Sometimes, out of the blue, I find new music in the strangest places. In this case, I was scrolling the Facebook. Don’t judge. I’m old, fight me. And since Facebook knows of my love for “that dragon show”, it suggested a video of this duo called KrashKarma. The drummer/guitarist duo did a cover of the Game of Thrones theme song. And it is heavy. So much so, that when I found out that they’d be touring and coming straight through my city, I had to go check ’em out.
KrashKarma drove up from LA, and landed at Portland’s Twilight Cafe and Bar, a quaint venue on Portland’s east side. It wasn’t wall to wall bodies in the club, but that didn’t stop Niki and Ralf from laying it all down for us. During soundcheck, Ralf took us for a quick jaunt to his home country with a few measures of Du Hast and a sprinkle of Nina’s 99 Luftballons. Not to be outdone, Niki put down some sick beats and a sultry NSFW version of the Itsy Bitsy Spider. We were all hooked and this was just the soundcheck!
Once soundcheck was complete, Ralf and Niki went out the door. Like, they literally left the club. After a few minutes of nervous silence, I overheard the door man tell the sound guy “here they come”. Sure enough, Niki came through the door with a marching band drum slung over her shoulders. Ralf was right behind, playing a bass riff on his franken-guitar and yelling through a megaphone. If you’re going to make a entrance, make it memorable, right?
KrashKarma brought it strong with several of their older songs as well as a huge sampling from their new album, titled Morph. Of all the songs they brought out in Portland, their song Stranded would have to be my favorite. As Ralf and Niki explained, Stranded was inspired by the events of the Titanic, on which, both Ralf and Niki’s ancestors had traveled. Also included was a brief story and small plug for Ancestory.com. What a great pair of entertainers! One song that was on the set list that KrashKarma may have “borrowed” was NIN’s Closer. I’ve never heard that song quite that heavy before, but it was awesome!
When you first hear KrashKarma, you might wonder how they get such a “full” sound with just a guitar and a drum kit. Well, I got the privilege of sitting down with Ralf before the gig and he introduced me to his “bride of Frankenstein” guitar. By adding a third, very specialized pickup, he can play a bass line on his low “E” string while he’s shredding the whole time. So, to recap, Ralf is playing guitar, bass, and singing at the same time. Take that, peasants! For reals, you need to get out to see this pair.
KrashKarma will be touring through the summer, primarily in the upper-midwest. Here’s to hoping that they add some more stops.
