Former PITCHSHIFTER Guitarist Discusses VICTORY PILL Project

VICTORY PILL, the band featuring ex-PITCHSHIFTER/THE PRODIGY guitarist Jim Davies and ex-THE PRODIGY drummer Kieron Pepper, has just released its self-titled debut in North America on Corporate Punishment Records.

Davies recently stated about the new band: "After I did the FLINT project I had decided it was time to do something for myself for once. Looking back I have done a lot of other people's bands. Even though I played a big part in 'SHIFTER, it wasn't my band. I'd been writing a lot of instrumentals, which is how I normally write music. I had around 20 tunes. I'd been doing this on the quiet on my own and wasn't sure what to do with them until I played them to Kieron Pepper. He went mad at me saying, 'You have to do something with this!' So we formed a band. We tried for ages to find a vocalist that fit the music but none worked. I wanted a very English sounding vocal, I love bands like THE JAM, THE SEX PISTOLS and DEPECHE MODE. All the singers we tried sounded like SLIPKNOT, so I tried it myself and it really gelled. It was a big move for me to go from bei ng just a guitarist to front-man/lyricist. I'd never written lyrics before now and I had to rehearse it a lot to be able to do all the guitar madness I do live and sing, but I'm really comfortable with it now."

Jim Davies' guitar work helped shape THE PRODIGY's breakthrough "Fat of the Land" album, which included modern rock hits "Firestarter" and "Breathe". Jim toured worldwide with the band including a headline slot at Reading 2001. Davies was also a contributing member of electro-metal outfit PITCHSHIFTER who toured alongside INCUBUS and played Ozzfest.

Continued Davies: "I think this album is a natural progression for me from what I did with PITCHSHIFTER. There is obviously a taste of 'SHIFTER in there which is unavoidable as I co-wrote a lot the last few albums. But then tunes like 'King and Country' wouldn't have worked in PITCHSHIFTER because it's not even a rock song and that's what I find really refreshing about doing VICTORY PILL. I can take it anywhere I want and not be restrained by someone saying, 'That's not what PITCHSHIFTER should be sounding like.' I think fans of electronic music will dig it, certain tunes like 'Red Pill', 'Scaremonger' and 'Thin Line' are very electronic. I think industrial heads will like tunes like 'Downfall' and 'Another Clone' and there also more melodic more live band sounding tunes on there like 'Worst Case Scenario'."

VICTORY PILL's video for the track "Worst Case Scenario" can be viewed below. "The video was shot by Dose Productions, who did a few PITCHSHIFTER videos. I have worked with them before and they were our first choice," says Davies. "The video was shot in France in a bunker complex. The concept was just meant to be quite dark and grainy like the song and the guy in the video is basically slowly flipping out after taking a pill of some kind, it's very claustrophobic. I wanted something quite moody to suit the song, although the end isn't as uplifting as the end of the song as he blows his head off. Oops!"