MATT DRISCOLL: DESTRUCTION ISLAND CD RELEASE >>>

Destruction Island, an indie power pop group led by Kye Alfred Hillig set to explode onto Tacoma’s musical scene, will release their debut CD this Saturday with a show at Sanford & Son. They’ll be playing with Portland’s 31 Knots, along with local favorites These Arms are Snakes. The show is a sure bet, and one you’ll be kicking yourself if you miss. I caught up with Hillig yesterday to get his thoughts on the new CD, 31 Knots, Sanford & Son, and his band’s place in Tacoma.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: How did the lineup for Saturday’s show come together? Do you guys have a connection with Portland’s 31 Knots? Personally, I think they’re awesome. They played one of the better shows I’ve seen in a while when they released their last record at the Doug Fir in PDX. For Tacomans who perhaps aren’t familiar with 31 Knots, what can they expect from Saturday’s show?
KYE ALFRED HILLIG: The show came together largely in part to Rural Wolf records, which right now is our friend Mike Cooper and DI's David Bilbrey. They handled getting a hold of a lot of the bands who I think were just happy to be a part of a birth of a new local label. David had seen 31 knots a couple years ago and was blown away. They were one of the first bands we asked. They happened to be playing a show in Portland around the same time and just happened to be in route, much to our luck. I think as far as what people can expect from them goes, they can expect to see one of the most creative bands the northwest has to offer.

OLCANO: What about the venue? Sanford & Son seems to be one of the cooler places for bands to play these days. Why did you choose it for the record release?
HILLIG: We chose Sanford & Son simply because of its capacity and the great people who run it. It seemed like a good central location in our home town that we could run without much input from an outside source. They have always been very kind with us.

VOLCANO: The new album is officially out on April 12? How long have you worked on Destruction Island’s Preaches the New Wilderness?
HILLIG: April 12th is the official release date in Tacoma. It will be available in Northwest indie record shops, iTunes, and through CD Baby sometime at the end of next week. We love Tacoma and felt it would be kind of cool to release it here to all of our fans before the rest of the world gets to it. We began recording with James Resch back in September and finished up with him in December. Then we mixed with Ben Verellen of Helms Alee in January and mastered at RFI in February.

VOLCANO: Your well written bio gives a lot of credit to the experience your band has, especially in previous projects, and suggests this experience helps Destruction Island from falling victim to familiar musical “trappings.” Talk about the experience Destruction Island has and how it shapes what you do.
HILLIG: We have all been in bands who got stuck in one way of being. I have always written songs that were different from each other. I will write a song that's rock-ish â€" about finding a dead prostitute by the railroad tracks â€" and turn around and write a country song about how sad it is to lose a friendship. In all the bands I was in before they would either take one or the other. In Destruction Island we made it our mission statement to not be any one way. We are all happiest mixing it up and I think that comes across both live and on the record.

VOLCANO: What’s the strongest part of Preaches the New Wilderness? The weakest?
HILLIG: I think we made very good choices about what songs to put on the record. We never let ourselves settle for anything. I'm not really sure what its weakness would be. The production was great, the mixing was awesome and we are all very satisfied with how it came out.

VOLCANO: Tell people about Rural Wolf Records? How did Destruction Island hook up with the new label, and what can people expect from the relationship? What other releases can folks look forward to? What makes a good label, from a band perspective?
HILLIG: Well this release is Rural Wolf's first. They are focusing right now on just putting out great local acts and might eventually branch off into taking on bands from out of the area. We kind of helped spawn the label because we had all been burned out on certain aspects of working with labels in the past. We just got lucky that we had another person who believed in us enough to get this all off the ground. We are happy about working with this label because it means absolute freedom. We say what ever we want, we play whatever shows we want and we just make ourselves happy. There just isn't any pressure right now and we feel good.

VOLCANO: Do you think Tacoma has a place in its heart for Destruction Island?
HILLIG: I certainly hope so. We have a place in our heart for Tacoma for sure. I think there are probably a lot of people out there who will appreciate a band like us for the reason that they enjoy variety. We aren't really of a genre and I think that a real music lover could really get into a band like us.

VOLCANO: What does the rest of ’08 hold? Where are you going?
HILLIG: I'm not really sure what the rest of the year will be like. I've been surprised every step of the way. We are planning on playing the hell out of our record and just seeing where it goes. We will be crossing some state lines but we don't have an immediate lengthy tours planned. We're just going with the flow.

[Sanford & Son, Destruction Island, These Arms Are Snakes, 31 Knots, and Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death, Saturday, April 12, 5:30 p.m., all ages, $10-$12, 741 Broadway, Tacoma, www.myspace.com/destructionisland]