It Kills You

May 14, 2025

Photos and interview by: Ally Arens

Making their debut in 2022 with the release of their first EP Worse Than You Expected, Better Than You Hoped For, Oklahoma City-based rock band It Kills You burst onto their local scene with their blend of post-hardcore/metalcore breakdowns, harsh-yet-melodic vocals, and punchy riffs – and quickly began making a name for themselves. In just a couple of years’ time, the band had played several small local and regional gigs, most notably opening for Butcher Babies in 2023 at one of the band’s only two U.S. headlining shows of the year (and the last before co-vocalist Carla Harvey’s departure), as well as supporting bands such as Alesana and A Skylit Drive in 2024.

Following some internal adjustments in late 2024, It Kills You has re-emerged with a new creative spark through the release of what is, in my opinion, one of their best songs yet in the form of February’s single “Absence” – an incredibly catchy yet gut-wrenchingly relatable anthem about relationship struggles. The band also recently played their first show of the year, once again supporting A Skylit Drive as they came through Oklahoma City. It Kills You’s current lineup, consisting of founding drummer/backing vocalist Jam Moon, bassist Danny Schott, guitarist Ricardo Montoya, and lead vocalist Elijah Petty, have a phenomenal creative chemistry, and “Absence” is only the beginning. The Encore Nights had the pleasure of catching up with the band as they rehearsed for their next show supporting TX2 and Dark Divine in Oklahoma City on May 28 and prepared for not only the next gig but for what the rest of the year has in store.

2025 is marking a new era of It Kills You, with an updated lineup and the release of your latest single “Absence” a couple of months ago – actually, almost three months now, which is crazy.  How did this current iteration of the band come about?

Danny Schott (DS): I think that’s a Jam question. It all starts with you, buddy.

Jam Moon (JM): I really wasn’t prepared for that question.

So, Ricardo and Elijah, since you all are the newest members, how did you all meet and decide to join, and all that?

JM: Well, last year, we went through a lineup change; Danny was still in the band, and we met him in the beginning of 2024 [through] Facebook Messenger, yeah, we messaged back and forth on that, and he found the band, and then we kind of just went from there, went through our changes of 2024 and then through social media on Facebook, I found Elijah, and Elijah’s like, “sick, I like your guys’ sound,” and he tagged along. And then Ricardo basically did the same thing, just a random day, and he hit me up. And I was like, “cool, I like your style,” and he ended up falling into place too. So all fell into place like it should be.

Awesome sauce. And, where did the band name “It Kills You” come from?

JM: “It Kills You” came from a past band member who basically wrote down a lot of band names. And we all picked from a hat, basically, and we ended up landing on this one just out of randomness. So we just kind of stuck it out, and went from there.

Well, it works! And, so, what was the inspiration behind “Absence” and its accompanying music video?

Elijah Petty (EP): I wrote that song – It was about a chapter in a relationship where we had been separated, but it was kind of just due to unfortunate circumstances. And the song is about, kind of, just the promise that we’re going to figure it out and cross the distance [to] get back together. That’s kind of the whole story.

It’s beautiful. And how did the music video come about, what was the creative process like with putting everything all together? Because, honestly, it is a banger of a song.

EP: Thanks. See, we got some notes from Adam about what we could do and what we couldn’t do. Ran a bunch of ideas by our producer, Adam, [and] figured out what was going to work and what totally wouldn’t. Since it was, well, it was my first time doing a video.

JM: Yeah, it was.

EP: [to Jam and Danny] you’ve done it before. You’ve done it before.

Ricardo Montoya (RM): That was my first video, too.

JM: We basically were bouncing back and forth with ideas, with the band and with our producer on how we wanted to approach the theme for the song and how it could convey all the lyrics that Elijah wrote. We originally were going to go a different route than we did, but we still kept some of what we originally did in our thought process, but we went a totally different route for the music video. We ended up finding Nora, who was phenomenal in our music video. She played the girlfriend in the music video, and she killed it. She is an actor and a model, and she helped us in the process of the music video too. And so did Adam.

EP: And [she was] an acting coach, which came in handy.

That video is just so sick. And why did you choose “Absence” to be the first taste of this new era?

EP: I brought a couple dozen little demos and some kind of mostly finished songs, and that one was…all the lyrics were already written. We wrote the rest of the song from the ground up, but that was just the song out of the handful of demos that resonated with the other guys and that we wanted to polish up and turn into the “It Kills You” sound.

Nice. And,If you could describe It Kills You with only one word, what would you choose (and why)?

DS: Sick.

JM: Zesty.

EP: Ambitious. We’ve all got a lot of big dreams for what we’re going to do with this project.

Who would you consider to be your biggest musical influences?

EP: Personally, A Day to Remember and Bring Me the Horizon.

DS: That’s a hard one. I hate favorites, I love everybody.

JM: Mine would probably be Bring Me the Horizon and Architects.

RM: I come from a whole different [genre] background. I’m the new guy, so my influence for It Kills You is It Kills You itself – I just learn the songs and get up there and make something. 

DS: Yeah, I played entirely different stuff before. I’m listening to a bunch of Archers right now, they’re kind of a thing [for me] right now.

Since forming, It Kills You has had the opportunity to open for multiple notable bands in the hard rock and metal scene such as Butcher Babies, Alesana, and, most recently, A Skylit Drive. What has it been like to be able to play with such names, and do you have a favorite act you’ve opened for?

JM: It’s been really overwhelming to be on the same stage with these bigger bands, and just getting the opportunity to be on that stage with them is outstanding. And it’s really hard to say which bands that we played with or which ones are our favorite, because they’re all sick. So, I really couldn’t pick off the top of my head. What do you guys think?

DS:  I like this most recent one we did. I thought everybody played well that night. I thought we killed it. I thought A Skylit Drive was on fire that night. That’s probably been my favorite one. I’m really excited for the one coming up, though, because I was already kind of a Dark Divine fan before I found out about the show. So I’m really happy about this, and kind of like, fangirl[ing] a little bit over it.

Oh yeah. I am SO excited for that one. If you could perform on the same bill as any currently active band, who would you choose and why?

JM: Me personally, I’d probably do My Chemical Romance or Bring Me the Horizon.

EP: I’d also say Bring Me the Horizon.

DS: I’d still say fucking Archers, I’m like stuck on them right now.

They’re so good!

DS: Or like, Dayseeker or something would be badass. 

JM: Dayseeker would be pretty cool, Sleep Theory would be pretty cool. 

YES. And what would be your dream venue or festival to play?

JM: I think Rock Am Ring for me, that festival is huge. Rocklahoma would be pretty cool, too. 

DS: Yeah, I’d like that one [Rocklahoma], like, specifically, just because a lot of, like, our people could be there, whereas out of state would be a little bit harder for them. I’d like the people that we already know to be there.

EP: The dream is still the old style of Warped Tour, not this three day, couple day stuff. An all-around-the-country Warped Tour.

If that ever came back, that would be awesome. And, what’s your favorite song to play live?

JM: I have two: “Unseen” would be like my top favorite, but as of right now, it’s “Absence”. That song just goes super hard live.

It really fucking does.

DS: I like “Seeking Bullets”. 

RM: That’s a fun one.

DS: That one’s got some bounce. 

EP: I think I’m between “Leeches” and “Absence”.

RM: I like “Ashes 2 Nails”, that’s more my style, of where I come from. I’m really comfortable playing that one. 

That one goes really hard too, I mean, they all do! And, who would be your dream musical collaborator, and why?

JM: Me, it would probably be either Chris Motionless from Motionless in White or Oli Sykes from Bring Me, mainly because I like their creativeness with their lyrics and how they approach the song format for their band too. So I think that would be a pretty cool thing to see happen somewhere down the line.

EP: I think I would say Enter Shikari, because I’ve been a big fan of them for a long time, and they seem like they’d be real fun to hang out with in the studio. 

Nice. Danny’s thinking real hard over there *laughs* 

DS: I’ve already got mine, but it’s more of like a personal favorite, like I don’t know who I’d collab with right now on a song. 

EP: Trying hard not to say Archers again?

DS: Yeah, I’m gonna try real hard not to say Archers again. But, honestly, I think a personal favorite of mine to collab with would be Robert DeLeo from Stone Temple Pilots… as far as bass playing goes, he would be absolutely one of my favorites to, like, take a note or two from, you know?

Nice. Got a bit of a fun one over here – If the Punk Goes Pop albums made a comeback and you were asked to contribute, what song would you love to cover?

JM: It’s a 2000s one, by a band called Hot Chelle Rae

DS: What’s the song?

JM: “Tonight Tonight”

DS: I love that one. 

Oh my God, YES. That would be amazing.

JM: I think we could make that song really bounce, it’s super fun. That’s just my personal opinion, I kinda wanna hear the guys’ song(s).

EP: Let’s see…”Die Young” by Kesha would be mine. 

Okay! I mean, it could be emo!

RM: I’ve been thinking of one, but it’s kind of more of a personal thing because it’s not a very popular song. It’s called “Integral” by the Pet Shop Boys, making a rock version of it would be fucking great. 

DS: Okay, so you’ve already thought about this for a while, huh?

RM: Yeah, I’m gonna make it happen, even if it’s just by myself, right?

DS: Well get some ideas together, and like, show it off.

EP: Do a whole album of Pet Shop Boys metal covers and call it “Pet Shop Men”

DS: I don’t know who the fuck I would do…I would definitely do like Katy Perry or something like that. Absolutely

JM: “Firework”?

DS: Nah, man everybody does that one. Maybe “California Gurls”.

JM: “California Gurls” or “Roar”. Now, if Punk Goes Pop did like an 80s one, I’d probably do The Romantics’ “Talking in Your Sleep” – it’s just so straightforward and the structure of it would work so well. 

DS: What about “King of Wishful Thinking”? I forget the name of the fucking band, it’s old. 

RM: We were just talking about Selena.

JM: Maybe some Bidi-Bidi-Bom-Bom?

What do you love most about playing music/being in a band?

DS: I like discovering it. I don’t do a whole lot of, like, scheduled learning. I do a whole lot of jamming along to songs I don’t know. And I kind of like the joy of figuring out, like quickly, what the key is, what the rhythm’s doing, and putting it all together real fast. I like working with these guys. I like the way we discuss technical aspects of things like where the notes go, how we’re going to move when we do it, and we work and practice together on making this kind of unified front – I feel like everybody speaks their mind and kind of like shares their own ideas and becomes a blend eventually, and you know, [we] kind of grind it out basically in here, where we do it all. 

RM: It’s a creative outlet, that’s the main thing for me. I’m not a singer, so my expression goes through my instrument, and being able to speak through it. 

EP: Yeah, I love a lot of things about music, but my favorite thing is [that] playing live is just such a good outlet for like, positive or negative emotions, just everything. [You] can get it all out and do something with it, and then that’s it. It’s like catharsis, I guess. 

JM: That’s a good word. Yeah, if I had to put it all in a nutshell, basically what these three said, like just being inside the element of music is wonderful and enjoyable, and it’s very great to express how you feel from what other people can’t see – what’s going on within your mind, and expressing it out to a wider audience.

And, what would you say is the best piece of creative advice you’ve received thus far?

JM: Don’t over-saturate, [and] know your instrument. That’s really all I’ve got.

RM: Stay human. Someone told me [to] stay human with your music, I like that.

EP: I read a book recently called The Perfect Wrong Note, basically about trusting your musical instincts. And that whole book was really good, but in a nutshell, it was just kind of strategies for getting out of my own way and not overthinking things, and just writing what I feel, rather than trying to make it perfect. And that was a huge

stumbling block for me for a long time. So that’s the best advice I’ve gotten. Don’t overthink it.

That’s advice we could all use in everything.

DS: Yeah, I echo that for sure. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. You know what I mean? They say art [is] never finished – you just stop working on it. And I agree 110% on that – don’t get hung up on the one little detail. Keep creating. Don’t get stuck.

Oh yeah. I mean, that even carries over into my photography. Sometimes, you’ve just got that one little detail and you just can’t get it quite right. Sometimes you just need to step away from it for a minute and let it cook and then come back with a fresh mind and make something beautiful. And sometimes it’s just fucked beyond repair and you’ve got to move on to something else. *laughs*

DS: Yep, been there too, I’ve scrapped some projects for sure.

So, besides each other, who are your go-to people for bouncing creative ideas off of?

DS: Well, I think we all have like, other groups of musicians that we hang out with. So I mean, like I do this kind of acoustic little weekend Sunday jam with a couple of guys [where] we just play with random ideas that may or may not be anything. We’re not really a band, per se, just a few guys hanging out for a couple hours on Sundays. I would say they’re probably a place I would go [and] be like, “Hey, I just wrote this yesterday” – they would be my people.

EP: Yeah, all my friends back in Tulsa are musicians. So, any of them, when we’re hanging out.

If you weren’t musicians, what do you think you’d be doing?

DS: The same thing I’m doing right now, construction projects, etc.

RM: My day job.

JM: I’d probably be a chef.

EP: Probably an electrician.

Nice. And, Danny, you kind of mentioned it a little bit earlier, but y’all’s next gig on the books is a support slot opening for TX2 and Dark Divine at OKC’s Beer City Music Hall on May 28. What can fans expect from your live show, and what are you most looking forward to about the gig?

EP: Let’s see, what can they expect? A lot of energy, a new cover that everyone’s gonna know. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most is singing along with everybody. 

Covers are always real fun in a live set.

JM: And for people that haven’t heard us yet, they’ll get to hear the new single “Absence” for the very first time, which will be really cool to see new people’s reactions to the song.

RM: That’s true, we’ve only performed it once before.

And, after that show, what does the rest of 2025 and beyond have in store for It Kills You…that you’re allowed to discuss?

JM: Yeah, I mean, nothing’s set in stone right now. Currently, we are working on a five-song EP. Right now, we’re flushing out a lot of the details and structures of a lot of the demos that we have already written and all that. And going forward, a lot of rehearsal. We’re looking for more shows here in Oklahoma and out of state, we may have some more shows in 2026, and we may be releasing the new EP in 2026, depending on how long it takes.

EP: Hopefully some singles between now and then.

DS: Yeah, we’re definitely in the process of writing, there’s some stuff that we’re working on pretty hard right now.

EP: There’s a lot cooking. I’m hoping to have another new song out sometime during the summer. 

DS: Yeah, that would be ideal.

RM: I think right now, we’re in the space where everything’s possible, so we need to figure out where we want to go with it. 

And do you have anything else you’d like to add, about the band or anything?

JM: Yeah, for everybody viewing this, if you don’t know who we are, check out our new song “Absence”, it’s out on all streaming platforms, and check out the music video!

EP: And if you’re nearby, come see us. It’ll be a good time!

Absolutely, thank you guys!

Check out It Kills You’s music video for Absence below, grab tickets for their upcoming show here, and follow them on your preferred social media platforms!

Instagram – Facebook – YouTube