The three brothers from Missouri have been causing quite a stir with their punk rock sounds. Bassist Isaiah Radke talks about what it’s been like to go from teen obscurity to being the hottest fraternal trio since the Jonas Brothers.
Does one of you take more of a leadership role when you’re songwriting and is that reflected in the dynamic of your relationships?
Not really. We write songs in several different ways and it just varies from song to song.
Have you found it all a bit overwhelming, how quickly you’ve managed to make it from playing shows in your hometown to touring across the world?
It’s definitely pretty crazy. Like if you just take a minute to think about it, we started out jamming badly in our little jam room four years ago. We couldn’t even get a show in our hometown due to our age. And now we’re playing shows in different countries. It’s really insane, and we’re loving every moment of it.
You can hear Misfits and Dead Kennedys in your sound but there’s also a definite appreciation for a pop hook. Would you agree?
We love catchy hooks. Sometimes that’s one of the best parts of a song. A perfect song rocks and is also really catchy, as far as we’re concerned. It’s pretty fun to mess around with really cool riffs and catchy choruses.
Do you encourage a certain amount of dancing at gigs but just don’t let it become about frat boys pushing each other around?
We encourage people to freak out, big time. As long as everyone’s having a good time though. No fighting or anything like that.
Isaiah, how come you don’t use a plectrum? Did you model your style of playing on any of your guitar heroes?
John Entwistle and Geddy Lee definitely. I see that and basically think that if those two legendary bassists aren’t using picks, there’s no reason for me to.
You’re all pretty heavily into your graphic novels and video games. How much does that influence your lyrics and your choice of imagery for artwork and videos?
We’re super into all of that stuff. It influences the music and the imagery big time. For instance our song Romance Dawn is about an anime called One Piece and the video is very comic book-inspired. We’re in love with it.
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