THE OFFICIAL SITE OF KILLER VIRGINS

REBOOT

the new ep

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@killervirgins

 ABOUT US

With equal parts gloss and grit, Toronto’s Killer Virgins bring their high-energy, lyrically empowering original music to the masses with the release of their debut EP, “Reboot” (releasing September 13, 2019).

At the centre of Killer Virgins is the irrepressibly upbeat and exceptionally talented vocalist/ guitarist/songwriter Samantha Weinstein. Bubbling over with as much enthusiasm as she has latent compositional talent, Weinstein has seamlessly woven together a musical concoction that brings together the best of authentic punk energy, with the alternative rock grit of the 1990s and the more lush and pop-oriented sensibilities of the post-punk movement of the 21st century, creating a sound that is as engaging as Weinstein is as a performer.

Weinstein has been a performer since she can remember, starting her professional career as an in-demand child actor. She has made numerous appearances over the years in film and television, such as Siblings, Jesus Henry Christ, and Carrie, as well as voice-acting roles in several animated series like Wishfart and D.N.Ace.

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But throughout her youth, she was always enamoured with music and began taking lessons at a young age, becoming adept on guitar, as she also began to song-write in her early teens. Her parents were fans of much of the sounds of the 1990s, so Weinstein’s earliest influences included the likes of Nirvana, Hole, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Eminem, as well as classic punk acts such as The Ramones, The Damned and the Dead Kennedys. As she entered her 20s, she became hooked on the work of The Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes. 

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“People like Jack White, Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain and Jello Biafra were the people who formed the strongest examples of songwriting for me growing up. All of my influences came together in a perfect storm to help create the music that Killer Virgins does now. I consider what we do to be garage rock, with a lot of punk, indie rock and alternative rock influences swirled together,” she explained.

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“I wanted to be lyrically creative like rap artists, and listening to people like Alex Turner really influenced me. I realized I could write with the intricacy and intensity of rap, but with rock music.”

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As the seriousness of her desire for a musical career intensified, Weinstein concluded that she wanted the creative synergy and camaraderie that comes from being in a band, and so she recruited the exceptionally talented, groove-infused drummer Gabriele Corindia, and the high energy, wild-child bass player, Andrew Brazier, a college friend of Corindia's and a longtime collaborator. It is a potent combination, especially in a live setting, as Weinstein’s confidently potent stage presence is augmented by the fiercely fun Corindia and the electric, eccentric Brazier, creating an audience experience that is both entertaining and eminently memorable. 

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“Part of what we’re about as Killer Virgins is owning our own weirdness, and that really infuses our live shows. For me, the music that I write is an unfiltered representation of who I am. We’re all freaking weirdos, we’re all outsiders, we’re not normal people, and we don’t want to be,” Weinstein said, emphatically. 

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With a song title that could easily have been lifted from a Quentin Tarantino movie, Karate Girl, the effervescently catchy, riff-laden, empowering lead-off single from Reboot, is in many respects a track that aptly captures Weinstein and the band’s personality and the mission of the band itself. 

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“I practised karate from age six to eighteen, and it was a very important part of my life. I learned a lot from it; I learned about my own power as an individual. I wrote the song about all the amazing people in my class, all these amazing women and men who were so focused and empowered. The thing is, anybody could be the Karate Girl. It’s about taking control of your life and challenging obstacles in your way. And that’s kind of how I’ve approached my life and how we want to do things as a band. I want it to be someone’s ‘pump up’ song," Weinstein said.  

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Using her redoubtable wit and ability to skewer conventional culture in a way that is blunt without being caustic, Weinstein and Killer Virgins take aim at consumerism and commercialism with the robustly energetic piss-take of a tune, Label Whore. 

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“It’s a song about people who use clothing brands as a substitute for their own personality. It’s not something a lot of people talk about, because so many people are into labels and brands. It’s about people perceiving that there is something wrong with you because you don’t buy into it, which is f*cked up,” Weinstein explained. 

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“At the beginning of the song I imitate a real conversation that I had with someone in middle school years ago, which I remember verbatim to this day. I was minding my own business at my locker and one of the so-called popular girls said exactly what’s at the beginning of the song – completely out of nowhere. Of course, what’s not included in the song is how I went on a ten-minute rant about how she was a walking, talking billboard, but I think that sentiment is made pretty clear in the rest of the song.”

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Weinstein and her bandmates will never be afraid of being musically adventurous, nor will she ever shy away from taking on lyrical topics of all nature of weirdness and wonder. It’s a key component to the authentic charm and likability of the band, and traits that will continue to endear them to audiences and listeners across a wide range of musical tastes and demographics. 

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Reboot is the first bold and brassy step in the musical journey of Killer Virgins – one that ensures those who go along for the ride a lot of lively musical diversions along the way.