We heard some rumors about Nihilitia’s paint peeling sound sometime this spring and after they tore up our relaunch party we’ve been planning to do something with them that would be worthy of their awesome.
So, several stabbings, pirate misadventures and one demo later, we tracked Sara, Brad and Chris down (along with Sara’s hairfan), took some amazing photos and asked some hard questions, while listening to some hard rocking music while awaiting their paint AND panty peeling show This Tuesday (TODAY) at Riff Raff at Asylum.
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing: Nihilitia:

BYT: How did Nihilitia come to be?
BRAD: – Sara placed an ad on craigslist seeking a drummer & guitarist. Some of the influences listed were High on Fire and Neurosis, so I was already about to #3 in my pants… and then it happened when the ad closed with something like, “… prepare for Armageddon.”
CHRIS - Nihilitia was born from the Earth and fire over 26,000 years ago, and has chosen this generation of humans to torture and instill their wrath of unworldly music upon.

BYT: Did you choose a hard to pronounce band name on purpose?
SARA - Nihilist + Militia = Ny – ill – ish – uh. See? It’s easy!
I came up with the name Nihilitia years ago in college and had been waiting for just the right project. There’s some significance behind it, with relation to my amazing friend Thom Wright who passed away the summer that I moved to DC. For years, I wouldn’t tell anyone the name for fear that somebody would steal it from me. I didn’t even tell Brad and Chris until after we’d been together for a few weeks.
BRAD: - Chris and I were down with the name from day one. Plus, it is quite entertaining to hear people try and pronounce it for the first time.

BYT: What is your favorite thing about the upcoming demo?
BRAD: - One of my best friends stepped up and mixed it for us in Rome when the original producer guy lost interest after it was determined that he could not bang Sara. It was recorded live during one 10-hour graveyard shift back in January. We were hopped up on Sparks, candy, and sacks of fast food. Nihilitia loves big sacks of fast food. We usually get one of every combo number and fight over who gets to eat what.

Before we write any song, we develop a storyline. This helps us to capture the mood and emotion of the characters who are usually killing someone or dying themselves. Our songs are about death by: war, plankwalking into the sea, butchering, and crimes of passion. I love that we make up a story and then the music and lyrics feed off of that.

Suppressant – “We do what we want. We do what the f*** we want.”
This is the first song we ever wrote together and it has become our anthem.

Murdervan Romance – Three out of four Nihilitia songs involve killing, and this is no exception. This song is about two lovers, one of whom cheated. She laments about what she did, but it’s too late. You guessed it; gets axed in the murdervan. It is a warning for skanks everywhere.

Shithouse – We practiced in my basement until our choad neighbors got the law involved. Finding new practice digs wasn’t easy, but payback is a bitch. The choads had to rip up their fancy new hardwood floors because sewage was backing up into their kitchen. They were living in a house of shit, literally.

BYT: Aside from our relaunch party (of course) what has been the Nihilitia highlight thus far?
SARAH: - Are you kidding? It doesn’t get any better than the Relaunch party. We were all floating for days after that show. As the new kids, we were extremely flattered to be invited to play with such established DC bands. Everyone was fuggin’ awesome to us, and we had such a blast. Plus, it gave us an excuse to man up and play “Hot for Teacher” – not an easy feat.

BYT: What can the audience expect on Tuesday?
SARA: - They can expect to ruin their pants. Seriously, bring a back up. It is our goal as a band to make you crap yourself
or cream your jeans at some point during the set. Nihilitia shows are pretty fierce.
BRAD: – First - free CDs and merch. Second- a few kick ass glam covers and some sweet brand new originals like Lebanese Butcher. Third- Brad will throw up or pass out from a sushi/Sparks OD on stage, Chris’ fingers will bleed from tapping his axe, and Sara will scream louder than everyone in the bar combined.

BYT: Now onto more important (read: superficial) things. How does your hair stay so glossy? (Sara by far wins our superperfect DC hair award, and we take hair very seriously
SARA: - I don’t know much about clothes, but my hair looks fierce. Aquage “Beyond Shine” spray is fabulous in a can. You can never use too much. Also, I do some old school Bengali deep conditioning with coconut oil a few times a month.

BYT: What is your take on the whole Britney situation?
SARA: - Tears on my pillow! No joke, after seeing her VMA performance I spent at least half an hour on youtube watching her old performances and exhaling sadly. God, I just want to shake her until those nast extensions fall out. Her two best options at this point are to move back to
Louisiana and raise her two mistakes out of the public eye or . . . porn.

BYT: How do you keep Chris and Brad under control?
CHRIS: - Electro-shock therapy, wenches, large amounts of sedatives, obscure pornography, plenty of candy, and enough booze to incapacitate an entire army of underworld misfits.

BYT: If you all were stranded on a deserted island, who would get eaten first?
SARA: - Me! The guys would be feasting on my muffintops in no time. Chris is too skinny too feed anyone for more than a few days. Brad would be too hard to kill. He’s already survived electrocution, a shanking, and numerous Nascar races.

Cale asks “are your amazing breasts featured prominently on the new album cover?”
SARA: - Sadly, our DIY demo comes in DIY packaging, so, no. You can get your boob fix from the BYT photo shoot.

BYT: Are you the hardest rocking brown woman in the business?
SARA: - Besides M.I.A., probably.

BYT: And who is the hardest rocking woman in the business, period?
SARA: - Julie Christmas (Made Out of Babies) terrifies me when she performs. Normally, I tend to be dismissive of girls who sing but don’t play instruments but she is a freaking maniac onstage . . . and a big sweetie offstage. I love her.
Also, I’m impatiently waiting for Spinnerette and the return of Brody Dalle.

BYT: Aside from fame and fortune, What is next for Nihilitia?
SARA: - Turkey legs and backfat at the Renaissance Festival. This is pirates’ weekend, baby!! On a serious note, we’ll be recording soon, then hitting the road in the upcoming months. I’m also hoping that some magical day we can play Emissions from the Monolith.
BRAD: - The day after our show at Asylum we are heading into the studio to record new tracks. Then it’s off to NYC to play a show or two in rOcktober. We seriously have a written plan for world domination, so those are just a few of the next items on our agenda.
CHRIS: - some good old east coast pillaging through the guise of selective weekend performances including the dynasties of new york, baltimore, philadelphia, richmond, and other various epicenters of human suffering

Photography: Joel Didriksen kingpinphoto.com
Sets and Styling: Morgan Hungerford of pandahead
Graphics: Erik Loften vaktiva.com

*catch Nihilitia Live tonight at Asylum.

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