Red Kate's 'Exit Strategy' explores societal upheaval and punk's raw energy. In an interview, the band reflects on its evolution, DIY ethos, and hopes for meaningful impact in today's world.
1.
Congratulations on the release of your new LP, "Exit Strategy"! Can
you tell us about the inspiration behind the album's title and theme?
L. RON DRUNKARD
(bass/lead vocals): These songs were
written over several years through the Trump presidency and then the
pandemic. A theme had emerged that I
hadn’t planned. In our second album, unamerican activities, there were a lot
of songs about putting up the “good fight” against the powers that be. They weren’t exactly optimistic songs but
they offered a glimpse of how things could be better. Over the last eight years, however, it’s
become much harder for me to see solutions or strategies that will get us where
we need to be as a people. We’re sliding
backwards into a dark place. How do we
come back from this? What is the
ultimate end game the right wing is hoping for?
How do we ever “make up” with fascists and racists and
science-deniers? How do we have a UNITED
States anymore? How do we break the
power of rich corporations who run the governments and fundamentalist lunatics
who con the people into believing other humans are inferior to them? When our drummer came across the Vietnam War
photo I knew right then that that would be the cover. The lack of a clear “exit strategy” from
Vietnam was a common critique of that war (as well as every other military
intervention this country has been involved in since). I think that same critique can be applied to
the existential crisis this nation, and much of the world, now faces in
general.
2. Red Kate
has been known for its no-bullshit, class-conscious punk rock style. How has
your music evolved with this new release compared to your previous works?
LRD: We’ve always been a punk rock and roll band, which to us means no
nonsense, no gimmicks, just punk rock energy, attitude and ethics. And because we’re from the Midwest, our sound
has a blues-based swing to it. That’s
just where we come from. I would say the
first album, When the Troubles Come,
is a bit more pub rock and cow punk, while unamerican
activities is a more focused straight up punk rock record - shorter,
faster, more aggressive songs. I think
that is where we really started to define our sound. Exit
Strategy stays with that feel but shows more of our industrial, angular,
art punk influences. I like to say that
we exist on a continuum somewhere between AC/DC and Devo.
3. "Exit
Strategy" addresses various societal issues like standing up for rights,
anti-intellectualism, and technological dehumanization. How do you hope your
music will impact listeners in today's socio-political climate?
LRD: Man, that’s
a hard one. I don’t know. Will it?
First, people have to hear it, right?
And in the musical climate we now have, how do you cut through the
musical wall of white noise that is
being fired at us every day? And then if
we do, are we only reaching people that already get it and agree with us? Sometimes it feels like you’re either howling
in the wilderness or preaching to the choir.
But yeah, I hope somebody somewhere hears us and says, “hey, that makes
sense to me! I’m picking up what they’re
laying down.” And then maybe they go out
and start a band, or kill their cellphone, build a windmill and go off the
grid. That’s all you can hope for.
4. The album
artwork for "Exit Strategy" is quite striking. Could you elaborate on
the significance of the Vietnam-era photograph and its connection to the
album's themes?
LRD: The photograph that the album cover was
derived from was taken in 1965 in the early days of the war*. Our drummer found it online and sent it
around and none of us had ever seen it before.
The ambiguity of it made it so eerie and compelling. Was he falling? Was he being lifted out? The way his head hangs indicates he's
unconscious. To me, the uncertainty in
that photo perfectly captures the uncertainty that we are feeling about the
world today. And with most of the band
having been born during that war, and having fathers and uncles who fought in
it, Vietnam holds this dark fascination in our psyche. It’s also the starting point of the culture
wars this country has been fighting ever since, so it’s unfortunately still
relevant today.
* Because of this country’s ridiculous copyright laws, we could not use (i.e.
afford) the original photo. Our cover is an artistic interpretation of the
original photograph created by our guitarist Shaun Hamontree (the originalphoto is here - XYZ).
LRD: Our former
guitarist Dez Porier wrote “Shut It Down” and damn, if it’s not a perfect
song! I wish I could write that
directly and to the point. But as to
your question, I write what I know. I am
not that good at telling fictional stories and I’m terrible at writing abstract
nonsense lyrics. But I know sociology,
history, politics, economics…and relationships.
The hard part is writing about that stuff and not sounding like an
egghead. Fortunately, punk rock is more
accepting of those themes than most other styles of music so I think I get away
with it okay.
6. "She’s
in Love" seems like a departure with its catchy power pop vibe. What
inspired this track, and how does it fit within the album's overarching
narrative?
LRD: Like I said, I write what I know, and I have
had plenty of experience with failed relationships so those kinds of dark love
songs come out every now and then. It too is about uncertainty and ambiguity -
an intractable relationship with someone that can’t commit and the realization
you’ll never understand why. I’m a big
fan of poppy songs hiding dark lyrics the way Husker Du and Bob Mould are so
good at.
7. Could you
share some insights into your songwriting process for "Exit
Strategy"? How do you collaborate as a band to create such impactful
music?
LRD: It helps that we have a shared vision
musically, and a common language of rock and roll to draw from. But we are also coming at it from different
angles so everyone has their own style.
Except for “Shut It Down”, which our former guitar player Dez Poirier
wrote, I usually bring the chord structure/riff and rough arrangement to the
band and then everyone adds their parts on top of it. If we feel like the song needs another
section, or a bridge, then we’ll often hammer that out together. I add lyrics pretty slowly over time. Lyrics are the hardest part of songwriting
for me.
ANDREW WHELAN
(drums/backing vocals): We’re kind of a mix bag when it comes to
songwriting. This album has songs that
came to practice 99% done from the writer and we’ve also got material on it
that came about jamming riffs. I think ideally we’d all lock ourselves in a
studio for a month like The Band but we’d probably kill each other. We’ve kinda had to become goal oriented in
order to keep the band moving forward so what seems to happen is after we put
an album out, the next couple years we’ll write a handful of songs and then
start looking to put out another record.
That kinda spurs us to finish up the other bits and pieces we’ve accrued
for the last four or five tunes and then we’ll hit the studio.
8. Red Kate has been active for over 15 years, maintaining a DIY ethic. How has the punk rock scene evolved during this time, and how do you navigate these changes as a band?
AW: When we
started social media, streaming services, and the like we’re all just gearing
up. So as typical mid aged cynics we buried our heads in the sand and refused
to participate. That led to four years of getting absolutely nowhere. The music
world had changed and there still hadn’t been ANY counter movement back to the
good old luddite days - like there is now. We gradually dipped our toes in and
tried to use it, reluctantly, as a tool that has unfortunately replaced most
facets of the business the last four years. It feels like all that hasn’t
changed is the $5 cover charge.
LRD: I could go
on for pages about this, from the 130,000+ songs that go online every day to
algorithm dominated online culture to scammy promotions platforms to AI. But I won’t.
When the social media shift happened, we
were just older and didn’t know, or operate, in the online world so it took a
while to adapt. But once we picked it up
it kept us alive, while our peers were struggling to understand why no one was
coming to their shows anymore. The
biggest irritation that I have is that the platforms are constantly changing
how they work and what they allow and don’t allow. It’s a struggle just to keep up with the
minutiae of operating a social media account.
Second is the shifting landscape of social media itself - the rise of
TikTok, the shift from Facebook to Instagram among young people, etc. Ultimately, we want to reach young
people. They are the ones with the fire
and the desire to change things, not old, tired Gen Xers talking about the
salad days. So, we still make fliers for
every show and post them wherever we can.
I will never have a TikTok account but our flier will be on that
bulletin board next to the bathroom in the back of the coffee house.
Truthfully, though, what it comes down to is that none of this social media
stuff really fits what art and music are about so long as profit drives the
platform. All these sites and their paid
“influencers” and shady promotion outfits and streaming services run afoul of
the ethics of punk rock as we see it, so it is an ongoing struggle to evaluate
what kind of promotion and online activity we will engage in. With the demise of traditional forms of mass
communications, though, the internet is all we have left. But every day it gets harder to discern what
is real and authentic on the web and what is just another AI bot scam.
9. You
mentioned working with Duane Trower and Weights and Measures Soundlab for this
album. What was the recording and production experience like for "Exit
Strategy"?
LRD: This album was a challenge. The pandemic occurred right in the middle of
recording what we had intended to be an EP.
We had finished three new songs in January 2020 and were going to
include several outtakes from our previous album and 7” sessions. The pandemic killed that plan and then our
lead guitar player left the band. We
replaced him and over the next year wrote and recorded four new songs. That gave us 12 total (the oldest stretching
back to 2016) from four different recording sessions, two different studio
locations, and four guitar players! But
Duane is a master craftsman and he hammered at these mixes until we got them
sounding like one consistent, coherent recording. I really couldn’t be happier with it.
10. In
addition to the LP, "Exit Strategy" is also available on CD and
cassette. What are your thoughts on the resurgence of interest in physical
media, especially within the punk and rock genres?
LRD: The idea for a label that put out physical media arose from an awareness of how ephemeral digital media is. Tens of thousands of songs go online every day, and tens of thousands of songs fade into obscurity every day. Unless you are a big name, your songs are unlikely to get played once you stop being a band. But physical media, especially records, are different. People collect them, sell them and resell them. Some kid might find your record in a used bin 20 years after you break up and take it home to play to his friends. No one is going to find your digital song files even 20 months after your band ends. If you go to someone’s house, you might look through her record collection, but you’re not going to look through her phone to see what she listens to. Records are cultural artifacts that connect us and give us a sense of time and place. Digital music, on the other hand, is little more than convenience.
AW: We’ve
demanded physical media of ourselves since the start. Digital media has it’s
place but in my opinion the unintended consequence of having unlimited access
to everything is more laziness than expanded horizons. At least with a record
you have to commit something to it - money, shelf space, a central place to
listen to it. I think it serves a purpose to balance on-the-go streaming and
make you sit down, shut up, and listen.
11. As part of
Black Site, a not-for-profit record label cooperative, what role do you see
independent labels playing in today's music industry?
LRD: With digital
distribution, it’s easier than ever to be a “label” now. I see labels popping up everywhere, but what
are they actually doing for bands that bands can’t do for themselves now? We noticed that years ago, which is why we
never pursued a record label deal. We
started our own label, Black Site, however, specifically to do what most of the
labels around here were not doing - putting out actual vinyl records for
bands! Doing that right takes knowledge,
experience and connections with the right people in the industry. We had released a couple of records already,
so we thought we should share that experience with others and started Black
Site. And since we also think profit
motive is antithetical to good art, we made it a non-profit cooperative where
the bands retain complete ownership of, and all profits from, their
records. This has allowed us to release
some incredibly good records that would otherwise have never been made because
a regular label would not have seen a way to profit from them.
12. How has
the pandemic affected Red Kate's activities, such as touring and live
performances? Have there been any unexpected positives or challenges?
AW: It’s affected
us like anyone else. We tried to stay active and in touch but there’s only so
much you can do. We had just had a new guitar player come on right before the
shutdown so that did complicate things. Once things got moving again we spent a
lot of time working on old stuff rather than using any pent up energy on new
ideas. It took a long time to get back to square one. But we all survived so I
guess we shouldn’t complain.
LRD: We lost a
lot of venues. That is the biggest long
term effect. And we lost them from
cities that will have a hard time replacing them because gentrification is
jacking up rents too high for small rock-oriented venues to operate. Kansas City lost half of its clubs. New ones have popped up, but they are farther
out from the city center. DIY spaces are
harder to come by as well. But, and
maybe this is the silver lining, the young kids are getting to start with as
clean of a slate as there has been since the mid-80s, so it is very interesting
to watch how they are rebuilding the punk movement free of some of the
constraints and expectations created by their elders.
13. Can you share any memorable experiences or anecdotes from your time as a band that have shaped your musical journey?
AW: For the most
part, our collective pasts have already shaped us. Everyone in this band has
been doing this a long time so we’ve all seen different levels of success and
failure, side of the highway breakdowns, fist fights, making $20 for a show you
drove four hours to play, etc. But, we
keep coming back because we’re lifers. We’re not in it for our health!
LRD: There are several but I would
classify them into two main kinds - the basement house show you expected
nothing from that turns out to be wild, and the opening slot for one of your
musical heroes that is kind of a dud.
The former reminds you what is real and why you do this, and the latter
keeps you humble, because no matter how big you might get or how good one show
might be, the next one might suck!
That’s why our motto is “Deal with it!”
14. What
advice would you give to emerging punk rock bands looking to make a mark in the
industry while staying true to their values and sound?
AW: Do it for the
right reasons and make sure you educate yourself. That’s across the board,
learn as much as you can about everything you can. From how to get your damn
drums off the stage, basic vehicle maintenance, the in’s and out’s of music
publishing, all this will serve you down the road. And for god’s sake, learn
from other people’s mistakes. If someone is giving you advice you don’t have to
do what they say but at least consider what they’re telling you. There’s really
no reason to make the same mistakes.
LRD: Don’t try to
sound like somebody else or follow a trend.
Let your sound be what it is and if you like, play until you find the
people that like what you’re doing. Buy
a van. Play out of town. Keep your ego in check. Listen to the person running sound. And if it’s an all local bill, split the
money evenly with the other bands.
15. Looking
ahead, what are your plans and aspirations for the future of Red Kate, both
musically and in terms of activism and community engagement?
LRD: We would really like to tour overseas, Europe most likely, though we seem to be getting a lot of attention in Brazil so maybe we should try to play Carnival! They like their rock and roll down there. We had gotten close to having a short European tour set up in Spring 2020 but the pandemic nixed that. By the time things opened up again, half of the clubs, bookers and bands we’d made contact with were out of the business. So, we are starting over. If you want to hear some kickass rock and roll in your town, hit us up!
BLACK SITE : Red Kate (black-site.org)
Red Kate (@redkatekc) • Photos et vidéos Instagram
Musique | Red Kate (bandcamp.com)
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire