What’s the most ridiculous band name you’ve ever heard, and did you only learn about it just now in the headline of this article?KrankyDoodle (KD) got its name from the daughter of the band’s founding drummer when she was having trouble eating instant noodles.”We knew that we wanted to play punk rock songs, but we are not good with names,” said Razmy Mohamed, the band’s only remaining original member.They had other band name ideas too, which they shared with The Korea Times: bucketlist, Sodapop, Dreaming for betty and Table for 4.
“We decided to keep it as KrankyDoodle sounds lighthearted and funny,” Mohamed said.The band is coming here this week for a four-city tour, accompanied by Japanese rock-reggae-hip-hop band K5 The Serious Joke. KD started in 2017, but its original four-piece lineup broke apart in 2022. Mohamed reformed the band earlier this year, bringing in two friends to back him up.
Bat, the original drummer, left to join the skate punk band Iman’s League, and the other two members retired from music. But Mohamed got his comeuppance, if there was any to be had, as he snagged former Iman’s League drummer Hosni Altway, who also currently plays in the local band Noodle Brain.
There doesn’t seem to be any bad blood caused by the band’s game of musical chairs with Iman’s League. As the KD members describe it, Singapore’s punk scene is “tight-knit like a big family.”Mohamed was even seen wearing an Iman’s League shirt in Seoul in June when he accompanied Iman’s League as their media assistant while they were here for IT’S A FEST! 2024.
The members of KD said in a collaborative statement, “Everyone is supportive of each other, from the veterans to the younger ones new to the 커뮤니티 scene. It’s constantly growing, with more interesting subgenres popping up here and there.”KD is also joined by Ricardo Peralta from the band SFX.”So far we have played together for a few shows, and things are turning out pretty well,” Razmy said.
Dropping from a quartet to a trio hasn’t had a negative impact on the band’s sound.”I’m definitely feeling the three piece set-up as we get to individually express ourselves musically through our specific instrument,” Peralta said.”I guess for myself, I don’t really care about old and new members,” Altway said. “As long as we click with each other, have fun and be very transparent among the three of us. Then nothing can beat that in my opinion.”
Now that the new lineup has successfully debuted, the next step was to look abroad beyond their small city-state for overseas shows to play. And Korea was on their bucket list.”We wanted to start our debut with the new lineup with a bang, so we were scouring for overseas shows that we could play in,” Peralta said. “Korea was one of the locations we were keen on visiting!”They contacted Yoon Ki-sun from Victim Records, and he helped set them up on their cross-country tour.
“This will be the first time we are coming to Korea as a band,” Mohamed said. “We have no expectations, but we definitely want to learn more about the Korean music scene and, of course, the food!”It will also be the first time for Peralta to play here, but not for Altway, who has toured Korea before with Iman’s League.”I love the music scene and the people there,” Altway said. “I’m hoping to see old friends and new friends.”
As Mohamed and Altway are both Muslim, they will have to stick to halal food while they’re here.Mohamed said they haven’t had much difficulty finding Muslim-friendly food while touring in other countries, and they can adjust their diets to either seafood or vegetarian. “The last time I was there, finding Muslim food wasn’t that bad with Google on your side,” Altway said. “Worst-case scenario, we have Family Mart! Usually, at the after party, we still join them drinking and have fun, but we drink only Chilsung Cider.”
KD and K5 will be in Club GP at Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, on Thursday, Gwangju’s Club Boojik on Friday, Seoul’s Club Victim on Saturday and Incheon on Sunday. At the Seoul show, they will play with G.I.O.K., A Lone Wolf Elegy Club, Overhead, Smoking Goose and Row Brothers. The Incheon show features Ascona, Sink to Rise, God of Universe and Merry Hey Day.