Interview by: Smudge
King Kraken is a heavy rockin’ mob steaming out of South Wales. I was lucky enough to catch up with them before they hit the stage at Call Of The Wild. They are a real band with a collective sense of humor and continually take the piss out of each other. They have released an EP and a full album this year. I asked what the reaction has been.
MD – The album was released on January 27th and the reaction has been more than we could have ever imagined. It’s got reviews and we got quite a few nine out of ten, nine out of five, and some ten out of ten. Yes nine out of five – that’s how good it is! It’s been phenomenal.
Did the band realise they had something special?
MD – I thought it was brilliant. Every band will say their new album is incredible but to be part of it oh my god it sounds so good. Before the mix stage the engineer was playing it back for reference and it sounded great.
RM – I was different. I was like I’m not sure about this boys. It sounds good to me but will other people like it?
You’re the drummer, aren’t you?
RM – Yes.
Knew it. I have a rule that we don’t let the drummer do interviews. This would be proved later!
MD – As long as we’re happy with it – we know some people won’t like it but that’s fine with me.
We are now joined by guitarist Adam Healey. I wanted to know who writes in the band.
MD – We all contribute. Pete comes up with riffs Karl comes up with riffs – I write a lot of the lyrics then we all get together and all five of us dissect it fuck around with the idea and it comes out a shadow of its former self.
Does anybody get precious about their ideas?
MD – Always (pointing at Karl)
KM – There was a riff that we tried to use in about seven different songs!
AH – It was a great riff in isolation, but it didn’t fit anywhere. We needed another track for the record, so we got a song together very quickly and it’s one of the best tracks on the album.
MD – That particular riff was about seven years old – we’ve only been together for five years!
What’s been happening since the album release?
MD – We’ve done a greatest hits album! Or greatest HIT. It’s nine and a half songs on it.
AH – We did the album and did some gigs and every time we got a gig we had to rehearse the album so we can play it live.
PR – We’ve been changing the set a bit because it becomes a bit stale after a while plus Mark likes to talk to the crowd a lot, so we play a five minute then he talks for five minutes – they don’t listen they just want to hear the next song!
Are you constantly writing?
AH – Yes – as soon as the record came out, we started working on new songs, so we’ve got loads of stuff flying about.
KM – We get asked this question a lot and it’s fair to say that some bands have phases. They write and record and gig then write again. We don’t go through phases we’re always working on new material, it’s a constant flow.
When was the band formed?
MD – We started in 2018. We played the o2 Birmingham and the day after we went into the studio and recorded our EP. The day after we came out of the studio COVID hit and we went into lockdown.
AH – When we played Birmingham we were told about this virus in China.
Good idea for a song – Mark starts to riff on the idea.
AH – Why didn’t you write that?
MD – Because you would have said no to it!
What are the band’s influences?
MD – Mine – Black Stone Cherry, Black Sabbath, Black Label Society – any band with Black in their name.
KM – I like heavier stuff like Lamb Of God and Slayer but they don’t necessarily come across in our music.
AH – Late 60’s early 70’s rock like Hendrix and Pink Floyd. Pete’s the polar opposite.
MD – It melds together well though.
PR – It stops us from being a total thrash band to a certain extent.
AH – When we write we make it sound like King Kraken, so if Pete or Karl come up with a riff it’s going to sound like Bay Area thrash, and to be blunt I don’t like that stuff but if I play the same riff it’s going to sound instantly different.
MD – Yeah it will sound like Clutch!
What are you hoping to get from today?
MD – If we get one person who likes us and buys an album then it’s worth it.
The conversation digresses and we now get to the point where my drummer rule kicks in.
AH – When you spend so much time in a van the conversations get surreal for example Richard said – What if we were on stage playing a gig and this dirty acidic rain started pouring – imagine what that would be like. Stupidly I asked him if it was a good or band thing. He said it would be brilliant!
RM – But it would look like Slayer – really raining blood, wouldn’t it? And what if it was green?
Finally, what’s next?
MD – We’ve got a few gigs – we go up to Scotland and Newcastle. We’re supporting Geoff Tate and we’ve got some festivals coming up like Wildfire, and SOS Fest then we’re in Edinburgh at Bannermans. We need to get some gigs in the South East and London – so if any venues or promoters are reading this – call us! Please!
Booking Ceri Davies [email protected]
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