Who’s in the band and what are your roles?

Nik Allen: I’m Nik, the bassist.

Steve Cubitt: I am Steve and I play the Drums!

Steve Midwinter: I am Steve and I sing and play guitar

What’s your ‘origin story’?

SC: I met Nik the bass player years ago in the eighties and have played before with him in bands around the south. Steve, I met in a bar in Brighton

NA: We played in a few different bands at various times along the south coast, he introduced me to Steve M just after lockdown when they needed a bassist to go out and gig with.

SM: I’d started recording and releasing music as Killer Tone Jones during and just after lock down. I put some feelers out for a drummer and then Steve suggested Nik, which produced the magic we have now. 

Which bands and artists are your biggest influences?

SC: I love Psychedelic rock bands from the seventies , including Hawkwind, Gong and i love the Ozric Tentacles, one of my new favs is Henge. I love to make original music , a bit on the weird side that makes the listeners’ ears prick up 

NA: I was influenced by all sorts of music mainly Punk, Reggae , Rock/ Blues and anything avant garde! Influential artists include,Richard hell and the Voidoids, the Stranglers, the Clash, Led Zeppelin, Zappa, Cramps, Meteors, Peter Tosh and many more.

SM: Punk and new wave, especially The Clash, Stranglers, Killing Joke, The Cramps, early Meteors and Stray Cats. I also like hard/ industrial metal eg Rammstein. I love roots stuff: blues, early rockabilly, ska and reggae. My guilty passion is Mozart piano concertos: just pure genius.
Like the other guys in the band, I love to make original music, it has to try and push the barriers in some way and not ‘main stream’

How would you describe your sound?

SC: Badass Rock and Roll 

NA: Dirty RocknRoll psychobilly surf punk.

SM: Rock n roll voodoo, like early Cramps mixed with punk and new wave but a harder sound.

What’s your favourite song to play live and why?

SC: I like to play ‘Road Kill’, it has a great beat and feel! 

SM: ‘Personal Jesus’ as it’s a great version and I get lost in it. I also really like playing ‘Voodoo Love Queen’ 

NA: ‘Growl’, it’s dark and moody.

Tell us about…

Your latest album, ‘Electric’.

SC: We recorded the bass and drums live to get the feel of the songs, with guide tracks, and kept it as live and raw as possible.

SM: I wanted to record the live set and keep the vibe of the band as we play well together and make some good noise.

Your lyrics.

SM: The lyrics I write for KTJ are mostly based on true stories eg ‘Crush The Bone’ is about three men who lived in Florida who turned to cannibalism for the supposed health benefits 

‘Formaldehyde’ is a song about a man from my home town who kept the body of his dead girlfriend in a storage unit for several months conducting acts of necrophilia 

Your craziest tour experience.

SM: I toured in West Germany before the wall came down and on a road trip to Berlin we got stopped by East German security guards. They were the same age as us (early 20’s), they had Kalashnikov’s and uniforms and we had crazy hair , bleached jeans and guitars. East vs West = Rock n Roll won!

SC: I toured in Finland and it was February so just the amount of snow up to my waist…and finding a mash potato machine ! You put money in and get a cup of mash potato which at the time was the best thing as it was -17 degrees!  

Your next plans.

SM: Apart from the new album, ‘Electric’, Planet X a releasing a side project of mine in April. It’s called Super Ape Tsunami and is released under the name of Surf Monkey Death Squad. It’s a surf guitar album with a strong fun element like a stag party on bikini atoll.

Then later this year we are going to work on the next Killer Tone Jones album which has a working title of ‘Black Wedding’.

As told to Nick Constantine

Buy a copy of ‘Electric’ here