What do you get when three teenage boys decide to start making music together? Well, you usually aren’t lucky enough to get anything like Radkey. Fortunately, the Kansas City music scene is. The three brothers—Dee (19), Isaiah (17), and Solomon Radke (15)—hail from St. Joseph and have been creating music catchy enough to be received by a broad audience and heavy enough to be affirmed by more experienced rockers and punkers alike. Though the brothers have only been playing music for 3 years, they portray a mastery of their instruments and a deep understanding of their influences, which include bands like The Misfits, The Ramones, Bad Brains, and Jimi Hendrix.
Radkey has found an unbelievable amount of success in its short amount of time as a band: the trio has performed at the Afro-Punk Festival in Brooklyn (also including the likes of Erykah Badu and Reggie Watts), recorded a video at the Wreck Room in Brooklyn (founded by Adrian Grenier of HBO’s Entourage), and will be performing an official showcase at SXSW in March, as well as others (including Kansas City’s MidCoast Takeover showcase). Congratulations to Radkey for being The Deli’s Emerging Kansas City Artist of 2012!
Radkey is:
Dee Radke – vocals, guitar
Isaiah Radke – bass, vocals
Solomon Radke – drums
Check out Radkey’s Daytrotter session, which was just released today!
Radkey has a number of performances coming up, the next of which is tomorrow, Thursday, January 31, at Eighth St. Taproom in Lawrence, with Bloodbirds and Ponyboy (the band will be recording a music video at this event). The boys will also appear at The Riot Room this Sunday, February 3, with The Growlers and UZIS. Radkey will release a 7” on Friday, March 1 at Replay Lounge with Stiff Middle Fingers. If you’re in Austin in March, the trio will be playing an official SXSW showcase as well as others (including MidCoast Takeover at Shangri-La).
(Photos by Todd Zimmer)
–Michelle Bacon