While the three brothers who comprise Radkey are still quite young, the Missouri band has been churning out punk rock for more than a decade now.
Over the years, Radkey have played high-profile gigs with the likes of Foo Fighters, Jack White, and The Offspring, among others, and have garnered some well-earned buzz for their albums and EPs. That said, the trio is very much a DIY band, operating independently, without a label.
Heavy Consequence caught up with brothers Isaiah Radke (bass), Dee Radke (lead vocals, guitar), and Solomon Radke (drums) at the 2022 Louder Than Life festival in Louisville. In the video above, they talk about their recent single “Better Than This” and progress on a new album. The trio also discuss the current punk scene, what’s it’s been like touring and playing shows with some of their musical heroes, and the major influence that the School of Rock movie and soundtrack had on them as kids.
“We grew up on The Offspring, Foo Fighters, and Jack White, those were huge for us,” said Isaiah of the big-name acts they’ve gotten to open for in the past. “To get their approval was really crazy for us. That was really cool. That was a like a dream come true.”
As for the current punk and rock scene, Isaiah commented, “I’m really feeling great about how rock music seems to be spreading to a broader amount of people … and I feel like the scene is a lot more welcoming, as well.”
The brothers’ father, Matt Radke, introduced them to rock music early on, with Dee recalling, “We grew up listening to our dad’s music collection. He brought back School of Rock, and that had a lot of the stuff that we grew up listening to, packaged in that one movie. It just was a super-inspiring movie, and I feel like that really influenced us.”
Isaiah added, “We were really able to dig into dad’s collection, and then start a band, and had a really great example from Jack Black.”
Radkey have a string of tour dates on their schedule, beginning with a show Tuesday night (March 7th) in Oklahoma City, followed by Albuquerque, New Mexico (March 9th) and Phoenix, Arizona (March 11th), plus a couple of late April gigs in Nebraska. Keep up with their tour dates and pick up tickets here.
Watch our full interview with Radkey in the video player above.
Trouble viewing the interview in the player above? Watch on YouTube.