Isaiah Radke kicked off 2019 trying to clean blood off his pants.
When I caught up with the 24-year-old bassist from Radkey over the phone a couple weeks ago, he told me that he hadn’t spilled any blood this year. At least, not yet.
“The nosebleeds have kind of stopped. They’ll probably start later on in the year... probably towards the end. So that’s pretty good."
The three brothers from St. Joseph, Missouri kicked off 2020 on tour. Their first stop: Columbia, Missouri. Tonight, Isaiah, Dee, 26, and Solomon, 22, will bring that tour to Birmingham where they’ll take the stage at The Nick.
It’s not a rock show if there’s no intensity. Bloodshed is another badge of honor. Radkey appreciates the enthusiasm, as long as you don’t interrupt the flow. I caught their show at the Masquerade in Atlanta, the same night an overzealous fan learned that lesson quickly.
Eyes behind black shades, Dee pointed into the audience at a youngster leaning over a speaker to get a better shot of the band with his phone. Dee was calm, but direct.
“You. Hey you,” he said from the stage. “You’re muffling me.”
After the show, the young fan beckoned to him, apologized, and extended his hand for a handshake. Smiling, Dee hopped offstage, shook his hand, and the two posed for a photo together. No harm, no foul.
“Yeah, that was classic,” Radke said, chuckling when I recalled that night.
Dee Radke (right) poses with fans after the Radkey show at The Masquerade in Atlanta. (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)
Radkey is far from aloof, but they’re well-known for being blunt. After all, the bio on their Facebook profile says the homeschooled brothers credit their start to growing up in a “s****y pink house” and being “bored with nothing to do” but listen to their dad’s music and start a band.
“It’s true!” Radke said, laughing when I brought up the “bored with nothing to do” line.
A lot has changed since 2013 when the band caught the attention of the New York Times at SXSW, a year after they graced the stage at AFROPUNK.
Their tour vehicle is no longer their family’s 2000 Plymouth Voyager. Now, they prefer Dodge minivans.
That year, they performed on the BBC’s “Later with Jools Holland.” But it was 2018, Radke tells me, that was a huge year of validation. The band started the year appearing in MasterCard’s “Start Something Priceless” ad campaign with SZA and more emerging artists-- appearing on billboards and in a video series. Later, they went on tour with Jack White.
“That was huge because the dream would be to tour with someone like Jack White. Be on billboards in Manhattan and stuff like that,” said Radke. “Seeing that come true was really amazing.”
The group is currently independent, but since 2012, they’ve released projects under three different labels-- Wreckroom, Replay, and Sony Red. And to top it all off for the self-proclaimed comic book nerds, their music has landed them invites to the Marvel and DC headquarters.
Since 2013, Radkey has been vocal about being a black band in the rock scene. Bookers for concert venues would assume they were rappers based on the cover of their demo tapes. And while they’re huge fans of Bad Brains and Death, two pioneering and genre-changing black rock and punk bands, they’re tired of being compared to them.
But amid the annoying tropes, more documentaries and articles have emerged over the past few years that examine the black roots of rock and punk music. Black alternative musicians have organized festivals to empower their fellows in the scene. Punk collectives of color have formed around the country, including Xingonas in the Pit in San Antonio and PunkBlack in Atlanta.
Isaiah Radke speaks to fans after a concert at The Masquerade (Credit: Shauna Stuart for AL.com)
At the Masquerade earlier this month, Howling Star and Conkrete God-- two punk bands who frequent Punk Black, opened for Radkey. Von Phoenix, one of the founding members of Punk Black, is a guitarist for Howling Star.
Radke says he’d learned of Punk Black on social media.
“They had kind of posted about us a while back before we got to come down. And we were like. ‘Oh, cool. That's awesome.’ So we had learned about them a little while back.”
Solomon Radke at The Masquerade in Atlanta. (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)
Radke tells me the group’s mantra has always been do their thing until people catch on. And to the industry’s credit, he says, it’s a lot easier once you’re on the inside.
Here’s an edited version of our conversation below:
Let's take a step back and talk about how you started out. You all taught yourselves to play your instruments. So how did you guys craft the sound that you wanted?
We just have a bunch of inspiration. For instance, we have a playlist on Spotify called Green Machine. The original version of that had a huge amount of music that we listened to get inspired. That’s pretty much a look inside of our musical taste. It’s a very, very, very long playlist. And as we write albums, we have playlists that we listen to. And after the albums are finished, we just add all the songs to the Green Machine. So it’s just a really crazy, huge playlist that we’ve been working on for a really long time. We hope it can get some traction someday because we really put a lot of work into it.
So, on that note, let's talk about firsts. So what was your first big concert? Do you remember?
Our first ever show was opening for Fishbone, which was crazy. We didn’t have any experience or anything like that. So it was really lucky for us to be thrown into that and we were able to get gigs from then on because people knew that we were a serious band. That first show was really big. It was hard to go back after that because we just wanted to play big shows all the time. It felt so good.
Let’s keep talking about firsts. What’s the first concert you guys ever saw as spectators?
It could be... The Sword at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas.
What was the first album you bought with your own money?
The first album I bought...hmmm [pauses]. My first vinyl record that I bought was Pearl Jam, “Vitalogy.” And my first record I ever really bought by myself... it could have been Van Halen’s “1984,” the CD.
On Radkey’s Twitter bio, it says “We're three brothers on a quest to save the world from false rock.” What's your definition of “false rock” ?
Just music that is really by the numbers and just the same. Stuff that has kind of killed the rock genre and made it seem as though it’s just not worth listening to. Music like that. Like, when you hear it, you’re like, ‘oh, that’s rock. I don’t like rock.’ You can beat the dead horse and say bands like Nickelback. That’s kind of what we’re getting at.
So, I read that people like to compare you to Bad Brains and Death. Talk about that.
I think it's purely just because we're black. Especially Death, because I don't think we sound anywhere near Death. There's some Bad Brains songs that you can maybe compare us to. Like, that's no big deal. I can actually understand that. After forming the band and people telling us about Bad Brains, we even got heavily inspired by some of their music. So that was really cool, people comparing us to them because we'd never heard of them. We also learned about Death when people compared us to them.
But we totally disagree that we sound anything like them. We’ve got way too much like, pop-y kind of stuff to even be close to being considered a crazy, raw punk band, you know, come on.
And on that note, you all played your first Afropunk festival in 2012 in New York, right?
Yes!
What was that like for you? Because I know it's a big deal for a lot of black rock bands. Afropunk has transitioned to become a little more mainstream, but what was it like for you to play that stage in 2012? Was that a noteworthy performance for you?
Yeah, that was a big deal for us. Like, it was really far to get over to New York. So that was big to have a reason to play there and have it be worth it. We made some crazy connections in New York that really helped our career a lot. We did the Wreckroom Session during that time and that kicked the band off really big. A lot of times, people can hear the music or see a video and not understand it. But with the session, they could hear a fresh song and see what we’re doing live. It was just something that really helped move the band forward.
Who are some of the artists you'd wanted to meet? Or just some connections that you made in New York?
We met with the guitarist from The Giraffes and Adrian Grenier was doing Wreckroom at the time. We were able to hit it up and do our first record there. We did our first little EP in Grenier’s basement, actually, which is pretty hilarious.
So let’s pick up on an interview that you all did in 2013 with KCUR, where you told them that, growing up, kids in school weren't into the music that you were into. Can you tell me more about that?
Yeah, Dee and I did one year of public schools and the disconnect was really huge. No one really understood us or knew any of the bands we liked. And it was just weird. It made you feel like kind of an outcast. So we ended up kind of bailing and just kind of hanging out and just making music at some point.
You guys have spoken openly about being a black band in the rock space. How have things changed since you started? Are you seeing more people in the scene who look like you?
You know, it's still kind of rare to see. They're definitely out there. And we've always kind of known that. It's just really hard for bands like us to even really make it in the music industry because a good amount of time people just can't wrap their heads around it. And that's been a huge problem in our career, pretty much the whole time. It's like, you have to spend so much time convincing everyone that it works and that it's not weird. And now, we've established that years later. We've established a lot, and I feel like there are a lot more things out there pointing out that black people have always been involved with rock, and people are starting to kind of notice that. It’s getting a little bit more normal.
I still wouldn’t say we’re quite there yet, because it’s still considered pretty weird to be a black, you know, rock person. Especially a band of all black (musicians). I can’t even count the amount of times we’ve been mistaken for Unlocking the Truth or The Bots, or the other young black rock bands that exist. So, it’s just a weird situation that has been getting better. But even just a couple days ago, someone thought I was from Unlocking the Truth.
Wait. Seriously?
Literally just a couple of days ago, someone was like "Weren’t you in the streets of New York?" and I was like... f**k no.
I don’t want to put you in this position of giving counsel, so if you don’t have an answer to this next question, then it’s fine. Obviously groups like Punk Black and Xingonas in the Pit, and groups that organize festivals like Black/Atl in Charlotte provide good regional support systems for Black rockers. But for bands who are trying to do multi-state tours and play internationally, do you have any advice?
I would say that people are a lot cooler than you would think. It’s been a much easier ride as far as people not being s****y. I would just say keep going and don’t really compromise your sound unless that’s something you want to do. Because we just kind of do our thing until people catch on. I’ve seen rock bands and they’ll think “Alright, this sound [we’re trying to make] isn’t working. Let me just add a quick rap thing to it.” And they don’t even really know too much about creating a rap [sound] because they’re rockers, so it ends up sounding not quite right. You know, doing things like that. Unless of course, you want to mix it and you’re good at it. And it makes sense. Like, that’s cool too. But I’d say to stick with what you do and just know that it’s a lot easier out there than you would think. So, there’s that. And then getting compared to bands that you aren’t-- that’s kind of annoying.
Howling Star at The Masquerade, opening for Radkey (Shauna Stuart for AL.com)
I've heard about bands about being mistaken for Bad Brains.
Yeah, some people have asked if we were Death’s kids. It’s like.. what the f**k? I was like “yeah, we’re Death’s kids. We all started a band [together].” (The, sort of, irony: three of Death member Bobby Hackney’s sons formed a band together called Rough Francis. But they are considerably older than all three members of Radkey.)
(Editor’s note: I cracked up)
I'm sorry to laugh. The way you said that was funny. Okay, let's get back to the fun stuff. I see you guys have an entire Instagram account for your cats. Tell me about them.
We’ve got four rescue cats. Really, really good cats. And we pretty much I mean, we would have more if we had more room.
I want to talk about drinking. I see the photos of the beer you all post to Instagram. Do you guys have a favorite beer that you drink when you're on the road?
Let’s see... What would our favorite beer be? We really like Kansas City Boulevard beer. That Boulevard Hoppy Wheat. We really drink a lot of Miller High Life and Modelo and there’s another Mexican beer we drink. I’m trying to remember.... oh yeah, Dos Equis.
I write about spirits and I love to ask this question. Do you remember your first sip of beer?
I don’t think it really counts, but I remember O’Douls being my first sip of the flavor, and I really liked it. I don’t remember how old I was. I was pretty young. I remember, I kept slurping it down and I was like “what the hell is this? Amazing!”
And I see you guys like Maker’s Mark? Do you guys like whiskey or is that just a one off thing?
Yeah, we love... I think it’s called Wild Turkey? That one’s awesome. We love Evan Williams. That’s a really good, like, chill one. And yeah, Maker’s Mark is great. There’s one more [pauses]. Jim Beam is a fun one for us.
Are whiskey and beer your go-to spirits?
Yes!
Here’s why I’m asking. Have you ever heard of a boilermaker?
I have!
Yes, a pairing of whiskey and beer ?
Sounds pretty awesome! We’ll have to try it.
Let’s move on to pop culture. So, what are you watching? I know you guys like “Watchmen.” And you guys did a podcast at the Marvel headquarters in June of last year. Tell me about that.
It was a dream come true! We went to Marvel and we got to check out a bunch of stuff. It was kind of like Willy Wonka because there’s some things we couldn’t take pictures of and we really wanted to, but you want to get that gobstopper so you can’t do it. We got a bunch of new comics. It was really amazing. We got to really look at some crazy stuff. And then, just a little while ago, we went to DC Comics and that was just as amazing. Like really, really, really crazy. Being nerds as kids, if you were ever to tell us that our music would get us into DC Comics and into Marvel headquarters --that’s just like... whoa! That’s totally the dream.
And every once in a while, DC Comics allows touring bands to take a tour for free, right?
Yes! Yes! We’re real legit, hardcore fans. Like, it’s crazy. We got to talk to the full comic writers and really have a good time together. Just to be able to meet people who work in comic books. Just the amount of respect we have for those people and getting to talk about characters and just how their personalities are. And then you’re thinking "man, I’m talking shop about heroes with someone who is really involved with making it happen.” It’s really crazy. We’re having this conversation about superheroes and it kind of matters. It’s not some pointless thing, because you’re talking to a dude who really works in it. It’s crazy.
I know you didn't like the new Star Wars movie because you said so on stage in Atlanta. Why didn't you like it?
I don’t know. [laughs] I really don’t like the Disney Star Wars movies very much. I think they kind of dropped the ball. I thought “The Last Jedi” was kind of fun just because it was ridiculous, but that’s the one that everyone hates. And that’s kind of why I like it though. Because I don’t like the movies very much. I went to the theater by myself to watch it. It was a pretty fun time but it was also just like… I was not super on board.
Who’s an artist that you really want to work with this year or share the stage with?
We’ve played really close to Weezer, and on the same shows and stuff. But there’s never really been a Radkey/ Weezer tour. There’s still quite a few bands out there. Like, I think it would be cool to tour with The Offspring.
"We really love breakfast," Isaiah Radke told me during out interview. One of their favorites: Waffle House (Courtesy, Radkey)
Thanks for letting me hold you hostage. Anything else that you want to say that I didn’t get to? Any final thoughts?
We’ve got two new singles out-- “Bend” and “Portraits” available on Spotify and everywhere you can check out music right now. And we’ve got a new album coming out this year. And this music is part of that. We’re really stoked on getting it started.
DETAILS: Radkey takes the stage tonight (Jan. 22) at The Nick. Tickets are: $6 in advance and $8 at the door| Doors: 9 p.m./ Show: 10:00 p.m. |Tickets are available at Ticketweb
Here’s Radkey’s Green Machine playlist on Spotify:
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