Red Light Riot
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Red Light Riot

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The band was initiated when guitarist Nina von Johannsohn (formerly of Wolfpack) and vocalist Kristy Kta (from Queensland’s Kill The Apprentice) recognised their similar tastes and ambitions.

“A mutual muso friend literally hooked me and Kristy up and we started talking about what type of band we wanted it to be and our influences,” von Johannsohn says. “Early Blag Flag – Keith Morris-era, Fugazi, L7, Hole, even PJ Harvey. Iggy Pop was another one. It was that vintage early hardcore punk rock and that real female energy as well,” she says of their major influences.

After some early personnel trial and error, a prosperous relationship developed playing with drummer Ingrid Martini (K Road Queens), bassist Benjamin Hall (Fire Underground) and lead guitarist Ed Jones (Hellbent Revelators). Martini speaks confidently about the group’s chemistry.

“We’ve got a really good bond happening between the five of us. We’re just so open with each other and we just have so much fun with each other. We’re the kind of people who can be straight up with each other. There’s no bullshit. If there’s any issues they’re not around for long because we communicate well and play together well. With that bond our sound is coming along really strongly and quite fast,” she says.

Songwriting largely remains a collaboration between von Johannsohn and Kta, however they’re not exactly dictating masters. Rather, democracy is the key.

“At the end of the day it’s always a team effort and I want everyone’s influence. We’re definitely not precious over who does what or changes made. We just want the best result,” von Johannsohn explains.

As mentioned, von Johannsohn and Kta cited some fairly specific guitar-wielding touchstones at the band’s inception. Martini’s summary of the quintet’s sound suggests these instigating influences have been closely followed.

“We’re very much punk rock,” she says. “We’ve got really strong punk influences but we’ve also got a lot of heavy rock influences.

“Our sound definitely can’t be pigeonholed as one genre,” von Johannsohn adds. “It’s definitely got some sub-genres and different influences going on. I think our main thing is high energy.”

Even though von Johannsohn suggests that their sound can’t be succinctly pinned down, she’s very assured about what the band represents. “We know what we’re doing. I don’t think there’s any confusion now in terms of our sound.”


The term ‘punk’ immediately implies more than just a sound. In addition to their noisy high energy approach to playing, Red Light Riot assume a fearless punk rock spirit. “There’s definitely that ideology behind stuff as well as the sound. We put our heart and soul into everything we do and all our songs,” says von Johannsohn.

The band have just one gig under their belt thus far but 2014 is set to be a big year. “We’re in the process at the moment of recording our EP and that’s at Homesurgery recording studios in Brunswick,” reveals von Johannsohn.

Homesurgery (which is also a management company) is run by Shihad’s Tom Larkin and Martini explains how excited she is to record there. “Because I’m a kiwi, Shihad’s a pretty dear band to the hearts of New Zealanders, so I’m really proud to be dealing with him.” The EP should be available in four months time and the band have a number of gigs locked in for the first part of the year.  “The vibe is what it’s about for us, because we just have so much fun with it and everyone seems to really like the tunes. So onwards and upwards really.”

BY AUGUSTUS WELBY