It’s that time of year again, with the collective anticipation and excitement surrounding Krank’d Up Fest building its way to a fever pitch.
In preparation for this monumental event, The Metalist za got in touch with some of our biggest local metal legends, RED HELEN, to chat about their Krank’d Up journey, the reception of their debut album and how they feel about sharing the stage with Intervals and Memphis May Fire.
Firstly, thanks for taking the time to chat to us!
So you guys are no strangers to the Krank’d Up stage, what does it mean to you guys to be playing alongside this year’s headliners, Memphis May Fire and Intervals? Are you guys fans of either of the bands?
Krank’d up festival is definitely a highlight for us every year, whether we’re playing or not it’s a day we all look forward to. The opportunity to play again this year is an absolute honor and we are so unbelievably excited! We honestly have nothing but good things to say about it and are honored to be a part of it yet again. We are huge fans of both Memphis May Fire and Intervals so getting to share the stage with them blows our minds! We’re massively thankful to the Turning Tricks Entertainment team for bringing them out and giving us this opportunity!
It’s been a little while since we’ve caught up with you…you released your debut full length album this year, what has the response been like so far?
The response has been great so far! A concern for some of us after taking so long to officially release the album was whether or not our fans, who have been waiting for what feels like forever, would feel like it was worth the wait and so far our fans seem to be enjoying it. Thankfully we’ve made some new fans along the way too, which is awesome!
Can you tell us a little bit about the filming of the music video for ‘Ode to the corrupt’? And are there any plans for another video shoot?
The Filming of the ‘OTTC’ video was very special for us! It’s the first professionally filmed music video we’ve ever filmed and released.
The music video is very representative of what the song is about and represents. Admittedly we were expecting a fair amount of backlash for it but so far most people who have seen the video seem to agree with us.
The message and topic the song deals with is not a particularly unique one in SA right and our stance is shared by a huge portion of the South African population. It’s an extremely important conversation to be having right now and we felt it was one we as musicians and South Africans needed to join in on!
If you were to collaborate with any one of the acts on the Krank’d Up lineup, who would it be and why?
Haha Funny enough we’ve actually already collaborated with many of the bands on the line up and have known many of them for years! We really enjoy collaboration and believe very strongly in community and friendship between the bands in our local rock/metal scene, we’re also total band whores that love creating music haha so I’m sure we’ll collaborate with most of the bands on this line up at some point if we haven’t already!
As Krank’d Up veterans, what is your favourite thing about this prestigious festival, and why do you think people should support it?
For us Krankd up has a very unique vibe and feel to it, besides the awesome music playing all day long, the festival itself is a super enjoyable experience. I think you probably need be at Krankd up to fully understand what I mean! People should support the festival because while the organizers certainly have their ears to the ground when it comes to bringing over international acts they know audiences would love to see on South African soil, they also place special emphasis on the local acts from all around South Africa!
Many shows headlined by international acts have local acts opening for them as a sort of formality while at Krankd up the local acts are as supported and respected.
What would you like to see/see more of at South African festivals?
Pizza Cones, definitely more pizza cones! Those things are amazing!
For us I think it would be diversity, I think the idea of a genre specific scene is an outdated and silly. We’re able to move forward in a far more productive manner if we work together and support each other! We’re all about community among bands and hope that the outdated and hostile ‘every band for themselves’ mindset will swiftly fizzle out. There’s also something super special about shows that bring different types of people together that would otherwise never spend time together and help build bridges instead of reinforcing walls!
YOU CAN CATCH RED HELEN AT KRANK’D UP, 30 SEPTEMBER 2017
FESTIVAL DETAILS:
Taking place on Saturday, 30th September 2017 at Sundowners, Alberton and featuring 2 highly acclaimed international acts along with 19 of SA’s best alternative acts across two stages, Krank’d Up 2017 should not be missed.
Tickets available from Computicket or http://www.krankdupfestival.co.za/
KRANK’D UP LINEUP:
Memphis May Fire
INTERVALS
Red Helen
Megalodon
albinobeach
State Society
CMR
Ohgod
My Columbine
Mezzanine Floor
Deadline
Vulvodynia
Held On Till May
After Robot
Maximum Carnage
You, Me and the Harmony
Savage Lucy
I AM
De Wallen ( Band )
Coldfield
Mad God
Interviewed by: Sammy SF
Date: 20 September 2017
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