Interview: Craic Killers
Mr. Craic of Craic Killers (all images provided by Artist)
What’s the Craic?
Jordan Ranft interviews Mr. Craic of the Craic Killers.
Craic Killers is an Irish punk project, based in South East London, helmed by the balaclava-wearing, eponymous Mr. Craic. The project focuses its attention on political rage and driving riffs, with lyrics delivered in both English and Irish. The project’s newest EP, Who Said I Was…, was released in July and features five blistering tracks and an impactful interlude.
Jordan Ranft sat down on behalf of ISM to interview the mysterious Mr. Craic. The following is an abridged transcript of their conversation.
How'd Craic Killers get its start?
So I am awful at sticking to deadlines, and I had to do a 30-minute-long performance at the end of my run at University. I couldn't think of what to do, and I figured, you know, I'm very efficient at writing punk music, so I could get it done in a short period of time. Then I felt like, you know, this has to have good lyrics to go with it if I want to get a good grade. I decided to just sort of throw all of my aggression at World politics into writing this entire thing. And then, after I finished University, got a 2-1, did pretty well, I just decided that I wanted to keep the good vibes going and try to raise as much money as I could. My end-of-university performance had a big QR code up behind me so that people could donate to these brothers, who are living in Gaza. So, I just felt like keeping it going. I think a lot of my life I wanted to be a musician for the wrong reasons, and now I feel like I'm doing things for the right reason.
So then, if I'm understanding right, the big goal behind this is to make good punk music and generate funds for causes that you support.
Yeah, that's exactly right. As long as people are enjoying the music, my only goal with Craic Killers building up an audience has been to have as many people contribute to the fundraising work that I do as possible. So I've done the first EP, and we ended up sending any money we earned over to the Sameer Project Community Aid group in Gaza with the current EP. We're still waiting on the numbers. We're gonna wait until the end of the month, but I'm going to be sending 50 percent of that to my good personal friend, Lina, who lives in Gaza. She's a single mother, and her entire family depends on her, like her father, her mother, and everyone, so it’s important to support her. We also run a balaclava fundraiser, which, when they sell, is going to a nurse Salah. All of these people can also be found on my Instagram in the highlights. It's the only highlight that we have.
Could you tell me a bit about what the Sameer project is?
They’re a Community Aid group that functions in Palestine, and they used to have chefs in a kitchen doing meals for everybody in the area & they had tents set up with doctors so that people could come in and get treatment for any cuts, bruises, or broken bones or anything. So yeah, like Community Aid. As in, everything that people could possibly need. Including, I believe, they also do a winter campaign for getting warm clothes and tents that don't have holes in them and proper mats to sleep on and everything for during the winter as well. However, because of the Western media portraying what's happening there at the moment as a ceasefire people have stopped donating, so they've actually had to shut down several projects that they used to run - or run them at lower capacity.
What are some inspirations you draw from when you make music for Craic Killers?
One of the first Punk CDs I ever got was Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables by Dead Kennedys. I think it was my dad that gave me that one. He also gave me a bunch of other cool stuff. Like he gave me a bunch of The Prodigy’s records. My dad’s music taste has had a huge impact on me, and both my brothers to be fair, but I suppose mostly me, since I'm the one making music.
I draw inspiration from a lot of different places. I think the main places, especially lyrically, would be all of the older stuff. So, Dead Kennedy's, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, all of these kinds of people. But then I also pulled from emo, as a teenager I listened to loads of scene stuff, so all of the synth and extra drums will come in from that. I've also lived in Southeast London for the last, like 15 years. So, a lot of grime around here. A lot of drum and bass around. It's just all the sort of stuff that I've grown up with here.
I'm wondering, are you getting any Kneecap comparisons?
Well, I'm an Irish musician that performs music partially in Irish in England. So, yeah, it’s a common comparison. Fair enough, you know. They also describe themselves as Republicans, and talk about Palestine a lot. So I see where the comparisons are coming from, but I just think it's a little bit unfair on smaller artists, because obviously if there’s supposed to be a whole Irish language Revival, why are we shoehorning everybody into just being Kneecap?
Okay, a couple more questions. What can you say, or what would you like the reading public to know about the new EP that came out in July?
Basically, it's all bangers! In all seriousness, I would say, whilst it might not sort of seem like it when you're listening through the EP, the most important track on there is the interlude. It features a recording, a voice note that was sent to me by my friend Lina, who I mentioned earlier, and it's her voice with a drone over her house. I don't know how many people have experienced having to be on the phone with somebody, or, like, listening to somebody who's in an active war zone record their voice, but it is terrifying. So the interlude, the sample that's in it, is her voice and the Drone that was above her house. She is the reason that 50% of the proceeds will be going over to her to support her and her young daughter.
Last question that I had was just, where's the project going from here? You’ve got an EP out. You're picking up new shows. What's next?
I’d love to be big enough to be touring properly and making enough money off of that to sustain myself, the team, and then donate a significant portion of whatever we earn to, well, hopefully not still Palestine in five years - but we want to continue dedicating as much of our earnings as possible to humanitarian work.
Mr. Craic of Craic Killers (all images provided by Artist)
In Spite Magazine (ISM) is a volunteer run, not for profit journalism and artists' cooperative built by people who love music, art, photography, and independent culture. Any merch sold helps keep ISM going, supports independent journalism, and allows us to cover the bands, artists, and scenes that often get overlooked while keeping our content free for everyone.
