Jun 15 2026, 9.34am / Features
Dear Joey and Brooke, What a wild ride! I just wanted to write to express …
Chasing some punk rock madness? We’ve got you covered. Black and Blue is the second video release from Melbourne’s Filth Dimension and oh boy does it pack a punch.
Hysteria caught up with one-third of the filth puzzle, frontwoman Kris Killriot to chat about the track, touring and the band’s plans for the upcoming year.
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Hysteria: Let’s talk about the new single Black and Blue, we’d love to get some insight on the track and what inspired its creation.
Kris: Black and Blue is the second single from our EP Heavy Peace. The content lyrically and musically is a metaphor for loving something so hard and that thing becoming out of reach. Your heart and ego then feel bruised, but you become stronger from it and rise up again and again. It’s pretty deep but I write deep stuff.
How did making Heavy Peace go?
It was pretty natural, Brett [Parish, Drums/Vocals] and I had been playing together for quite a while in other projects and we had written a lot of pretty deep stuff but it wasn’t necessarily fast punk fusion stuff. When we got Lana [Rikihana, Bass Guitar/Vocals] in to do this EP it was a lot different to what we’ve done before. We do have a fusion of punk, grunge, rock and sometimes even a bit of a stoner feel. Black and Blue is a mix of all that, it goes from melodic to real fast punk to a very grungy feel. It’s all over the shop but it works [laughs]. That’s the kind of writing I like to do; I like to make things a bit unpredictable.
The band did a bunch of touring before the EP was released, did you pick up any tips or tricks whilst on those shows that helped shape the direction of the EP?
Oh man, we were just trying to find our feet with those early shows. When Lana joined the band, her first show was at Frankie’s Pizza in Sydney and she had to learn the songs in four weeks. We were being offered all these gigs through friends and people that we knew, so last year we were just trying to gel together and get tighter. This year we’ve come into form, I feel like we’re so much tighter as a band, our writing style has evolved really quickly too. That’s the main thing we learnt, how to write better and play better.
Black and Blue is a mix of all that, it goes from melodic to real fast punk to a very grungy feel. It’s all over the shop but it works [laughs].
[ Kris Killriot ]
What inspires the band lyrically?
I write the lyrics and take that to the band; they add their bits and that’s what brings the song together. I’m always inspired by social dilemmas and human behaviours and politics. I don’t think I ever write without writing about something deep and meaningful. My writing can get very serious but it can be fun too. There’s a mix but there’s always some kind of meaning behind my lyrics. They’re pretty deep and I’m pretty political, I care about what’s going on in politics in Australia and I care about the people so that’s always in the back of my mind when I write. The whole band is behind that as well, we all believe in the same things and want the best for the future of this planet and the future of Australia and that comes into our writing a lot.
That’s one of the great things about music, right? How you can use it as a soapbox and speak your mind.
Oh yeah, that’s what I’m all about. I sometimes feel frustrated that I can’t do more on a legitimate level but through my music, I get to say what I want and get my anger out, especially with the political system that we have in power now. I often write about that because it’s really sad how the minorities get treated in this country. Music has always been an outlet for me though, even in my other bands’ Woman in Black and Kill the Apprentice.
The band haven’t been around for very long, I’d love to know how it all got started?
I was in a Melbourne band called Red Light Riot for a while; we were pretty punk but we had that fusion rock sound too. We went through a couple of drummers before Brett came over from Adelaide and joined. The band folded not too long after that though. In the meantime, I had a solo project going and I wanted Brett to drum for it. I released a five-track EP for that project. After I got that out of my system I needed to be back in a band with a lot of noise and Brett agreed that we needed to move on. We looked for a bass player and we found Lana; we grabbed her straight after her first audition. We just gelled instantly as friends and we have a great dynamic between us, we laugh a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever written anything that sounds like Filth Dimension before. I don’t think it sounds like Kill The Apprentice, I don’t think it sounds like Red Light Riot and I definitely don’t think it sounds like Woman in Black but it’s an extension of all three in the same sense. We always go back to our punk roots and our grunge roots but we always try and have something unique coming out.
You’ve got some interstate and local tours booked in for the rest of the year, can you drop any details on those?
We’ve got our video release this Sunday 5th May at The Tote Hotel in Melbourne. For overseas, we’ll be heading to Japan in October, dates will be confirmed but it’s all locked in and we can’t wait! We’re doing some really sick shows this year, all through May, June and July… there’s too many to mention! One that’s really great though is Full Stop Fest on May 11th at Bendigo Hotel. They’re a foundation with the aim of putting a stop to sexual assault and domestic violence in Australia. All the proceeds from that gig will go to that foundation, it’s a really great cause that we’re all behind.
Besides touring, what’s on the cards for the band for the rest of the year?
We’ve got to get through these gigs, hopefully in one piece [laughs]. We’re pretty booked up till the end of July, but we’re going to take August off to record some more. It’ll be our no gig period and we’ll sit in the studio and knock out a few more tracks. I don’t think it’ll be a full album; it will probably be around five to seven songs. Then we’ll get ready for Japan and who knows after that! I’ve got another overseas tour in mind but that’s to be confirmed [laughs].
Catch Filth Dimension at the following dates:
MELBOURNE // Sunday 5 May // The Tote
MELBOURNE // Saturday 11 May // FULL STOP FEST at Bendigo Hotel
MELBOURNE // Saturday 18 May // Grace Darling Hotel
MELBOURNE // Sunday 23 June // The Tote
