Killer Filler! - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Killer Filler is the spawn of keyboardist, guitarist, and songwriter Chris "Crispy" Bess -- an all-instrumental five-piece outfit to meld his twin penchants for 1960s Memphis soul and California surf music. Twang, spy, funk, lounge and swing flavor Crispy's songwriting as well as the B-side nuggets that he picks to arrange and cover. The Ventures, Booker T. and the MGs, The Shadows, The Champs and The Meters all get nods in live sets.
Crispy commands the Hammond B-3 and a six-string taboot while guitarists Bryon Settle and Pete Gamble join on dual stratocasters, Bryon's drop-jaw phrasing colored by Pete's swirling psychedelia. The rhythm section is a seamless and versatile unit with Mark Murphy on drums and Rusty Miller on electric bass.
Instrumental music sets a party vibe that's infectiously groovy. In addition to large outdoor events (Artsplosure, First Night Raleigh, Festival For The Eno, Carrboro Music Festival) and local clubs (Cat's Cradle, The Cave, Slim's Downtown, Local 506), Killer Filler plays private and corporate events. From festivals and concert halls to weddings and shindigs, folks respond to a sound that's fresh and familiar all at once.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/06/2006
Band Website: www.killerfillermusic.com
Band Members: Chris "Crispy" Bess: Keys, guitars, basses, finger cymbals and whatever else he wants to play.
Pete Gamble: Guitars and the Psych-o-delic Gizmo-tron.
Bryon Settle: Ass-Kicking Guitars.
Mark Murphy: Slingerland Radio Kings, Milton Driveway Bell.
Rusty Miller: Fender Basses.
Influences: The Ventures, The Champs, Henry Mancini, Les Paul (the guitar player, not the guitar named after him.) Captain Beefheart, The Dictators, Al Caiola, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Enoch Light, Vinnie Bell, Booker T. and the MGs, The Meters, The Bar Kays, The Mar Keys, Galactic, Betty Wright, Duane Eddy, The Shadows, Laika & the Cosmonauts, Howlin Wolf, early Pink Floyd, The Hollies, Tony Mottola, Lee Scratch Perry, The Specials, The Dead Kennedys, The Dead Milkmen, TV theme songs, The Minute Men, The Jam, XTC, Zappa, Phish, Medeski Martin and Wood, Sonny Rollins, Polka music.
Sounds Like: Psychesurfia instrumentals suitable for lounging, drag racing or soundtracking a spaghetti Western.
Record Label: Sure, why not?

My Blog

Crap! I forgot--Watch Killer Filler on "Sessions at Studio B"!

Dangit--I forgot all about this, but since It's up for eternity, I'll survive any potential wrath.We just made a little half hour musical stop at our local NBC affiliate, and got to be on their local ...
Posted by on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:21:00 GMT

Three new and exciting things! (Radio, live and internet content)

Hey Folks-- A couple of things (well, three things) of interest before we head off to West Virginia to play our big FestivALL shows in Charleston at the end of the month:First, if your Sunday evening...
Posted by on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:23:00 GMT

Belated thanks, and so, so much to do!

First off, A late, but muy mucho THANK YOU to the Atomic Mosquitos, the Surge! and all the folks who attended the Instro Summit back on the 25th of April. Everybody pretty muched kicked royal arse, i...
Posted by on Wed, 06 May 2009 08:41:00 GMT

Revealed! Crispy Tells ALL!!

Howdy again--I got called by our local free press Music Critic, who liked what I wrote about the Instro Summit on this here page (see previous blog), and tapped me for an interview, which ended up NOT...
Posted by on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:13:00 GMT

Behold: THE INSTRO SUMMIT!

You probably can't tell, but I'm typing all of this with crossed fingers. And smiling. Really, really smiling.Ever Since Sleazefest went kaput a few years ago, I've been hoping for a way to bring so...
Posted by on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:51:00 GMT

"Filler Up! " Reviewed in "Pipeline" Magazine!

For those of you not in the know, Pipeline Magazine is a little 'zine from the United Kingdom that has been the benchmark of all things in rock instrumental music for over 20 years; Its' head writers/...
Posted by on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:16:00 GMT

Killer Filler profiled on NESMA website

As I said before, things is a bit slow this month around Fillerland, but if you wanna get your fix on the internets, you can check out an interview yours truly did for NESMAS featured band profile. W...
Posted by on Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:53:00 GMT

Killer Filler Saves Christmas--Twice!

Truth be told, our December adventures are a bit thin this year, as a few of us are going to be out of town for a while this month, but if any of y'all want to get Yuletide down by the Poolside, we've...
Posted by on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:42:00 GMT

See Crispy’s page on MTV’s Soundtrack!

Hey Folks! Putting in a plug for my new profile on MTV's Soundtrack website! Some of you folks may not be aware, but songs I've written are lurking all over cable TV as background filler, ...
Posted by on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:43:00 GMT

Blatant Mechandising Propaganda

Should have blabbed about this before, but Killer Filler's new CD, "Filler Up!" is out and about. You can get at our shows (natch), or at CDBaby or Amazon, or if'n yer under 25, download them so...
Posted by on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:06:00 GMT