Three-piece punk band Zookraught is in full “chaos mode,” as they call it. The explosive collective has been gaining momentum in recent months, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down.
Comprised of bassist/vocalist Steph Jones, drummer/vocalist Baylee Harper, and guitarist/vocalist Sam Frederick, Zookraught released their debut EP in 2022 and have been playing more notable shows of late, like a recent tour kickoff show for punk band Monsterwatch at Tractor Tavern.
As well, the group locked down a spot on the lineup of Seattle-based music festival Belltown Bloom, and come February 3rd, they’ll be playing a big show at Conor Byrne with Bad Optics and a new group called Stetson Heat Seeker, which features Ian Reed and Obi of the now-defunct Actionesse.
“Actionesse was huge for me when I first moved here… I just fell in love with them immediately,” says Jones.
Jones grew up in Boise, Idaho, and moved to Seattle in 2014 with her hometown band, Fivestar. Soon after arriving here, she immersed herself in the music community and quickly began playing with another band called The Morning After, a self-described “angry and socio-politically charged hard-rock” band.
It was in the The Morning After that Jones first met Baylee Harper, who played drums in the band, and the two immediately hit it off. When The Morning After dissolved in 2019, Jones and Harper formed Zookraught.
“Baylee and I… still want[ed] to play music together,” says Jones. “We started jamming together but then the pandemic hit… We kind of just sat on our little project for a while and then when shows started happening again we were like, ‘We have to get our shit together so we can get back on stage.'”
At first a four-piece collective, Zookraught started out as bass, drums, and saxophone, with the aim of bringing a quirky sound and energy. Their first EP, Like A Rotten Zucchini, added angular guitar melodies, to driving saxophone, prog rock effects, and the high-energy emotion of punk, and explored everything from political issues to personal relationships.
For instance, the EP’s saxophone-driven Klezmer-esque hard rock track, track, “Plastic World,” explores climate change, shifting the blame from the people to unregulated Capitalism. “It’s about how it’s not the consumer’s fault,” explains Jones. “We should not be blaming ourselves for climate change. There’s nothing we can really do. The government tries to place all the blame on us.”
On the other hand, Like A Rotten Zucchini also featured more lighthearted and straight-forward tracks like “Hunny Fuckit,” which captures the friendship between Jones and Harper.
“That was a silly, fun song that we just wrote one day when we were feeling really goofy and it has become a fan favorite. People love that song,” says Jones, adding that there’s a great fan video for the track.
Still, much of the first EP featured music written before Frederick entered the band as a permanent member, and before their full-time saxophonist stepped down, so the music they’re making nowadays has taken a slight departure from the debut EP. Now a traditional three-piece of bass, drums, and guitar, Zookraught’s writing has taken a heavier turn and incorporates more dance punk elements since adding Frederick. The group shouts out early ’90s rock band Brainiac, post-hardcore group Ex Models, and Sacramento rockers !!! (Chk Chk Chk) as major influences.
With this fine-tuned sound and a collective songwriting approach, the group is currently working on a new 6-song EP they plan to have out in summer 2023. They’re also preparing for a West Coast tour starting in March 2023, leading up to Belltown Bloom in May.
“We are so excited to play Belltown Bloom. We were supposed to play it last year and then Baylee got COVID the day of the show and we had to drop out literally a couple hours before our set was supposed to start,” says Jones. “[Belltown Bloom founders] Veronica and Valerie are just the nicest people ever and we are so excited to be working with them on that festival.”
For now, Zookraught is revving up for their February 3rd show at Conor Byrne. It’s officially a birthday show for Jones, but it’s also the perfect gift for fans awaiting a preview of their updated sound.
“We definitely have a lot of elements of punk, we have elements of dance music, especially with Sam,” says Jones. “All three of us are singing now and all three of us switch off on singing lead and it’s a very collaborative writing process these days. There’s not one clear-cut person as the lead songwriter. We are all the songwriters.”
Follow Zookraught for ongoing updates.
