Next Wave #916: Kid Kapichi

In Association With Vero True Social

How do you judge a good gig?

“There was this guy everyone called Naked Richard who would come to all gigs in a sparkly sequin dress,” says Kid Kapichi co-vocalist and guitarist Jack Wilson, remembering the days the band spent playing their local circuit in Hastings. “If he wasn’t naked by the end, then you’d done a rubbish gig. I saw him on top of a human pyramid once – quite the view. We absolutely love Hastings, it’s given us 99% of our material.”

These days, Kid Kapichi don’t measure success by a flash of Naked Richard’s bits. Ever since they released single ‘2019’ back in January, they’ve been playing their politically aware punk to sell-out crowds. With their recent EP, ‘Sugar Tax’, Kid Kapichi have joined the likes of Idles, Fontaines DC, Dream Wife and Show Me The Body, bands who are dissecting pop culture and talking straight about disillusionment and mental health to rabid audiences.

“The sugar tax is just another thing put in place to look like it’s helping the consumer,” says Jack. “Adding a bit of money on doesn’t help anyone. Everything is taxed. Your childhood memories, your nostalgia and now sugar. Taxed. These are conversations we’re having with each other, our friends, our families, every day of the week.”

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Kid Kapichi formed almost four years ago, releasing their debut EP ‘Lucozade Dreams’ last year. But it was only when they wrote ‘2019’ that the band solidified their sound; an stomp reminiscent of Slaves but indebted to Sham 69, which walks the line between cartoonish tomfoolery and acerbic tongue lashings. While track ‘Death Dips’ chants, “I took a trip to the death dips” and is simply about riding a rollercoaster (‘Or is it?’ says Jack mischievously, eyebrows raised), ‘2019’ contains the line; “Flick the switch on my TV. They’re making porn out of poverty."

“It was based around Channel 4’s Benefit Street,” says Jack. “The media, not just the Government, profit off other people’s misfortune, stirring the pot. You meet these young guys who are Tories like, ‘I don’t want my taxes going on these benefit scroungers’ and it’s like, ‘Mate, that’s not where your money is going believe me’.”

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The single made its way onto Jack Saunders’ Radio One show on its first day of release, grabbing the attention of Frank Carter, who invited the band to play at his secret birthday bash. “They did it at a place called Blondies in Clapton,” remembers Jack. “We showed up to this place and the bar was, I can’t even describe how small it was, smaller than most people’s living rooms. We said, ‘Where’s the stage?’ and they were like, ‘Anywhere you want.’ We had to set up in front of the door.”

‘2019’ also won the band a Radio One Maida Vale session, where they performed a mashup of Billie Eilish’s ‘Bury A Friend’ and Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes’ ‘Crowbar’, prompting Frank to invite them on their upcoming October European tour, where they’ll be able to stick it to the man at their biggest shows yet.

“Punk is coming back around because we’re in a turbulent time and that’s when it flourishes," says Jack. "People are angry. For the last ten years I feel lyrically, rock has had no substance but now bands are singing about issues that everyone’s facing. For a long time rock wasn’t relatable, but now it is more than ever.” 

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Words: Dannii Leivers

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