The Kills Announce 'Dream & Drive' London Exhibition And New Video
Monday, 17 September 2012
Written by Jon Stickler
The Kills - Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart - have announced an exhibition of their recently published book of photographs 'Dream & Drive'.
The exhibition is a showcase of their favourite snapshots captured in the book, taken by their friend and longtime collaborator, photographer Kenneth Cappello. The public exhibit, in partnership with Dazed & Confused, Saint craft lager and The Print Space, will run at East London’s Hoxton Gallery from 28th September to 2nd October.
The band are also today announcing a video for the track 'Wild Charms', also directed by Kenneth Cappello, is debuting over on The Kills official YouTube channel. Before the official exhibition Alison and Jamie are confirmed to be appearing at Bookmarc, the Marc Jacobs bookstore, 56 South Audley Street, London, to sign copies of 'Dream & Drive'. The signing will take place from 5pm to 7pm on September 26th.
After taking 600 rolls of film and over 20,000 photographs, the special luxury photo book documents over nine years of the band’s career and captures Alison and Jamie in their most playful, private, intense and intimate moments, both onstage and off as they conquer the world one venue and city at a time.
'Dream and Drive' also includes a foreword written by Alison Mosshart herself.
"I have a lot of love for those great flea-pits and cock-eyed stages of America in Kenneth's pictures. We played on just about every one of them with their chewed-gum carpets that glued your feet down every time you tried to dance. Who'd have thought those cesspits could conjure up any magic? Of secret society proportions? We got over excited by everything back then. Everything. Even the crisps seemed exciting. Every night we'd let our heads fly way up into the clouds, dreaming we were super human and that our little band could go anywhere we wanted it to.. And then bang back down to ground level at the next soundcheck with a one-eyed speaker cabinet and a dressing room wall covered in scribbled cocks. They turned out to be palaces of the supernatural those clubs, where your life could be changed one night, with nothing more than a knackered Fender Twin and a pair of disintegrating jeans. I'd forgotten it was really like that until we started on this book..." - J. Hince
"These are photos of locomotion. Silent visions of things turned up past their load. The tremble of the nightclub, the dive of backstage temporaries, electricity flung like paint through space, the FACE, the posture, the vehicle that hounds the road, sweats. I know when we're looking straight on, we're looking straight through. And I suppose it's the drift and swing, that shows you who you are, and that music is a force and really is, all it's cracked up to be. These photos make me remember everything." - A. Mosshart
Kenneth and The Kills' worlds collided in 2003; both in Paris, The Kills were shooting scenes for the film 'I Hate The Way You Love' in the basement of a clothing store, Kenneth and his camera happened to be hanging out and shot photos of the band as they worked. From Paris to Coney Island, from the Chelsea Hotel to out onto the road, so began their time together. Kenneth is truly part of The Kills family and since then, has taken over 600 rolls of film of Jamie and Alison.
Photography has been a inherent part of The Kills' DNA since its conception ten years ago. From photo-booth laden artwork, to photographing their own magazine shoots; from exhibiting their own extensive polaroid collection, to setting up photo-booths for fans at their recent New York show - the band are renowned for their passion and involvement in arts other than music.
February 2012 marked ten years of The Kills. The band started life on 14th February 2002, with a show at the 150 capacity Bar 12 in London. Four albums later the band are now selling out venues such as the 5,000 capacity Brixton Academy and performing at festivals all over the globe. The anniversary was marked with a very special gig at New York's Terminal 5 on February 11th.
2011 was a groundbreaking year for Jamie and Alison. Following on from their sell-out show at Camden's Roundhouse, the band went onto a critically acclaimed world tour that saw them play across the UK, USA, Europe, Japan, Australia, South America and Mexico. Highlights included sets at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Fuji, Glastonbury, Hyde Park Calling and the Reading & Leeds festivals, plus a special invite from David Lynch to play his Club Silencio in Paris. Julianne Moore sings two songs by The Kills in her new film 'What Maisie Knew', which premiered to rave reviews at last weeks Toronto Film Festival.
The fourth album 'Blood Pressures', released last year, found The Kills delivering their vivid and uniquely gritty post-blues, but with a new level of thoughtfulness and depth not yet explored by the duo.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
The exhibition is a showcase of their favourite snapshots captured in the book, taken by their friend and longtime collaborator, photographer Kenneth Cappello. The public exhibit, in partnership with Dazed & Confused, Saint craft lager and The Print Space, will run at East London’s Hoxton Gallery from 28th September to 2nd October.
