Sunday 22 November 2015

An Interview with KRAK KRAK


KRAK KRAK are about to release their brilliant debut album - All The Punks In The World Cannot Save You Now. The album is an adrenaline rush from start to finish with the band crossing so many musical boundaries that I didn't think was even possible.

KRAK KRAK's sound includes Noise, Garage, Punk, Sludge, Stoner and even Thrash Metal. It has a violent addictive quality to it. They're getting some major praise within the UK Hard Rock/Metal Press and they have a formidable reputation when performing live on stage.

The guys were kind enough to premiere – BLOOD - from their new album last week. Well I wanted to find out a little bit more from these experimental riffsters and I'm happy to say KRAK KRAK have kindly agreed to talk to me.

Hi guys, thanks for doing the interview and for allowing me to premiere your new song recently. Much appreciated. How are things with you today.

We're well! We're currently mixing a live EP for December!

For people not in the know can you tell how your band came about and where it is today.

Oh the joy of KRAK... It all began when I became slightly disillusioned with a previous musical outing and wanted to create a band that was about creating a joyous horrible noise. I found Kiyarn through mutual friends and Chris was the only bass player to reply to a vocalist wanted ad... From then we wore our heart on our sleeve and just kept recording and releasing as we went. It's been a year now and we've released tracks through Sonic Anhedonic Recording Company, Fluffer Records, Alcopop Records, Super Fan 99 and Rawshark Records. The debut album is an accumulation of this years adventure as it were!

Where did the name KRAK KRAK came from. Any specific meaning.

Well... When we started we joked that the aim of the band was to make a noise akin to the White Stripes on crack... Crack Stripes? White Crack? Crack Crack? KRAK KRAK!

Photo courtesy of Keira Cullinane.

Your music is very hard to describe. Noise, Garage, Punk, Sludge, Thrash, Metal. How would you describe it. It’s loud and heavy probably why I dig your sound so much.

Thanks man! Hmmm... We've recently coined the term 'Radio friendly grindcore' but I don't think that even describes us... We don't try to be elusive believe me! We all have very big personalties so I think we pull the music in all different directions naturally.

Your about to release your new album – All The Punks In The World Cannot Save You Now. What can people expect from the album and why did you choose that catchy title. Great title.

The title is an extract from a David Sandström (Refused) album, it really stuck with us and summed us up quite frankly! Without sounding too pretentious, the album is literally a musical journey as we started writing it as soon as the band was formed so it sums up our year really. We have have took influence from everything be it the grind, prog, stoner, metal and psychedelia elements. Hopefully they're should be something for everyone!

Was it an easy or hard album to write and record for.

It was easy to write but hard to perfect (if you can call it that)... The nature of the beast with songs that are under minute long or for that matter go on with one riff for over a minute, is to keep those parts interesting but yet not over think them. We had that punk mentality throughout where we just kept writing what we wanted rather than thinking about singles, what was cool etc.

Your music is getting some great praise within the UK Hard Rock/Metal scene. Has that surprised you in anyway or don’t you take notice of things like that.

Yes to both! Every time we get any sort of positive feedback we're like “Really? You sure?” I think as we really are writing and doing this band for ourselves I still find it incredible that people are behind us. It definitely spurs you on. We all find it incredibly humbling to have any sort of feedback to be honest!

Will you be touring the record in the future.

Yes! We're currently booking shows and festivals for 2016. We have a tour being booked for January with some amazing bands. Watch this space!

The UK Hard Rock/Metal scene is sort of at a crossroads at the moment. Some people I’ve spoken to think it’s on the way up whilst others think it’s on the way down. What’s your verdict on this. Have you noticed anything different recently. If it is in decline how can we improve it.

I think it depends on where you look. Personally I think its on the up but I would look to the amazing indie labels like Holy Roar, Small Town America and Riot Season and their releases rather than the majors. Bands like Rolo Tomassi, Workin Man Noise Unit and USA Nails have done extremely well this year. How to improve it? I think people need to support the smaller labels.

How hard is it for you all being in a band within today’s musical scene. Is it always a never-ending struggle.

You're not far off the “Never ending struggle”... Its been a steep learning curve, but we've learnt a lot. There are definitely some things which are harder than others. Gigging is always going to be tricky as your always most definitely going to operate at a loss, which is hard when you want more and more people to witness the noise... But I think the pros outweigh the cons and we wouldn't change it for the world.


We have to talk about the album cover. What is that album cover about. Who designed it and what does it mean to you as a band and the album in general.

The album was based around trying to be inclusive of all our artistic friends, we have so many that it was about getting everyone involved. It also sums up the schizophrenic style of the album quite nicely. We had over 30 teeth so was quite hard arranging it into a coherent vision... A bit like the album...

What’s the song-writing dynamic within the band. Is it a group collective or down to one individual.

Nearly all songs go through the same process... We start with a collection of drums beats and a brief mood “Play a riff that sounds like sludgy Mastodon with a pop chorus that will make us $$$” and then a bunch of riffs get written that we take it into the studio and we re arrange everything like a weird metal puzzle then Chris shouts bloody murder over everything...

With 2015 drawing to a close, what have been your favourite records you’ve listened to this year.

Straight off we all really enjoyed the new Refused album. Definitely the Rolo Tomassi album, personally I really liked the new Cradle of filth album but I think I'm alone in that one... Also the USA Nails, Workin Man Noise Unit and Sergeant Thunderhoof albums are amazing.

What does 2016 have in store for KRAK KRAK

Gigs gigs gigs! We're really looking forward to playing some festivals next year. We're currently writing album 2 which is shaping up really nicely / quickly so we'll be recording that early next year. We're really trying to push the boundaries on the next one, half of it will be entirely noisy grind...

Well guys, thanks for doing this. All the best with your new record.

Our pleasure!

Words by Steve Howe and KRAK KRAK

Thanks to KRAK KRAK for taking the time out to do this interview. All The Punks In The World Cannot Save You Now will be out to buy on CD/DD from November 30th 2015 via Rawshark Records.

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