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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