Black Power Mixtape
Charleston’s Black Power Mixtape is the lowrider of Palmetto State metal bands, built for maximum visceral impact with a stage-shredding live show that has garnered a strong regional reputation. Pair that with the quintet’s sterling musicianship, and there’s a lot of horsepower under the hood.
But the act invites more questions than most with its eyebrow-raising name, something singer/guitarist Kally Knight readily acknowledges.
“We had played with a couple names at practice and nothing really stood out,” he recalls.
The conversation turned to The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, a Swedish film covering the rise of the Black Power movement. Evan Lampkin, the band’s drummer and only black member, was enthusiastic.
“[He said], ‘‘Hey, that would be a really cool band name,’” Knight recalls. “If anything, we figured it would look cool on a flyer and get people talking about us, which is exactly what’s happened. There hasn’t been much if any backlash about it — the only people who have taken offense were a couple old white rednecks at a show. The black community we’ve come into contact with are all cool with it.”
Asked if there were any concerns about cultural appropriation or perceived racial bias, Knight counters with an impassioned defense.
“We have no racial issues,” Knight says. “If someone finds offense with it they need to look at themselves, not us.”
Two years on, the name and the attitude behind it are indicative of Black Power Mixtape’s devil-may-care approach. Knight’s previous band, Quench, straddled the millennium with a 15-year stretch run that never quite reached the level the band aspired to. Mixtape is his escape from the rat race.
“With Quench, the intention was to get the record deal, jump through all those hoops, and at some point it was just time to stop,” Knight says. “This band was formed with just us in mind, we said we were going to play songs that don’t have to be radio-friendly, mix in some stoner rock, Southern rock and hardcore.”
What ties together all those disparate heavy music threads is Lampkin’s drumming. He can switch styles, tempos and more, not only from song to song but multiple times within a song, underpinning everything the band does with grooves that often flirt with funk or jazz.
“He’s probably one of the best musicians in Charleston and the drums are not even his primary instrument,” Knight brags. “He plays piano, plays bass in another band, and sings, too. He plays really outside the box stuff.”
While Knight’s own musical impulse — influnced by his time with Quicksand and listening to groups like Helmet, and Faith No More — guide the group, the guitarist says Lampkin is the difference-maker, underpinning ’90s hard rock with uncommon stylistic fluidity.
“I write a lot of basic 4/4 stuff; Evan makes it go in different directions and keeps it interesting,” Knight offers.
Translating its complex but hard-hitting live show in the studio was a challenge, but Knight is happy with the results on the band’s self-titled debut.
“We wanted to try to match the live energy but did throw in some different drum sounds, different guitar parts, and the interludes between songs make it more like a mixtape is supposed to sound,” Knight says.
These interludes include excerpted soundbites chosen to enhance the band’s thematic intentions. A snippet of the 911 tape from the Las Vegas shooting shows up in the middle of “Morning Bell,” amplifying the song’s message.
“‘Morning Bell’ is about how numb we are in America to these mass shootings now,” Knight offers, “all this political crap back and forth and they don’t think about what it’s really all about, which is protecting our kids.”
Knight’s lyrics justify the band’s intensity, touching on gun violence and other issues. On the single “Kicking the Doors In,” he sings “I’m not gonna hold my tongue / It’s time to spit it all out,” and the album proves that this is no hollow boast.
“I wrote a really angry record,” Knight admits. “This time around, I’m just pissed off at the world.”
What: Black Power Mixtape
Where: Art Bar, 1211 Park St.
When: Saturday, Sept. 1, 8 p.m.
With: The Disquiet, Decadence, NeverFall, Primo Noctis (GRÜZER is no longer playing)
Price: $6
More: 803-929-0198, artbars.com
