Making their Krank’d Up debut is Cape Town’s Alternative Metal band Last One Alive. Their inclusion in the esteemed lineup this year comes off the back of some serious hype after winning numerous awards at the SAMMAS over the last two years. The Metalist’s Kevin Rule makes some attempts to get into their pants.
Just quickly for those who may not have heard of you yet, give us a brief history of the band in 10 words or less.
Joel: In England, Bobby writes music. In South Africa, music played.
Ric: Cape Town born alternative metal all-star panty-dropping sonic assault.
Since this is the internet and people don’t have time to read, give me another history of the band in 5 words or less.
Joel: Bobby, Joel, Ric, ArtDane, MiggsWerner
Ric: 5 dudes 1 phantasmagorical sound.
2017’s Best EP, Best Alternative and Best Newcomer awards. How was the whole SAMMIS experience for you?
Joel: I haven’t been able to attend either of them, but I’m sure Ric can fill you in as he’s been our spokesman for both.
Ric: Heading back to the SAMMAs was a trip man! I walked in thinking we flew up just to be ornaments in the audience, but we ended up nabbing an armful of awards! I was a little stunned to be honest, and also really stoked for Bob as he damn near killed himself to get our EP made! Nice for him to get that well-earned recognition. I also enjoyed the various speakers’ additions to the proceedings, and something Patrick Davidson said really stuck with me. He spoke about how the SAMMAs transcends just being a popularity contest, and actually lends itself to capturing the zeitgeist of our scene in a given year, which is particularly useful when considering South African Metal’s place on the global stage.
You also won the 2016 Best Music Video award for your track Kiss the Ground and in my opinion rightfully so. It truly is an epic visual journey. How did the video come about and what future plans do you have to top it?
Joel: Thank you! Video idea was an amalgam of Ric and my plot creation. The whole affair was headed up by Ric and his cronies, who he pulled some favors with. As far as plans to top it.. we do have some other content to share real soon!
Ric: Why thank you kindly! We wanted to come into the arena guns blazing, and I suggested to the band something that integrates a story, but also features our performance heavily as it was the first anyone would see of who we were. Joel did a rough treatment which tied the story to his lyrics, and I developed it into a script, and got a dream team together who brought some classy skills to the production.
You know it’s funny you should ask what next, I was just thinking recently we should put out another video for the fans. We actually released it yesterday!
You’ve gone through a couple of lineup changes, for example you don’t have Art Pereira anymore which is a tragedy…but it’s cool you got Dane who could be Art’s brother. How have these changes changed the band’s dynamic?
Ric: Art being replaced by Dane basically meant that we were no longer forbidden to write songs in waltz time, which I find very exciting! Imagine if we wrote the next Nothing Else Matters now? Also, now that Miggs has been replaced by Werner, we can expect there to be a little more rum left for the rest of us. Only a little though.
Joel: Not all drummers are related, Kevin.
The dynamic has changed somewhat, as you would expect. Dane has brought his own flair to the band, and the drumming has changed a bit but I think he really enjoys playing music that is more rock, as opposed to his other projects. Werner hasn’t really been in the band long enough to really contribute to the songwriting, but I’m sure we’ll see some ‘Wernerness’ in future tracks!
You have one award winning EP out at the moment, when can we expect the follow up to be released so you can go and win more awards?
Joel: We are working on new tracks. Hoping to start tracking really soon and perhaps have an album ready by sometime next year. But these things are not really set in stone, and we won’t release it until we are sure it will at least qualify for an award or two.
Ric: We been getting together semi regularly to write and the other day we stuck it all together and said “oh crap dude, we’re way beyond an EP, there’s enough here for a full album!” So our fans can look forward to a nice juicy offering hopefully sometime in the first half of next year. With the lineup having evolved, it’s time to evolve with it, reinvent ourselves and enjoy having fresh and invigorating songs to play.
No really, how have all these awards as well as a Krank’d Up inclusion not turned you all into petty divas???
Ric: It’s important to stay humble. I’m actually humble as fuck. We’re basically the humblest band in South Africa. Haters are gonna say we’re not humble but they’re just jealous losers.
Joel: The fact is that we’ve all been petty divas all along. Especially me (Vocalists amirite?)
What can the crowd expect from you? Perhaps, Ric will shave his beard and Werner will shave his head?
Ric: I would like Werner to shave his head so that I can wear his hair as my new beard! Can you even imagine something so magnificent? Silky curls from my face to my navel, I could be king of yetis! That’s the dream anyway…
In seriousness, what I will say is that Dane put his foot down in the last practice and demanded that we only play heavy jams at Krank’d Up, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’re going to maximize on our half-hour, and we’re determined to leave nothing left of the crowd for the bands to follow.
Joel: Hmmm there might be some shenanigans, but mostly you can expect hard-hitting alt-rock with plenty of bounce, in-your-face guitar riffs and soaring vocals.
But, seriously, you guys are awesome and good people and I wish you luck. So for my final question.
Ric: Thanks again Kevin, I’m always tickled by your unique and fun questions!
Joel: Thanks man! It’s been a pleasure. And to answer your question, no. I’m not falling for that again. Last time you posted them on Social media and my mom saw.
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INTERVIEWED BY: KEVIN RULE