German alt-rock duo Kill Strings band’s unique sound is described as “a melange of Muse and Depeche Mode with the rawness of Royal Blood, splicing together elements of riff-heavy rock, space-like electronic music and forward-thinking lyrics.” Their debut album Limbo, is just out, providing a combination of alternative rock and epic pop, stirring anthems, intense calm and melodic choruses to stir the stadia of the world.

We’re joined At The Barrier by singer/guitarist Lee who tells us why he admires Foals.

Foals is the one band I could always listen to, no matter what my mood is at the time. Each of their albums has a certain flavour and each is stylistically different from the one before. Yet they always have a common core, and it feels like each album is the organic progression. From math rock beginnings with “Antidotes”, to more spherical realms on “Total Life Forever” and even bigger canvases of sound on “What Went Down”. With “Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost” and the recently released “Life Is Yours” they have moved in a more danceable direction. The guitar sound on all the records still fascinates me to this day. The same goes for Yannis Philippakis’ raw, stirring voice.

I think I discovered them during my early college days, which must have been around 2010 when their album “Total Life Forever” came out. It inspired me so much to start practicing guitar again and experimenting with different sounds. Especially their use of synths made me buy a Deepmind from Behringer myself, which I’m trying out a lot with at the moment. It was also a nice soundtrack for my philosophy studies and summer nights on campus. I can’t recall how many beers and cigarettes I consumed while listening to that massive album. Good times.

The first time I saw them was in Hamburg at a concert and was completely blown away by how blatantly it escalated there! Their live shows were just awesome even without all the bells and whistles on stage, which they now have in abundance. The end of their song “Providence” from the “Holy Fire” record is a real banger as it is, but live it was a whole other level.

But the coolest moment was at their last concert I was at with David (drummer, Kill Strings): They were on a promo tour for their latest record “Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost” and wanted to sing the first single “Exits”, but there was a problem with the backing track four times, so they had to restart several times. The last attempt started with the words: “That’s fucking live music”. I thought the way they handled it was so cool and it also gave me peace of mind for situations when something doesn’t go the way it should at our concerts.

It would be a dream come true for me if I could collaborate with Foals on our next Kill Strings album. I think that could be a very exciting mix, especially with regard to rhythmic elements and synths. And of course, a support tour for the guys would be something I wouldn’t say no to.

All in all, I’m very curious to see what the guys from Foals will come up with in the future. The next album will certainly be on repeat for me! Maybe our album also in their playlist.

P.S.: “2 Trees” from “Total Life Forever” is still one of my go-to songs when I want to sleep in the car on tour. Thanks for that, guys!

Our thanks to Lee for sharing his passion.

Kill Strings photo by Julia Schwender

Kill strings online: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bandcamp

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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