The Hellfreaks- A Hell of a band
Interview conducted on Oct. 04, 2019
by Dan Locke
THE BEGINNINGS
Hell was full so they came back! Spawned from surf-psycho roots in 2009, Shakey Sue decided to abandon her drumsticks and pick up a microphone. Alongside her trusted guitarist, they recruited two punk rockers and summoned a sound more fitting of their devilish nature. The Hellfreaks were born.After winning a prestigious award from the Program For National Contemporary Music Culture in Hungary in 2009, the band invested their achievement in their first music video for the critically acclaimed ‘Boogieman’ that has surpassed five million views on YouTube. The video became one of the most viewed psychobilly videos on the planet.2010 saw the release of their debut album ‘Hell Sweet Hell’ which was an immediate success.The Hellfreaks were rapidly leaving their tracks across the globe from Alaska to Australia and from Budapest to Birmingham as their fans devoured the record.After two years of relentless touring, their second full length album ‘Circus Of Shame’ was unleashed to the world through Longneck Records. A mix of punkrock and billy-influenced-sound, alternative model and vocalist Shakey Sue and her three partners in crime set out to take their fans and critics by storm for a second time.
Sue before 2009, you were a drummer. What bands had you been in, and what style of drumming did you do?
The Hellfreaks is my second band, so my list is not that long. I played drums in a surf-psycho band before and I think the right definition of my drumming style was “more fun than talent”.
I only got into playing drums because I had an injury as a professional gymnast when I was 14 years old. There was no option for me to continue my sports career so I felt really lost and desperate at that time. I was really shocked by everything and it was extremely hard to accept that even if I was going to do my best, some dreams just can’t come true.
After the physical healing process, all I wanted was to fill my time with something that could make me feel less empty. My uncle was a drummer, that’s why I thought I should give it a try. Its really enjoyed it, but I didn’t have any further goals with that. After a few years, I found my passion for singing, found new goals with that, so afterward I just see it as a step in the right direction.
What type of drum kit did you have?
The “my ex-boyfriend wanted to avoid me so much that he would rather leave his drum kit at my place” type.
Are you still drumming?
No, but I would love to if I had the time for that and a place where no one could hear me. Not even my cat.
How did you come up with the idea of Hellfreaks?
We recorded a song with my first band where the singer and I switched roles. The feedback was so good that the guitarist came up with the idea to start a separate project with me as the singer. Did I think – why not? But I never imagined that 10 years later this “project” (The Hellfreaks) could be such an important part of my life.
How was the band formed?
The last puzzle piece you might miss is the band name itself. I came up with The Hellfreaks idea when I was working at one of my very first jobs, a rockabilly bar that I didn’t even earn 2$ / hour at, so far from home that it was almost impossible to get back late at night. So in my eyes, the birthplace of the band was quite a hopeless place and compared to that I’m very happy about how far it’s come!
You did your first demo in 2009 and won the National Contemporary Music Culture in Hungary. How did that make you feel?
Unreal. Especially afterward. The impact of this was huge for the beginning of the band.
It gives you the funding to make your first video Boogieman which now has almost 6,000,000 views. What was the idea behind the making of the video?
This is a topic I could talk for hours about.
Basically, the song and the theme of the video was chosen by the company who made the video. The story of the video speaks for itself, but the goal was to capture an atmosphere. After all these years, I believe that the video and the pictures themselves are really great. When it comes to the song, if I had access to a time machine, I’d have a long conversation with my younger self about the choice.
Also, I would need to prepare my younger self about all the hate comments that I would receive. They hit me very hard and it took me a long time to deal with them in a healthy way.
I’m not satisfied with the recordings but that’s normal I guess. It was the very first album I’d recorded as a singer, I had no experience. But as a person who is never satisfied with herself, all I hear – if I’m forced to listen to it – are millions of mistakes that I made, so of course, it makes me sad that my worst performance had the biggest reach so far. But at least I have a lifetime goal, to prove that I can do it much better.
What is www.lostikipictures.com?
The company who made the video.
How was your first tour, and what do you remember the most from it?
Uhh, that was a long time ago. Our first tour outside of Hungary was in Germany with another band called “Acting Apes”. It was the first time that we did a big run in Germany so what I remember the most is how different dialects are in the various areas of Germany.
My German is really good, kind of my second mother language: I grew up in Vienna, where they speak very different German. So language-wise, I got lost from time to time. But now I’ve improved myself to a German-language power ranger. I easily understand all of the dialects now.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
With begging to karma to commiserate me, vitamins and avoiding drinking after anyone else from the same bottle (as this is something that we normally do between bandmates at rehearsal, etc.)
How would you describe your music for someone who has never heard or seen your band?
Don’t waste your time if you’re into stereotypes. We’re the sound for kids who grew up with rock’n roll, punk, metal and hardcore – because that’s what we’re into! And we love to mix these elements and spice them up with a modern touch.
We started as a psychobilly band, but I got very sick of the boundaries of that genre. Maybe I’m too sensitive when it comes to this topic but I believe that nothing new can be created if you follow stereotypes. That’s the main guideline of our latest record. I just hope that everyone will be able to hear this mentality in our upcoming album “God On The Run”.
What are the top three Hellfreaks music videos someone should see?
https://youtu.be/4l0xzBQcZ6E – ‘Men In Grey’ ( our newest single),
https://youtu.be/guaEK62mxno – ‘I’m Away’
https://youtu.be/nbtdi0zzhM8 – and ‘Rope’ from our last album Astoria.
How does touring in the United State compare to touring in Europe?
Touring in the US makes you realize how small Europe really is. The distances are crazy! Of course, also the cultural differences are huge. Especially as a Hungarian band… but being on the stage and playing shows feels pretty much the same.
How is live music in Hungary?
With respect to how small Hungary is, I think we have a lot of great bands! But rock music is not at its best over here, especially when it comes to live music. Many of the smaller clubs have been closed in the last few years so there are fewer and fewer options to present yourself to the audience. Also, the economic situation is not very supportive of bands: people just don’t have enough money in their pockets so the concert ticket prices need to be quite low. Of course, live music should be reachable for everyone, but it’s nearly impossible to build up to something as a band if you’re not able to have consistently larger audiences at your shows. It’s building an audience without an income … I guess you see the circle of problems.
Since you are from Budapest, I am going to name some bands from Hungary and I would like you to make a statement about each if possible.
Heaven Street Seven – Heaven? I guess it’s obvious that I have a bigger trust in the other side.
Karpatia – They put a bigger focus on the ideology they represent than on their music in my opinion. Very much not my cup of tea.
Magdi Ruzsa – She is a very successful pop singer over here.
Hooligans – It’s a mainstream band, that I don’t really know.
Bikini – This is the music of my fathers’ generation.
Tankcsapda – Actually this is the only band on this list I ever listen to. I’ve listened to them on my sister’s CD, cause I was too young to have my own CD’s. I even had a shirt of this band when I was around 13 years old. They are one of the biggest rock bands in Hungary and kind of the voice of the poor working class.
Locomotiv GT – Again not my generation, but my father actually really likes them.
Deep Forest – They are not Hungarian.
Why did you go with a IndieGoGo campaign to fund your video “I’m Away”?
The answer is simple: we had no money to make it without help.
We’ve never had a big label behind us to put money in our pockets. We always did everything ourselves.
When we did this campaign we got a lot of criticism: “Go and get a job, don’t beg for money!” That felt pretty rude, as we all sacrificed a LOT to keep the Hellfreaks alive! I have a ‘normal’ job too and I manage the band alongside that. But this is Hungary, you can’t compare the living standards to any western European country, even if you have a good job, your money won’t be enough for such ‘luxuries’ as 5000 EUR music videos. But in times like these, you go under as a band if you’re not able to release music videos on YouTube. So we had to give it a try, even if I was very afraid of it.
The other motivation was to find out if people really want the Hellfreaks. But it turned out they do! That’s why the music video ‘I’m Away’ means much more to us than just another video – it only came alive because of our fans and that is a kind of magic in my eyes.
What is the Men in Grey?
Men In Grey is the title of the first single we released from our upcoming album. It focuses on the value of time and its irreplaceable and irreversible nature.
The main inspiration for the lyrics came from a tale by Michael Ende Momo, in which a mysterious company – a group of grey lords (Men In Grey) overwhelm people and encourage them to save time. But time is life itself. So the more they conserve it, the poorer, more shallow and cooler their present will become, and the more they will become a stranger to themselves.
So your new album comes out in January of 2020. What can you tell us about it?
That this is by far the very best material we have ever released. I have to admit that we’ve never worked so long and so intensively on any material before but we think it was worth it.
We’ve fulfilled a little dream with this record, cause we were able to involve foreign producers. For pre-production work Paul Miner (New Glory, Atreyu, Death By Stereo), for production/mixing Evan Rodaniche (Escape The Fate, Powerman 5000, Lacey Sturm), and for the mastering Tom Waltz joined us to provide the perfect final form of the band’s songs and ideas.
It’s called ‘God On The Run’ and it comes with 10 Tracks on CD and very extravagant Vinyl and will be released in January 2020. But the presale is just around the corner, so you should keep an eye on our social media pages!
How do you see The Hellfreaks in 5 years?
Maybe with some more facial wrinkles, but hopefully with even more shows under our belt!
Anything you would like to say in closing?
Thank you for having us! Stay tuned, follow us, like us, subscribe to our YouTube channel as there is so much coming right now and hope to see you all someday personally at a Hellfreaks show!
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