Meet Bristol's Punk Powerhouse Beefywink in form of K-RUSH, Daizy Daze, AZ and Rare B.
They just released their debut album " Dance in the Deluge" ( in my opinion a 'must listen') and their lyrics are influenced by mental health issues and topics regarding our current political and social climate.
As they are residents on our Play It Loud playlist I thought it's about time to have a chat with them to see what they have been up to in those weird times.
Please give us a little intro about your band.
Daizy: Beefywink has been a mad castrophany of members and sounds developing over the past 4 years. Combining genres like Punk, Drill and Hip Hop with a harsh, John Cooper Clarke-esque commentary on the bullshit we live in, we want to bring an unstoppable energy but also deeper critical thought to every live show we play.
'Beefywink' is an unusual name – the same can be said for your individual names within the band - K-RUSH- Daizy Daze - AZ - Rare B - can you please elaborate on that?
Rare B: In hip hop pretty much everyone has a cool name, so why can’t we? We love shouting each other out on stage so unusual names cut through better.
K-RUSH: The word pseudonym is sick. Me and AZ have basically just shortened our names, Rare B is short for Rare Breed, and Daizy’s just always been Daizy.
Daizy: The name Beefywink originated after a near fatal experience involving K-RUSH and a herd of cows in 2016. After a nail-biting sprint up a punishing hill, K managed to jump over a fence and escape the pursuing 30+ cows. Once over, one of the cows had an interesting change of character and winked at K, leaving K with the residual fear the cow still has beef with them to this day. This beefy wink will never be forgotten.
What makes Bristol special for you? What are your thoughts about the Bristol music scene?
Az: Everywhere you look there's art or something going on, and it’s a very refreshing place to be in comparison to the place I used to live. It’s like a festival.
Rare B: It’s like a big village. The DIY attitude we love so much is part of the Bristol spirit.
Daizy: The range of venues here is incredible, and the people that run them are all hardworking and really sound.
K-RUSH: Things move at a Bristol pace, and the diversity throughout the arts and communities is exhilarating.
Give us one fact each that no one knows about you.
Az: I’m really sick at pogo sticking and can do it no handed and do other stuff at the same time.
Daizy: I did ballet for 10 years, then I retrained as a musician.
K-RUSH: I can play the banjo.
Rare B: I have 3 nipples.
You have very eye-catching and provoking artwork – my personal favourite is the one for “Bottom Feeder” - who is coming up with the ideas and who are the artists behind it? 
K-RUSH: We approached Munich-based Andy Underwood after following him on Instagram for a while (@_mrau_), because we felt like his art looked how Beefywink sounds. We told him about the album and were very honest and open with him about the topics that influenced the songs, surrounding mental health and current affairs. He showed us a lot of care and kindness in return, both in the form of 5 fantastic pieces of art, but also continual reassurance and support through some of the most difficult stages of recording the album.
What’s your creative process? Do you have any hobbies that you turn to to rejuvenate your creativity? 
Az: We all bounce off each other in the practice room with ideas we’ve jotted down in our own time and try to frankenstein it together to make a big-beefybaby-soup-pie and occasionally it sounds like music!
Rare B: We are quite hard working people, and I always come up with my best ideas when I’m working.
K-RUSH: I’m slowly getting into horticulture, and learning about all the different species of plants and what they need. I’m starting to prefer plants to people.
The dreaded subject “Covid” - not that is has slowed you guys down as you keep releasing new singles quite frequently - how are you staying motivated through all of this as it's not the best time to be a musician or for the music biz in general?
Daizy: The main way we’ve felt the effects of Covid is not being able to play live. We get pretty depressed when we can’t gig and it has been hard to stay motivated, not to mention the ever growing worry about the possibility of some of our favourite venues closing. But we did play a socially distanced gig at Moles in Bath at the beginning of October, and we have the insane Attitude Festival coming up next year, so we’re just making new merch, writing new tunes, and working hard to be able to show them to everyone ASAP.
Your debut album 'DANCE IN THE DELUGE' is out on the 23rd of OCT – this must be very exciting and again kudos for releasing it in “Covid” times – so please tell us a bit about it!
K-RUSH: These were the songs audiences reacted most to pre-Covid at our shows. Recreating that live feeling only became more important when we realised we wouldn’t be able to promote it with any live gigs. The songs have become increasingly more poignant since we wrote them, throughout the recording and promotional process, and we’re so ready for people to hear them.
What’s the best/worst advice you ever received? 
Az: Bernie Rhodes (ex-manager of The Clash) said I’d never make it.
Rare B: Best - “Don’t be a pillock” - Paul Draper. Worst - Men don’t look good in fishnets
K-RUSH: Best - Don’t Over think Shit (dots). Worst - You’ve got loads of time.
What's next? What are your plans for 2021? 
Daizy: We’ve got so much exciting stuff in the works - new merch, videos, new songs - which we’ll be releasing throughout 2021. We had to halt our plans for a UK tour so as soon as that’s possible again we’ll be playing live everywhere we can. We can’t wait to start working with different bands in Bristol again, and pooling our resources and creativity to overcome the current challenges in all our lives.
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