Hook into RedHook At Download
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Hook into RedHook At Download

RedHook are no strangers to the Download Circuit. This year the self-described ‘screaming rap rock electro pop mutants from Sydney’ made their debut at the UK festival offering playing the same day as prog gods Tool, cherub rockers Smashing Pumpkins, and trash metal giants Lamb Of God and Slayer. In 2020 they will be joining the Australian circuit to play in their home town and also venture south for the Melbourne leg, and they could not be more excited.

“Oh my god, when I found out that My Chemical Romance was headlining Download I lost my shit so bad. I was in the car with Craig [Wilkinson] and he had gotten the red hot scoop and told me and I just screamed. It’s so embarrassing, he almost crashed the car! I’m so, so happy and so over the moon, not just that they’re back together because I would have been excited enough about that but the fact that we get to share a bill with them is just insane to me. It’s crazy,” says powerhouse frontwoman, Emmy Mack.

She continues, “It’s been a fucking mental year. It’s just been insane and there’s been so much going on. When we were in the UK for Download we had a Facebook memory pop up and it was a year ago that day that we released our first single and we were just like ‘holy shit’. You just have to have those reality checks where you reflect on everything. It’s been a crazy amazing whirlwind and we’re just so, so grateful for every single experience that we’ve had in the last twelve months.”

In only a year the four-piece have also played at BIGSOUND and Halloween Hysteria 2019, released four single releases including an epic cover of ‘Guerrilla Radio’ by Rage Against The Machine, have come in at number 9 on the Triple J Unearthed most played artist list and have worked with industry greats including Stevie Knight (Yours Truly, Stand Atlantic, The Dead Love) and Dave Petrovic (Tonight Alive, Northlane) on their brand new monster, ‘Fake’ which sees Mack try her best Nicki Minaj.

“We’re just a big mash potato of genre influences. When it comes to the songwriting side of things, when we first started we went in with the rule that nothing was really off-limits. Everything that we do will always have an element of heavy and a bit of an edge we’re not going to come out with a pop album or something like that. In terms of the sounds that we create it’s just a process of experimentation. The rapping and the hip hop elements have definitely been there since our first release but it’s something I’m still new with and that I’m still experimenting with,” Mack explains.

“We never intended to release the song, it was just a bit of an experiment for us and even in terms of the themes it was a bit of a LOL for us and then we were just like ‘oh actually this is really fun to play’ and then we recorded it and we were like ‘oh actually fuck, we can release this’,” she laughs.

The reception has been off the chart for ‘Fake’ and RedHook as a band. Now that they will have two Download Festivals up their sleeve, what will the next year present? Firstly, a tour with Cog and The Amity Affliction is on the cards and an EP or album is in the near future.

“I would be happy to keep releasing singles but right now we are working on a body of work which I’m sure we will be able to disclose more about next year.”

Hook onto RedHook at Download Festival this March. Tickets at downloadfestival.com.au

Written by Tammy Walters