RedHook: Meet The Australian Rockers Who Want You To Embrace Your Inner Mutant
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Written by Will Marshall
RedHook wear their outsider badge with pride. It has already landed the Australian alt-rock band two appearances at Download, most recently last year where they played to a heaving tent, along with a tour with fellow Sydney outfit Stand Atlantic. Now, they’re about to land in the UK again to support Dream State, with shows planned in Cardiff, Derby, Leeds, London and Portsmouth prior to the release of their second album, ‘Mutation’.
Arriving only 18 months after their debut ‘Postcard From A Living Hell’, it continues their head-spinning research into fusing nu-metal, pop and rock, alongside vocalist Emmy Mack’s penchant for working her deeply personal lyrics into long-form sci-fi or horror metaphors.
‘Mutation’ doubles down on everything they do well, growing in new and weird ways as the band explore not only their sonic identity, but what it means to be them in 2024. With their UK tour imminent, we caught up with Emmy to talk about the record and how both it, and their fans, have helped her reclaim her identity as well as healing from trauma she’s experienced in her life.
How big a deal is it to play shows on the other side of the world?
Every single time we get the opportunity to come over there, we really pinch ourselves. Download was one of the most incredible experiences of our lives, and the whole concept of flying to the other side of the world, having these connections with people who know the band, who know the songs and are singing them back, is just mind-blowing.
You’re all big sci-fi fans and keen storytellers. At Download last year you ran with a RedHook Airlines concept on stage — where do you get your ideas for your live shows from?
All that stuff comes out of my wacky brain. I'm always trying to think of ways that we can make the RedHook live show an experience for the fans that takes it beyond the songs. It’s all about creating cool memories, moments and experiences for the fans, and even if it’s a little bit crazy, it’s fun. It makes it less boring.
You’re releasing your second album only a year or so after from your debut. What led to such a quick turnaround?
If I’m being completely honest, we were just too excited. ‘Mutation’ came together so quickly and in a very different way to the first album. It’s the result of actually having the time to get in the zone and write, which was a new experience for us. There was that part of my brain that asked, ‘Are people ready for new RedHook, or are they gonna be sick of us?’ Like, urgh, RedHook's releasing music again…it’s just nice to be able to release something before you're sick of it yourself.
Why did you call it ‘Mutation’?
It applies to the album on a number of levels. In one aspect, it does refer to the evolution of the band — musically, in our career and everything that we’re doing — but there are two other meanings to it. One of them is that there are a lot of sequels on this album that chart my growth, and the mutation in my headspace from previous songs, like Breaking Up With is a spiritual sequel to Bad Decisions, which I wrote when I was in a deep depression, and spiral of self-loathing.
Breaking Up With is me saying this constant spiral of self negativity is getting me nowhere and maybe it’s time to forgive myself and be a little bit kinder to myself. The other reason I liked it was because we’ve always seen ourselves as mutants in a weird way, with mutating genres. We've never really fit nicely into any box, we’re odd ducks. That's really beautiful to me about this album. It’s just us really sticking to those guns, embracing our weirdness in the wider music scene, and doubling down on all those things that make us unique.
A lot of your lyrics deal with processing personal trauma. How do you feel about going through that so publicly?
The first words that jump into my head are: fucking terrifying. Cannibal was terrifying to do that with, but I’d had that experience and that fear before we released Jabberwocky. If that hadn’t existed, Cannibal wouldn’t either. I had to go through that process of sharing and healing from that trauma, and it was a bizarre but also cathartic and beautiful process. I did so much healing after releasing that song, through connecting with fans who related to the song and had been through similar stuff. That was such an incredible part of my own healing process, because until Jabberwocky, I’d never really spoken about that experience of what happened to me, and hadn't really gotten too much therapy for it either.
Now, I feel like I’ve healed from that, and it’s because of the fans. It really was such a critical part of that process for me, and so that gave me the courage to release Cannibal. I was so scared I was gonna be slut shamed, or that releasing a sexually empowering song would somehow invalidate my trauma. It sounds crazy, but these were all things that were going through my head. But the reaction it got, again, it’s so cathartic and so wonderful. It’s just this conveyor belt of fear and self doubt followed by extreme gratitude, and being glad that I did it. There’s a song that didn’t make it onto the album, which has some of the most powerful lyrics that I’ve ever written. It’s about not being defined by our traumas and the worst things that have happened to us. I really wanted it to be a single, so we will release it eventually.
‘Mutation’ is out on November 22.
Dream State w/ RedHook Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sat October 26 2024 - CARDIFF Clwb Ifor Bach
Sun October 27 2024 - DERBY Hairy Dog
Tue October 29 2024 - LEEDS Key Club
Wed October 30 2024 - LONDON Garage
Thu October 31 2024 - SOUTHAMPTON 1865
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