2013 has already seen the theatrical rock group Fearless Vampire Killers as a part of the Kerrang! Tour in February, while in April they embarked on their Diamonds and Disgrace tour. In March they released Exposition: The Five Before The Flames, five tracks written by each member of the band, and intend to release a comic series to tie in with that. The band are at MCM London Comic Con to launch a few certain items, notably a final copy of the second edition of Ruple & Evelyn: Codex Grandomina, as well as offering a preview of what they’re working on. I had a chat with member Kier Kemp to find out more.
Why have Fearless Vampire Killers decided to come to MCM this weekend, with a stall?
It’s just to try something new really. We’re obviously predominantly a band but we’ve always kept all our artwork in-house and we do a lot of stuff ourselves. [Cyrus] Barrone our lead guitarist, he does all of the artwork for our albums. So we’ve always been quite creative. We’re very involved in the media side of it. Kind of heard about [MCM] through friends, they were here selling some of their stuff. They were like, “Yeah, you should come along, it’s quite diverse, there’s a lot of people there. (Points to his table) This is all relevant.”
I was like, “Okay, cool, let’s try it out.” Here we are! I’ll let you know how it goes on the Sunday!
Was Drew [Woolnough] the main influence for coming here?
He encouraged me. It was more my idea really. I just like to explore different avenues, meet new people and this is like a good opportunity to do that really. Because there’s a lot of very interesting individuals here!
You say that as if you’ve already met an interesting individual.
Oh, several already! It’s amazing! Look around – there’s a guy in a Pikachu suit, with a badge that says ‘Free Hugs’!
I see you have the second edition of Ruple & Evelyn there. I understand that there are some extra additions in here?
Yeah, well this one’s revised. It fits into the whole concept and history of the band, what’s written into the music. We released [the first edition] ages ago that we put out ourselves. Laurence wrote that in like a month, and he put it out quickly because he wanted to test the water. People loved it; we sold them all. Then he revised the entire thing, had it edited professionally. We rebound it and we put a chapter from the next book in there. So that’s 600 years before the album, so don’t be confused.
I believe it’s a trilogy that’s in the works?
Yeah, well there’s a lot. I mean Laurence has probably got about a hundred books in his head. Seriously, some of the stuff he tells me, I don’t know it all. It’s impossible to know it all. There’s so much.
So with Laurence it’s a case of, “I’ve got to put it down on paper”?
Oh yeah, it’s ridiculous. This world is far, far, far bigger than any… it’s like Lord of the Rings on acid. It’s huge. Some of the stuff he’s got going on is amazing. So this is one part of a trilogy and of this time period. There’s about another three stories around this album and this next one. There’s a lot. Expect more books basically.
Because the Internet has democratised bands to a degree, do you feel that, not just the theatrical element, but also the book and the comic, that they also make you stand out from the crowd?
I think it does a bit. It’s hard for people to find that, because we try not to ram it down people’s throats. First and foremost we’re a band. If you want to find all this other stuff then go ahead. Not only does it make us stand out but it gives our fans something that they won’t find with other bands. If they like our music, and that’s usually what they’ll discover first, they’re seeing us or hearing us, then there’s so much more for them to get into. They can really get lost. It’s escapism at its greatest degree. People can take it either way. You can just listen to our songs as a band and that’s it, or come and learn a little bit more.
I know this is only your first day, but could we potentially see you coming back in October, possibly performing?
Maybe… The Dead Lay Waiting are [playing], they’re friends of ours and they’re much more involved with this, or been doing it a little bit longer than us. I think it’s definitely something that we’d consider doing. Just depends on how this weekend goes!
Thank you very much.
Thanks, man, no problem.
Fearless Vampire Killers will be at MCM London Comic Con this weekend at stall AF 8.
Originally published on MCM Buzz on 24 May 2013.
