Doomed Confessionary: Andrew Scully (Kraken Waker)
Photo by James Bott // JBottPhoto
Kraken Waker is a stoner/groove rock trio based out of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. The band just released their debut album »Be Good« on October 4th, 2024 via Elephant Mam Records.
Kraken Waker are Ubes (guitar, vocals), Gav (bass, vocals) and Scully (drums, vocals).
Can you say a few words about your band?
Kraken Waker are a three piece band who hail from Newcastle Upon Tyne. Our modus operandi is grooves, riffs and having a whale of a time playing them. We’ve been a band for around 8 years but have played in bands together for a fair bit longer than that.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Our biggest challenge has been doing everything ourselves. We recorded the drum parts in a studio but everything else was recorded and mixed by Ubes, our guitarist, who’s driven himself half mad tinkering and tinkering with it to get it just right. I mean, he’s done an epic job and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Booking gigs and tours are all done by the band liaising and sorting things ourselves or contacting people and seeing if they’d be interested in having us on. It’s an arduous job but it’s worth it in the end.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Personally speaking it’s a twofold thing, first was getting to play Bloodstock 2024. I think it was a huge milestone for us and cemented the fact that our music is something people are really enjoying. Second is getting our debut album out and into the world. It’s taken some time but good god was it worth it! »Be Good« finally makes our music tangible, and most importantly availble to everyone.
What was your biggest regret?
I think our biggest regret is not getting this album out 3-5 years ago. I think having our music available early could perhaps have switched more people on to us by now. The reasons, I think is that we are DIYing the whole process but also juggling our own responsibilities while trying to do it all ourselves perhaps delayed things slightly. Now that the ball is rolling though, things can begin to pick up momentum, and already have!
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
I don’t think I can decide a particular gig but 3 definitely come to mind. The Metal 2 The Masses Final, New Blood Stage at Bloodstock and our album launch that we just had on Friday 4th of October. The M2TM Final was something else, the energy in the room was an entity that will take a hell of a lot to replicate. The gig made the venue feel like an arena. The New Blood Stage was an otherworldly experience, something that I suppose when you’re younger you never think you’ll get the opportunity but bloody hell, what an experience it was! Finally the album launch just gone was fantastic to hear folks singing our songs back to us, another thing you don’t expect when you’re a young musician starting out. So yeah, it’s have to be between those three.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
How thoroughly decent every band we’ve ever played with is. You expect at least one super inflated ego to infiltrate but I don’t think we’ve ever encountered one in the wild. At least not yet anyway. Every band we’ve ever had the privilege and pleasure to play a show with have all gave off an aura of camaraderie and a sense that we’re all in the same loud, awesome boat together.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Speaking personally, I’m listening to a lot of Desert Storm, Tallah and Gnome. We’ve even had the honour of Gnome naming one of their songs after our name, Kraken Wanker! It doesn’t hurt either that it’s an absolute banger of a song!
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Hmmmm. I think it’s the old Freddie adage of “The Show Must Go On”. Things may go awry but always can be salvaged in one way or another. It’s either that oor “Don’t Judge Yourself Too Harshly”. There’s been a few times I’ve felt I’ve played a stinker of a gig on drums, then multiple people in the crowd come and tell you it was the best time they’ve seen you play. So either I’ve gotten away with it scott free or you didn’t have as much of a stinker of gig as you thought!
Photo by Jessica Knox
What are your guilty pleasures?
I’m a sucker for 80s and 90s cheese. I’m forever trying to get the other lads to cover »We Close Our Eyes« by Go West or Sledgehammer« by Peter Gabriel. I think we have different types of guilty pleasure though… Hahaha.
Can you say something more about current music scene in Newcastle?
Quite honestly Newcastle’s music scene is better than it has been in many a year. Small venues are popping up left and right that cater to all genres but most importantly, the sheer calibre of bands in Newcastle (and the North East of England as a whole) is off the chart. You could fill a full 3 day festival with just talented bands based in the North East. It gives you a great sense of pride to be part of an area that has so much to offer.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
So far, we only have one gig left for the rest of this year. A hometown show on November 22nd with Crowley at the Lubber Fiend. 2025 is shaping up to be a fairly busy year for us though. We’ll be providing details on that at the end of the year.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Keep doing what we’re doing really. Touring the album further afield to get the word out, write new material for a second album and record said second album. I’m so excited for what the future holds for this band.
How can people best support your band?
Keep listening, come to our shows and support us and (I know it sounds corporate shill sounding) buy our merch. Selling our merch gives us the means to record more and give fans more of our music as well as the ability to tour further and further.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
To our longest serving listeners, thank you so much for supporting us for the many years we have been together. For our newer listeners, thank you for giving us a listen and we hope you end up becoming one of those longer serving listeners! I don’t think you guys will ever truly know how much we appreciate you!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well