IMMORTAL LEE COUNTY KILLERS II ARE A CRAZY BAND FROM ALABAMA. THEY SUCCEED LIKE NO OTHER ONE IN MIXING THE BLUES, THE RAWNESS OF PUNK AND THE CHARME OF LOVE IN A UNIQUE BLEND OF MUSICAL MAYHEM THAT WON'T LEAVE YOU DISAPPOINTED. THIS INTERVIEW WOULD HAVE SUPPOSED TO BE MADE IN PERSON WHEN THEY PLAYED THE INDEPENDENT DAYS FESTIVAL IN BOLOGNA, BUT DUE OF SOME ORGANIZATION PROBLEM S I COULDN'T HOOK UP PERSONALLY WITH THEM, SO HERE YOU HAVE THE RESULTANT E-MAIL CHAT I HAD WITH EL CHEETA, GUITAR PLAYER AND SINGER FOR THIS CRAZY TWO-MEN BAND...

GD- A brief band history for the unaware people...
ILCK2 formed in my kitchen circa 2000. We wanted to play country and blues. I could not do country very well, so we settled for punk and blues. Now we
have three records out and have traveled all over the world. Funny how sleeping on hard floors feels the same everywhere. Also I do not understand why Europeans insist on mixing tobacco with drugs.

GD- Is blues music big in Alabama? What's people reaction to your sound?
Blues has been a part of the culture in Alabama since the beginning of Man.Consequently, Alabama man takes blues for granted. Apes must be taught sometimes. But I do believe they are intelligent. Many great men have come from Alabama including Johnny Shines (who traveled with the Immortal Robert Johnson) and George the Bullet Williams. Our sound is not tremendously popular in Alabama. We are strangers in this strange Alabama-land.

GD- I think your two records are a bit different, I mean "II" has more emphasis on the sound, it's less "fucked up blues", how did you evolve?
ILCK2 promises to make each record different. Some bands can settle for a particular sound and make great record after record. We like to stay confused and interesting. Kinda like Monkeys in a cage. We scramble around looking for neat bananas and new places to hang from our tail. On "Love is a Charm..." we brought out the acoustic guitar to shock the punks with some real blues and gospel. We had already shocked bluesers with the audacity of our first record, "Essential Fucked Up Blues". We also get better at recording with every record. I bought an 8 track 2 weeks before we recorded "Essential". Talk about fucked up. I wish you could have seen me trying to figure out how to record the band during our recording session.

GD- Please tell me something about using two different amps for the guitar sound. Do you use different regulations?
I want our duo to sound like nightbirds in Heaven and lowdown as the black hole. SO I take one amp and tweek the treble for sound liken to the heavenly ghost. The other amp I boost the bass and turn the stars black. I use an ABY footpedal signal splitter designed by Peter Frampton to send the signal from my one guitar to both amps.

GD- What do you think about the White Stripes hype? Do you think people could react the same way to your music?
Glad for them. Good band. They have worked hard. I do not know if people will react the same to us. AS mentioned, we like to keep things confusing. For instance, our newest record LOVE UNBOLTS THE DARK has one side live and one side studio. Makes perfect sense to me, but so far the critics just can
not seem to digest live music on record. So they belch. Easily confused.

GD- Speaking of this, why did you chose to limit the band to just two members?
Best way to play blues. Best way to make kids from suburbia think.

GD- How's your fanbase in America? Do you play often overthere? In your opinion is better playing Europe or the States?
Europe is more hospitable. America turns bands tougher than deflector shields or else the a band will quit or sell out. I do believe Europeans generally have a greater capacity to accept and deliberate art. On the other hand, American Art seems to defy all logic. Consider Southern US folk art. What is it about Mose T's watermelons?

GD- I read somewhere that you linked your sound to an atmosphere similar to Faulkner's books... what about being southern males in America today? What do you think about the "redneck culture", from Jim Goad's book to the music of bands like Antiseen?
I am not into redneck culture. In fact, real rednecks can be very dangerous. In my mind, redneck defines a person who has a very limited and uncompromising view of the world around him. Sure the simplicity of Bubba sitting in his living room watching football (the American kind of course)while Momma cooks and the trailer tilts can be romanticized, and exploited by Californians and other scenesters from around the world to make some kind of cute ironic joke, but the truth is, real rednecks are not very fun. There is a huge difference between someone who is Southern and someone who is a genuine redneck fuckhead. Redneck fuckheads live all over the world. I am sure Italy has few too. They just dress a wee bit different. They are usually the ones' who start dumb fights. Take the President of the USA for instance, would anyone care to glorify/defend his cultural merit?
Faulkner had an amazing knack for communicating both the beauty and terribleness of the Southern Unites States in sync. He portrayed the South in such a way that one can understand how geniuses like Martin Luther King Jr, Booker T Washington, Skip James, Edgar A. Poe, and Sam Phillips shaped the entire world. If the Earth were a brain filled with all of Freud's psychological impulses, reasoning faculties, etc. The Southern United States would be the world's Id. Our feelings are giving you thoughts right now.

GD- Your italian show was very impressive, and I noticed you tend to communicate a lot with the crowd. What's the message behind ILCK?
Some times we do not say a word. Sometimes we try to explain all. Sometimes we act like a barrel full of monkeys. The message behind ILCK is Everlasting life=Truth + Energy.

GD- What's up next for the band? I heard a new record is in the plans...
We just released the new record LOVE UNBOLTS THE DARK. Time to start writing the next. I hope to name the next record ULYSSES.

GD- Do you like or are influenced by southern rock music?
LYNYRD SKYNYRD wrote some great songs. The Allman brothers somehow managed to fuse jazz with bluegrass/country. Everyone has been influenced by these bands. Even Neil Young.

GD- Cool, tell whatever you want to the readers and thanks a lot for your time.
Time is of the essence and thanks for taking the time to read about my little band scratching at your eyes from a small sleepy university town located in Lee County, Alabama called Auburn. God Bless The Losers Who Try.

CONTACT THE BAND AT THEIR WEBSITE CLICKING HERE