London gritty, fast, old school hardcore punks BKS joins us today to unveil their backstory, comment on their latest album “DIY TNT”, give us some new music inspirations through dedicated Spotify playlists, and share their thoughts on COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter.
BKS formed back in 2014 and released their debut demo in November 2015. Over the years, the band has toured England and around Eastern Europe and played with the likes of M.D.C, Discharge, D.R.I, GBH, The Stupids, Extreme Noise Terror, Conflict and Cro-Mags. Their latest release was unveiled in August 2019.
“Eleven tracks here, and not a shed of bullshit to be found” – Maximum rocknroll magazine
Comments the band: “We formed in about 2014 after Will (drums) answered an ad on Gumtree asking for members to start a hardcore band and didnβt get murdered. Chris (vocals) had put out his own ad, the original lineup contacted him and didnβt murder anyone and it all went from there.
Over the course of the next year or two we ploughed all our time and effort into playing gigs in and around London, managed to get up north a couple of times to Sheffield and Manchester, Leeds and Middlesborough and released βThe Baptist Killing Spree Demoβ (2015) and βI eat bugsβ (2016) along the way.”
“We have had loads of lineup changes which really slowed us down but now we have the line up we wish we had to start off with. We are all really close.” The current line-up of BKS is: Chris (vocals), Radu (guitar), Tom (bass), and Nice guy Will (drums).
Asked about their recent developments and new projects, they continued: “Well, weβve dropped a 7β album and had a lot of wicked gigs penned but obviously Corona came along and screwed that over (see later).
ππ’π π ππ’ππ βππ πππ€ππ¦π π‘πππππ π‘π ππ π πππ‘ ππππ ππ π‘βπ πππππ π πππ ππ βπππππππ, ππ’π‘ π€π π‘ππ¦ πππ ππππππ‘ πππ€ ππππππ¦, πππ ππππ π ππππ π‘π ππ‘ π‘π ππππ π‘βππππ ππππ β.
Weβre all from very different musical backgrounds so our wide range of influences- from grindcore to folk punk- play into this. We all write stuff for the band- even Chris- who is notorious for sending voice notes of melodies for us to transpose into music.
πΌπ‘βπ πππππ ππ ππ’πππππ π ππ£πππ πππ‘ππ πππ π‘βππ πΆ19 ππππππππ ! πΊπππ ππ£πππ¦π€βπππ, ππππππ π£πππ’ππ , πππππππ πππ’πππ‘ππ ππ‘π πππππ π‘π ππ ππππ§πππ!
BKS’ latest release “DIY TNT” is basically 11 ear-wrenching songs crammed onto a 7β. Theme wise, it covers lots of things from insanity, police brutality, apathy towards a voting system rigged to keep the elite in power with a Cro-Mags cover whacked into the mix to kick your teeth in!
BKS has penned out a new song βSavage” that will be released on a compilation sometime soon. Asked about other plans for the coming months, they replied: “Weβre just trying write some new material and get a few other projects finished. Lots of WhatsApping with different riffs and Chris making his humming voice clips haha!”
Thoughts on the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter
“Thereβs actually been a huge wave of support globally and in the music scene for BLM and other equality groups which is fucking amazing to see, especially the punk/hardcore scenes.
We personally put out a video, and various members have donated to BLM and other charities. Weβre all VERY, very anti Police, and pro human rights so we wanted to help highlight the terrorist (police) attacks that have been happening and how we all need to stick together and stay informed.
Hopefully some actual good will come of the protests and cops wonβt be able to murder people and get away with it anymore.”
Thoughts on COVID-19
“Itβs a fucking shitshow. The governmentβs useless, world-condemned response to the virus has directly resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, Dominic Cummings, the vile little fuck, should have been sacked yet somehow clings on like a cancerous growth and whilst all this is going on, the fucking Tories are trying to sneak through a no-deal Brexit under the radar. AND theyβre talking about altering LGBTQ+ laws meaning Trans people are losing even more rights.”
Spotify playlists to get you out of your musical rut
Tom’s playlist:
Will’s Playlist:
Chris playlist – “Songs I grew up listening to”:
Radu’s playlist:
