It was a time when children played with inanimate objects, a time when you had to call them from outside to come inside.
That time was only fifteen-years ago and it was then that three friends gathered to “hang out and play music”. They had gone to high school together, shared friends, they skated and had a similar taste in music. Two were also in bands that were coming to an end.
They hung out, they played music and they realised that they could fashion what they enjoyed into something.
They played some shows, got a good response, so they played more. They became an act to see in their local scene which quickly became an act to see when they played in the tri-county area. They played outside their element, expanding their comfort zone. Along the way they recorded which found its way onto compilations. They expanded the area of play often heading outside their home state.
It was around this time that one left to finish his schooling; a replacement was found and seamlessly they continued. It was after they went in to record a second time that they added an additional guitarist.
As they expanded their playing field so the shows became better. Their fan base expanded in such a way they could go around the country and perform.
However it wasn’t as rosy as it should have been. Growing pains led to tensions which led to many arguments.
In the five years as a band they were faced with another loss. Creative differences gave way to frustrations. As one left, so did another before all that remained was one.
That one trooped on before he finally relented, ten-years after their inception.
In their time, they shared the stage with many national and diverse names such as At the Drive-In, Jimmy Eat World, No Knife, Knapsack, the Get Up Kids, Cibo Mato, New Found Glory, Phantom Plant, Maroon 5 (née Kara’s Flower’s) and Reel Big Fish amongst the many. It was Boston based quartet American Hi-Fi, who stated at the time that they were the loudest trio they have ever played with!
At the end of it all they had officially released two EPs, a Self-Titled full length, and a handful of tracks for various compilations.
The Killingtons were/are JK Thompson who played guitar and sang; Chris Muench who played bass, Michél Bravine was played the drums, Daniel Hennessy who originally played drums and Mitch Townsend who played guitar.
In his decade run as proverbial leader of The Killingtons, JK played alongside: Mike Vavak, Sean Felcyn, Frat Durst, Garry Brit, Kristyn Mancuso and Ari Gorman.
That in a nutshell is the story of The Killingtons.
JK lives in Long Beach, Michél lives in Chicago, Chris also lives in Long Beach, Daniel lives in Seal Beach and Mitch lives in Huntington Beach.
