My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult | |
---|---|
Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Genres | Industrial rock, Industrial Dance |
Years active | 1987–present |
Labels | Interscope, Atlantic, Red Ant Records, Rykodisc, SleazeBox Records, Wax Trax!/TVT Records |
Members |
Groovie Mann Buzz McCoy Justin Thyme (a.k.a. Justin Bennett) Westin Halvorson Mimi Star |
Past members | Jacky Blacque Shawn Christopher Davey Dasher Sekret Dame DeZyre Brett Frana Dick Fury Kitty Killdare Linda LeSabre Lydia Lunch Otto Matix Ruth McArdle Sinderella Pussy Arena Rock Pepper Somerset Brian St. Clair Skip Towne Thomas Thorn William Tucker Charles Levi |
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago, Illinois and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley). They became known in the 1980s as pioneers of the industrial music genre – although by the early 1990s they had changed to a more disco-oriented sound – and as a frequent target of censorship groups, including the PMRC, which objected to the band's humorous and satirical references to Satan, Jesus and sex in their song lyrics and stage shows.
During the early 1990s, Thrill Kill Kult had several hits on the U.S. dance club and alternative charts. They also contributed songs to several movie soundtracks and appeared in the 1994 film The Crow. The band has continued to record and tour with a rotating lineup in addition to core members Mann and McCoy. In 2012, the band celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Nardiello and Daley met in the Spring of 1987 while touring together with the band Ministry. Soon after, Nardiello and Daley began to conceive an art film to be called My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult – a headline taken from a British tabloid Nardiello had noted a few years prior when he lived in London. The film was never completed, but the music they had recorded for its soundtrack appealed to Wax Trax! Records, who released the completed songs as a three-track EP.
Dubbing themselves Groovie Mann (Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (Daley), they launched My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. When the first EP sold well, a full-length album, I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits, followed in 1988. Both attracted attention from college radio stations and dancefloors, as well as religious groups who balked at the overtly occult imagery in both the music and the artwork of the releases. The group continued to stoke controversy with each subsequent release, which included a remix EP entitled Nervous Xians, and they became even more popular with release of the 12-inch single "Kooler Than Jesus".