Keep Up with Karma: badcandy’s Newest Release
By Zoe Elerby
According to NCADV, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced domestic abuse by an intimate partner. Every minute, 20 people are being actively abused by an intimate partner, equating to more than 10 million people per year. This can range from shoving to severely injuring a partner to the point of hospitalization or even death.
In fact, some of the abuser’s actions aren’t considered domestic violence until it reaches a dangerous point. However, many victims of domestic violence are active in creating safe spaces, a community of survivors that support one another with amazing strength. These communities give domestic abuse survivors space to tell their stories.
Here in Chicago, Sarah’s Inn is one of those places, located right here in Chicago. And that organization is the exact place where domestic abuse survivor and lead vocalist of badcandy, Alex Subak will be shining a spotlight on during the debut of badcandy’s new single Karma.
Alex Subak, lead woman of badcandy and Local Motive, will be releasing her story through a single titled Karma in which Subak artfully paints the absolute rage a survivor feels toward their abuser. With the spotlight that Subak and her band has, Karma will impact a number of listeners. With the same message as big celebrities that speak about domestic violence, such as Rihanna, Russel Wilson and Halle Berry, Subak knows that every survivor has their own story.
But Karma captures what the media seems to miss the most with survivors; rage. Most of the time, forgiveness has been the message, actively ignoring the victim’s torment and favoring the abuser. However, that cannot and should not be the case, because every survivor has a different situation. But rage can be just as helpful when coping with that terrible situation.
First of all, Karma is a classic take on alternative repetition where a vocalist repeats the same line, getting more and more intense as the song continues, the intensity is followed by their instrumentalists. The intensity of Karma comes from its only lyrics:
“Hey man…if karma doesn’t get you, I’m gonna hunt you down.”
These are the lyrics to Karma, one line with one message. Some reviewers or critics would shake their head at the repetitive line, in that case they would’ve missed the message. As the song progresses, you can hear Subak growl as she presents these lyrics. This is incredibly impactful because Subak is indeed a woman in the alternative scene.
94% of domestic violence victims identify as female and most of them are victims to homicide. As terrifying and dark as that statistic is, that’s what makes Subak’s single more important. As she repeats the line, her voice gets lower, you can feel the rage in her voice as she waits for her instrumentalists to pick up the pace at about the 2 minute mark. At the same time, Subak’s vocals change to the pinnacle of the rock and metal genre; screamo. Subak screams this line over and over again, a firm grip on her message as guitar and bass pick up the tempo to create a mosh pit worthy song.
On Friday, October 14th, badcandy will be releasing Karma in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness month. The debut’s release party will be a costume ball, as to stick to badcandy’s brand of interesting stage attire, located at the Burlington Bar in Logan Square. To top it off, the band will be actively raising money for Sarah’s Inn, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of domestic violence survivors as well as putting an end to the cycle.
Also performing:
Em Grace
EM GRACE is an all queer band making ukulele punk
The Means of Production
The Means (of Production) features local artist Mike Coy, of The Bon Mots, Big Angry Fish, & solo fame.
Check out some great live photos here!
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/badcandymusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/badcandymusic/
