INTERVIEW: 'POSTCARD FROM A LIVING HELL': LOVE, EMMY OF REDHOOK
Header Image Photo By Brooke Harley
In 2017, the title of a Lovecraftian Horror became more than just a story and a voice emerged from the music scene of Sydney, Australia. They created a sound - a voice for outcasts, the others, the mutants. Materializing from the rock and metal scene of Australia, RedHook took the stage and created a safe place for fans to feel heard and appreciated while listening to auditory story telling in the form of non-genre conforming music. The Mutantcore band recently released their long anticipated debut album, Postcard From a Living Hell.
Since their debut in 2017 on the music scene, RedHook has traveled the world, taking the stage with bands like Three Days Grace and Smashing Pumpkins. They have performed at festivals all over from UK’s Download Festival to Rock am Ring. Within their world of performances, Emmy, the amazing vocalist of RedHook, enjoys the outdoor stages where they have been performing for some time.
“Some of the shows that we did with Smashing Pumpkins, they had like this cool little like, weird dark creepy festival thing that they brought to Australia,” Emmy said, remembering The World is a Vampire Festival which was the grunge icons’ Australian tour. “And we got to play a bunch of those shows on some outdoor stages and that was so much fun. Yeah, I think I like playing outdoor festivals and big stages. It's just like the most fun. It is running around like an absolute psychopath. It's a good time.”
Female led bands have been gaining traction around the world, as womens’ voices grow in the male dominated rock and metal scene. Emmy takes to the stage as a front woman of RedHook and has been fueling her creativity and skills with inspiration from fellow women of the scene.
Emmy explained,
“It’s funny cuz when I was growing up, I didn't really have a lot of female influences, you know, in terms of other musicians. And I didn't really have anybody that really connected with me. But now, I'm so inspired by so, so many women in music who are doing kick ass stuff.”
Starting with Courtney of Spiritbox, Emmy said,
“Like, she's just so inspiring in so many ways as a performer, like, as just her work ethic. I've never met her before, but I would love to, I would love to have a beer with Courtney.”
To Bonnie from Stand Atlantic, whose lyrical prowess has been an inspiration to Emmy.
“She's just so cool, man. I'm a big snob when it comes to lyrics. And I don't really find myself impressed by a lot of people's lyrics, but Bonnie man, she's just a genius with the way that she writes. She has so many cool one-liners and expresses ideas in such a unique way.”
Another female inspiration for Emmy in the industry is her friend from Yours Truly, Mikaila Delgado.
“She's amazing. She's such an incredible songwriter as well. And probably one of the best voices out there.”
The love shared between the artists was cultivated in the writing room with the song “Imposter” off the new album Postcard From a Living Hell.
“That collaboration really brought Mikaila and I together as friends because it became more than just the song. Because ‘Imposter’ was about going through a breakup with somebody who shattered your heart to pieces and finding out that that person wasn't what they seemed and had been lying and this trail of lies that became unraveled,” explained Emmy. “The head fuckery of that, which is something that Mikaila and I were going through simultaneously. At the time we were collaborating on that song, it was so much more than a song. It was a real trauma bonding experience that just brought us so much closer together because we were just casual mates before. We didn't really know that much about each other. We respected each other and we liked each other, but we'd never been really close until working together. I just have so much love and respect for that woman. She's incredible.”
“Imposter” off the new album isn’t the only song that holds a deep meaning or personal importance to Emmy. Emmy’s amazing lyrical concoctions aim to tell a story within a story. “Inarticulate" off the album focuses on a topic that deeply connects with many in the industry.
“I feel like it really cuts to the core of the album as a whole. Because lyrically it's kind of about the experience of feeling helpless to know what to say to somebody who you love, who is battling life-threatening depression and wanting to save them, but not being able to find the words.”
Also on the album, “Off With Your Head” calls out in outrage at the horror of political news in the world today.
“That song was just like a frustration vent. At the time I wrote it because I was just feeling so overwhelmed with so many things that were going on in the world and just around me that were filling up my Twitter feed and my social media, l felt so painfully, unjust and made me so angry. And this song, it is political. It's definitely the most political song that I've ever written.”
But rage and anger at what we have seen across the world in media isn’t new, women have simply started to grab the microphone, much like Emmy, and scream their feelings to the world. In regards to female rage, Emmy said,
“Fuck yes! Because heavy music and punk and all these alternative like angry genres of music have always been male dominated and it's always been okay for men to express themselves in that way. Women and non-male human beings have always been notoriously underrepresented in these genres, but it's our time now!”
Emmy and RedHook take the 11 song album to address a good deal of issues that are personal and important to Emmy. The name and the title song, “Postcard Xo”, off the album has a significance as well.
“A postcard is something you send from a place that you're just visiting and that isn't forever, even though sometimes when you are deep in the bowels of these like really intense emotions, you can feel like it's forever, but you know it never is.”
From speaking about the darker side of being a woman in the industry to sexual assault, the album is a collection of collages for those that have felt they desperately needed to find someone to relate to in their difficult circumstances. Emmy uses each song as her own therapy to process her trauma and in speaking out about her own situation, has allowed an audience to feel that they are not alone.
A specific instance that has been an intense part of Emmy’s life is “Jabberwocky”. Based around the mythical beast in the Alice in Wonderland story, Emmy attempted to slay a beast that many women have sadly experienced before: sexual assault.
“It's actually just been so fucked up realizing just how many of us. I’d say that I think that you'd probably be able to find less women who haven't had some kind of experience than who have it's truly fucked. I felt like as someone with a platform, even just a small one, that if I could help those people in some way by telling my story then I should do it. I feel like writing that song is the most important thing that I've ever done today.”
The passionate songwriter and vocalist isn’t someone to stop fighting. Much like a final girl in a horror movie, Emmy is a fighter and she has created a storm along with RedHook. Taking the scene as another story teller and a non-male artist in the industry, she is an inspiration to women of the industry to reach for stars far beyond our galaxies reach.
“I think women’s role in rock and metal is just to be themselves, tell their stories, and just to kick down the walls of whatever the industry has told us over the years,” Emmy said in regards to the mission of women in the industry.
“What we should be, or whether it's you have to be the girl next door, be androgynous and wear t-shirt and jeans, or you need to be sexy. All the stereotypes out the fucking window. Be whoever you wanna be and inspire the next generation of fucking legendary women to do the same. And we're going to get ourselves into a really, really good place, I think. And I can see that happening and it makes me really happy and really excited.”
RedHook’s album Postcard From a Living Hell is currently out everywhere you can stream music. The band hopes to come over to the U.S. soon, but until them we can keep an eye out for any new releases that we might possibly see by the end of the year. Emmy has also written an article about the experience that inspired “Jabberwocky” with Rolling Stone that is a true testament to her story telling, making it an important piece for the current times we live in. Check out the album and you’re sure to find yourself in love with RedHook. You’ll be sending your own postcards from your living hell before you know it!
