Forming in 2022, East Nashville hard rockers Kalamity Kills have released their own rendition of The Beatles’ 1965 classic hit song “Help!”—one of many covers they recently recorded.
Kalamity Kills is primarily comprised of vocalist Jamie Rowe (Guardian) and guitarist, producer Jamey Perrenot (Taylor Swift, LeAnn Rimes), who released their debut self-titled album Sept. 2023. The full band includes bassist, vocalist Julia Lauren Bullock and drummer Rob Bodley.
Since being established, they have collaborated with many musicians from bands, including: Korn, Three Doors Down, Underoath, LA Guns, Conquer Divide.
In this extensive OOTB Interview, lead vocalist Jamie Rowe took time out to talk about and detail the band’s cover of “Help!,” how his project turned into a band, collab hopes, the significance of song singles, goals through the year and more.
Your reimagining of “Help!” is incredible; it’s fun and catchy, a bit faster. This made me recall another Beatles’ cover I enjoyed years ago by Godhead, when they covered “Eleanore Rigby.” How and Why did you decide on this particular song to cover?
Jamey Perrenot, our guitarist and producer, had made some major upgrades to his studio. To test out all the new gear, we decided to set up in the studio and record some covers.
When we decided on the songs to track, Jamey suggested The Beatles, as they are his all-time favorite band. We decided on "HELP!" and "Paperback Writer," honoring the originals, while adding our own sound to the tracks.
We knocked them out really quickly. Once those were done, I mentioned Kiss as the legendary Ace Frehley had just passed away.
We tracked "Shock Me" and “Love Gun.” All of us are Kiss fans; so again, it was a lot of fun on our end.
We track the covers live, then do minimal overdubs.
While we relased “Help!” on Spotify and other streaming sites, our intention is to make these covers free to watch on YouTube.
We plan to make them a regular part of [Kalamity] Kills' world.
Formed in Nashville, generally surrounded more by the country genre, how did things originate to make this a rock-and-roll project, rather than country leaning?
Funny you mention that, Perrenot was actually Taylor Swift's guitarist and musical director when she was first signed. He also played in LeAnne Rhimes' band for five years. But, like so many in country music these days, he's a rock guy at his core.
He and I have been working together for over a decade, and we share many common hard rock influences.
[Kalamity] Kills started off as my solo project, but as we made the album, it was apparent that Jamey had his fingerprint on it as much as I did.
When we got to the mixing stage, we had a conversation and agreed to make Kalamity Kills a 50/50 partnership.
We've since added Julia Bullock and Rob Bodley to the mix, and we function as a band instead of a "project.” So far, so good!
Having many guest collaborations on the debut album (Ray Luzier, Kiarely Castillo, Ace Von Johnson, Greg Upchurch), what artists would you still love to work with?
There are many!
We particularly enjoy working with Ray Luzier. He's become a good friend, and I love that he's often spotted wearing a Kalamity Kills’ shirt!
Artists we would love to work with are Halestorm, Sevendust, and I've known Jon Cooper from Skillet for years, and it would be cool to collaborate with him on something one day.
What do you think has more weight in the current music industry—live performances or studio albums?
Really, singles more than anything. For better or worse, we are in the “song era.”
I miss the labum experience, but with streaming being the dominant listening choice, it makes more sense to give each single all the attention we can.
Our hope is that they will go back and hear out the catalog.
Live performances are key, but these days, it makes more sense for a band to build an audience online before hitting the road.
It's really tough these days, unless you are a legacy act.
What’s been your personal favorite song release, so far, and why that particular song?
"Starry Skies (988)" will always have a special place for me, as it was our first Billboard Top 40 rock hit. I love that the 988 hotline was specifically mentioned, and so many people got to hear that song. Hopefully, we made a difference out there.
Personally, "Dark Secrest" has been my favorite of the songs released so far.
The two new songs we are wrapping up right now, though, are definitely my favorite tracks. But, since they haven't been released yet, that doesn't really help anyone out! [laughs]
Looking ahead to 2026, what are your future plans and goals?
Get the new songs out and focus on getting the band in front of people on stage! We've built up enough fans now that we might be able to travel somewhere and have more than five people show up!
With our past radio success, we hope these new songs land at radio and grow the band's audience even more!
Thank you so much again for your time.
Again, thank you!
We know there is a lot of music out there, so when we get a chance to talk to the press, it's truly appreciated!
Hopefully someone reading this will check out Kalamity Kills!
Watch “Help!”
Connect With Kamlamity Kills
- Website: https://kalamitykills.com
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/kalamity
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kalamity
- X (Twitter): https://x.com/kalamitykills
- Jamie Rowe on X: https://x.com/jamierowe
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/kalamitykills
- TikTok: https://tiktok.com/kalamitykills
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist
- Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/
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