar in the sense of how much of ourselves we gave to it. We always dedicate a lot of ourselves when we are writing and recording anything we do, the “outside” situation was totally different though.
The first album we recorded at our studio in São Paulo, in our home you know? This second one we recorded at the Foos studio in LA. It was amazing! Also the experience of being the whole band together in the same house for 2 months was something special…
Alt Revolt: Is “NOW!” a good sample musically of what we can expect from the rest of the new album?
EKT: It is for sure! We chose NOW! as a first single because we felt it really represents the extremes that you’ll find in this album. Some heavy guitar riffs and some pop chorus melodies….
Alt Revolt: Were there any influences past or present that shaped the sound of the new album?
EKT: Yes. And very diverse influences…going from Metallica to Phil Collins!
Alt Revolt: How excited are you to be hand-picked to open for Metallica in your native country?
EKT: Are you kidding me? James Hetfield is the Riff King!! I decided to learn to play guitar because of him! It is insane…Metallica wrote most of the songs that I listened to throughout my whole adolescence. We all in the band are very honored to share the stage with such icons!
Alt Revolt: Are there any bucket list venues in North American you would love to perform at?
EKT: Well, definitely the Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl would be insane. Red Rocks would also be a no brainer. But We also look very much forward to play some iconic clubs such as The Viper room. And of course we can’t wait to hit the stages of the classical US festivals!
Alt Revolt: What are ways the band can keep up the momentum with the recent world health pandemic?
EKT: We want to release more new music. We are working on that now. With the changings that are still taking place regarding the tour routing we are reviewing the album release plan. But we are definitely releasing more singles soon!!
Alt Revolt: Are you finding creative ways to stay connected with fans without live shows?
EKT: Yeah. We’ll do some lives broadcasts on our social media and also release new songs and contents. But I also truly believe the whole world is connecting on a deeper level…everyone is being forced to go within and I personally believe this is connecting everyone in a layer we can’t even comprehend. I feel like somehow this will pave the way for art and music to touch more and more everyone….
Alt Revolt: Thanks for taking time to answer our questions. Good luck and hope to see you down the road live in the U.S!
EKT: Thank you!
EGO KILL TALENT is Jean Dolabella, Theo Van Der Loo, Raphael Miranda, Jonathan Dörr and Niper Boaventura.
Stay connected with EKT at: https://www.egokilltalent.com
