Type O Negative‘s 2003 record Life Is Killing Me has just celebrated its 20th anniversary. Metal Injection‘s Greg Kennelty recently caught up with guitarist and vocalist Kenny Hickey and drummer Johnny Kelly to discuss the significant shift in mood between Life Is Killing Me and its predecessor World Coming Down, the unexpected influences on Type O Negative, their favorite song from the album, and more!
Check out the full interview below and pre-order the anniversary vinyl of Life Is Killing Me here, featuring a range of bonus tracks.
One thing that stands out is the transition from World Coming Down to Life Is Killing Me. It feels like a deliberate shift from the overt darkness of World Coming Down to a slightly more balanced tone in Life Is Killing Me, with moments of levity. Was this a conscious decision, or did it just naturally evolve that way?
JK: Interestingly, Life Is Killing Me was actually the low point for the band. We had just gotten through everything with World Coming Down, which was definitely a bleaker record. Peter didn’t want to create another record that was as bleak, so he aimed to have a bit more fun with it. This led to a change in pace, musically. Personally, though, things were heading downhill.
KH: Peter also had a lot of resentment towards World Coming Down because many of the songs dealt with real issues in his life. Singing about them would anger him, and he’d get frustrated with us.
JK: We’d push him to play certain songs, and he’d resist, saying he couldn’t sing them every night.
KH: Those songs had too much personal meaning. There was an element of escapism in Life Is Killing Me, mixed with moments of reality, which we never fully avoided in Type O. Even in our most kitsch moments, there was always some truth. But there was a lot of chaos during the making of that record. Although World Coming Down summed up all the bad experiences we’d had up to that point, things only got worse between World Coming Down and Life Is Killing Me.
JK: The irony is that Life Is Killing Me reflects the end result of that period, despite its title.
Wasn’t Life Is Killing Me initially titled The Dream Is Dead?
JK: There were several records with that title.
KH: The Dream Is Dead was a working title for almost every record. We also had Death, Pain, And Other Acts Of God as another title. It seemed like every record had these standard working titles at the start, and then it would evolve from there. Eventually, the record would reveal itself, and we’d find its true title.
JK: And we never actually released a record with any of those titles. We’d work on a record until we filled the CD, which was 74 minutes, and then we were done. There weren’t many extra songs or leftover material.
That’s a question many fans ask: are there any secret, unreleased tracks?
JK: I wish there were, but no, we worked until we reached that 74-minute mark, and then we stopped. Two songs from the Life Is Killing Me sessions did make it onto The Least Worst Of Type O Negative, though.
What were some of the first songs to come out of those Life Is Killing Me sessions, given the mood at the time? Was it songs like “I Don’t Wanna Be Me” or “(We Were) Electrocute”?
JK: Actually, “I Don’t Wanna Be Me” came a bit later. “Electrocute” was also later. One of the earlier songs was “The Dream Is Dead”, and “Life Is Killing Me” itself was an early one too. I remember rehearsing “Life Is Killing Me” at Joe and Nancy Marciano’s Systems Two Recording Studio.
JK: [“Todd’s Ship Gods (Above All Things)”] was another early song. We’d go to Josh Silver’s house, work on some stuff, and I’d get demos from those sessions.
KH: I remember developing those songs, going to Joe’s studio, and working on them.
JK: Yeah, we’d go into the studio, and some of the riffs from Life Is Killing Me were actually leftovers from the World Coming Down sessions. I remember hearing them on demos Josh would make for me.
KH: We always had plenty of material. There were always leftover riffs from previous sessions that we could use.
JK: To clarify, once we had 74 minutes of music, that was it. We didn’t keep any extra songs. The only exceptions were two songs that made it onto The Least Worst Of Type O Negative.
That’s a common question for bands: are there any unreleased tracks or secret songs?
Was it challenging to work within those parameters, aiming to fill the CD and get exactly that amount of music?
KH: Not really. In Type O, a lot of our songs were slow, dirge-like parts that were a beat per minute. These filled up a lot of time.
JK: Songs would get trimmed because a 60-beats-per-minute section going for eight measures would be three and a half minutes long. We’d trim them down, reworking the songs after recording them to cut out the fat.
I’d like to talk about “I Don’t Wanna Be Me”. It was the first Type O Negative song I ever heard, and it really drew me in. The music video got a lot of play, and it’s now your most-streamed song. How did you feel about that song, and did you expect it to become so popular?
KH: I liked “I Don’t Wanna Be Me” from the start. It had a tongue-in-cheek quality, a punk edge, and it wasn’t ridiculous. I enjoyed the contrast it provided on the record, breaking up the heavier, darker tracks.
It’s interesting because if “I Don’t Wanna Be Me” was someone’s introduction to Type O Negative, they might not get the full picture of the band’s sound.
KH: That’s true. It’s not a bad representation, but it’s not entirely accurate either. I remember Tony Iommi talking about “Paranoid” becoming a hit and suddenly having all these new fans who didn’t know their other music. It’s like, “Whoa, what’s all this other stuff?”
JK: “I Don’t Wanna Be Me” was Peter‘s way of moving away from the atmosphere of World Coming Down. It was a big departure from the previous record.
KH: Peter appreciated Roger Waters and The Wall, but he couldn’t listen to it all the time. He’d borrow from it, but it was too depressing for him.
JK: Too depressing, even for Peter!
KH: So, a lot of what Peter created, and what most of us created, was what we wanted to hear or listen to. It was a barometer for his mood.
JK: Peter could go from listening to something heavy to The Exploited.
KH: And Madonna! Peter would warm up for writing by listening to Madonna.
Really?
KH: I swear, in the back lounge, he’d blast Madonna, and then switch to Laibach. It was a huge influence, and Peter loved their sense of humor.
JK: Knowing Peter‘s influences, it’s easy to hear them in our music. Some of it might seem unexpected, but it’s there.
What were some of the other influences that might surprise people?
But what about influences that people might not expect?
JK: Peter loved Devo, and their image was important to him too. Everyone in Devo looked the same, and Peter wanted that for Type O as well.
KH: Devo‘s lyrics are brilliant. Take “Whip It” – it’s actually about the optimistic ridiculousness of being American, but people back then thought it was about S&M.
So Devo‘s sense of humor played a role in shaping Type O Negative‘s humor as well.
KH: We also loved slapstick and stupid humor.
Most of Type O‘s albums, up to Life Is Killing Me, had jokey intros, right?
But you did have The Munsters theme song, “Thir13teen”, at the beginning.
To wrap up, what are your favorite songs from Life Is Killing Me, and what are some of your best memories from that time?
KH: That’s my favorite too. It was consistently our favorite, and the only song from the album that we always played live.
JK: It stayed in our setlist from the record’s release to our last show. It summed up everything Type O was at that point, and it had a great balance of dynamics and moods. It was fun to play live, and it lent itself well to the live set.
