Radkey ‘Pretty Raw & Dirty’

A few days ago, punk trio Radkey posted a photo on Facebook of guitarist/vocalist Dee Radke at work with his axe and a laptop. The caption read, “Working on a new song. It’s about drinking weird green hyper drinks and fucking shit up with baseball bats”.

With or without ‘weird green hyper drinks’, things are moving really fast for the Radke brothers lately. Just last June their debut EP Cat & Mouse hit the streets, and then in October, Dee, Isaiah (bass/vocals), and Solomon (drums) released another, Devil Fruit. A nod to the classic punk ethos of acts like Death and The Misfits, these EPs belong on your turntable, and should be cranked up as loud as you can handle.

“We decided to do it without a producer”, middle brother Isaiah says of Devil Fruit. “And so we did it on our own, and it ended up sounding pretty raw and dirty.”

The same month that Devil Fruit was released, the trio made their most high-profile appearance yet – performing on Later…With Jools Holland on BBC. No big deal for three teenagers from Missouri, right?

“It was really, really, really stressful”, he admits. “It’s really nerve wracking…it’s kind of like, you know, ‘here’s your career, so do good or your screwed’. It was pretty freaky.”

The gig must have paid off, because Radkey has kept the momentum going into 2014. Their stacked touring schedule includes NYC gigs this February 19th (Death by Audio) & 20th (Mercury Lounge) before they head back to the UK for 9 more shows. In their downtime, Isaiah says they’ve been penning some new material to test out on the road, too.

“We’re gonna do some new songs”, he says of the upcoming NYC gigs. “Lately we’ve had some time so we’ve come up with some pretty cool stuff. It is nice to have a full 2 or 3 weeks off to think and hang out”, he goes on. “Songs come naturally, so you definitely want to just hang out and do nothing, and let it come to you instead of trying to force it out.”

So how should New York fans prepare for the the audio assault they’re about to experience this week? What does one wear to a punk show these days, anyway?

“I believe that, as far as dressing, you shouldn’t really think about it”, Isaiah declares. “I feel like you should just dress the way you do. Don’t like watch some Nickelodeon movie with punk rock music in it and think that’s the way you need to look”, he laughs.

And even if you can’t get your hands on any weird green hyper drinks during the NYC shows, Isaiah suggests you imbibe appropriately.

“Drink whatever makes you feel the most crazy, and whatever is gonna help you freak out as much as you can”, he concludes, “cause that’s what gonna make the night fun.”

www.radkey.net

TheWaster.com | Devil Fruit
02.13.2014