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To say Brody King is a renaissance man could be an understatement. Not solely has he turn into a prime determine within the wrestling business in only one 12 months after his main debut within the All Elite Wrestling (AEW) promotion, however he’s additionally the frontman for contemporary hardcore’s most beloved and visceral new acts God’s Hate each time he isn’t at house with his spouse and two kids. As a younger child from the Antelope Valley of California, King was raised on wrestling and hardcore –– finally turning each of his passions into full-time careers by onerous work and a aggressive mindset. Between nationally televised fights throughout the nation and past –– to enjoying for six,000 individuals at this 12 months’s Sound and Fury Festival with God’s Hate, King is a major instance of doing every part to its fullest extent.
While King is most actually a power to be reckoned with within the ring, it’s when he steps on stage with his band God’s Hate that he takes on a wholly new type as a conductor of chaos and musical brutality the place each present appears like a struggle zone. With infinite circle pits, stage diving, and most just lately unlawful fireworks being set off within the crowd –– King is a can’t-miss presence that’s bridging the gaps between hardcore and wrestling tradition as an entire.
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We sat down with Brody King to debate his influences and journey to each the most important leagues and the principle stage –– in addition to his iconic cameo look on Netflix’s hit comedy sequence I Think You Should Leave.
[Photo by Rebecca Lader]
Growing up as an avid fan of each wrestling and hardcore music, who had been you wanting as much as from either side of the spectrum?
Wrestling has been round my life perpetually — my Dad bought me into it as a child — so my earliest recollections had been watching wrestling. I used to be into the Undertaker and extra of the darker characters, however bought out of wrestling round center faculty when it began to not be as cool anymore. [From there], I bought into punk music with bands like AFI, The Offspring, and NOFX. This was additionally the time when nu-metal was popping off as properly, with bands like Mudvayne, Slipknot, and Korn. In highschool, I began going to native exhibits. It was bands like Madball, Hatebreed, and Terror that resonated with me; that is what I [eventually] latched onto and have emulated going ahead.
How did you rediscover your ardour for wrestling once more, and what was the journey prefer to not solely enter the impartial circuit, however finally be propelled to the most important leagues with Ring of Honor and later All Elite Wrestling?
I began re-watching wrestling in my mid-20s when CM Punk was [a part of the straight edge wrestling stable] Straight Edge Society, which is what initially caught my curiosity. I signed up for wrestling faculty and it was fairly rapidly that I noticed this was one thing I might do at a excessive stage as a result of I clearly had the look and dimension — however on prime of that, I had the enterprise mindset and psychological toughness that comes with wrestling. With the touring, stress, and ache that you simply put in your physique, that stuff didn’t hassle me as a lot as a number of the different individuals. With my aggressive nature, it was like let’s go for broke with this, and I keep in mind telling my spouse to provide me 5 years and if I wasn’t signed to a serious contract then I’d cease. Within three years, I used to be signed to Ring of Honor.
January 2023 marks your one-year anniversary since your All Elite Wrestling Debut. What highlights or milestones stick out to you when reflecting on this whirlwind 12 months?
From one 12 months in the past nearly to the date, Ring of Honor folded as an organization and mainly informed us we had been all launched from our contracts. The subsequent day, I used to be on the cellphone with [AEW president] Tony Khan, and ever because it has been unbelievable going from the bottom of lows to now unbelievable success. Wrestling Darby Allin on nationwide TV was an enormous full-circle second, wrestling Jon Moxley for the AEW Heavyweight title was superior, and even enjoying Sound and Fury [with God’s Hate] to six,000 individuals in Los Angeles was unbelievable. This was a kind of years that you’d write a guide about.
God’s Hate has rapidly turn into one of the vital beloved and revered trendy hardcore acts. What is it that you simply need to carry ahead with the band’s performances and the general mission assertion?
It’s advanced over time. It went from me being in a band that I loved being in to now [when] seeing God’s Hate is nearly like a spectacle. I don’t just like the time period “gimmick” for hardcore bands, however we [do] sort of have our personal gimmick the place it’s six cavemen up on the stage making an attempt to go as onerous as the group is. We all use [the band] as an outlet to let free and give all of ourselves. Some bands set guidelines for what’s allowed at their exhibits, however for ours, it doesn’t matter. If you need to struggle one another, then struggle one another so long as nobody is getting critically injured. I’m on stage screaming, “Kill them all,” or “More violence,” so who am I to guage? [Laughs.]
Even the lyric “Life is hard, be harder” from the tune “Be Harder” has turn into considerably of the band’s motto, and such an enormous a part of your general story. Now followers even present as much as your wrestling matches with indicators that say that.
That has turn into the ethos of the band, and once you learn that, it sounds macho or hard-headed — however the quantity of people that have informed me that it helped them get by the pandemic or life, meaning quite a bit. We wrote [“Be Harder”] to be our inspirational tune so that you can dig inside your self, as a result of solely you may push your self ahead.
What are your targets subsequent for each your wrestling profession, in addition to musically with God’s Hate?
I really feel like yearly we set a purpose, and simply blow previous it. This 12 months, I hoped to be part of AEW — and now I’m an enormous a part of it, in the direction of the highest finish of the roster. Hopefully, we’ll be going for some trios titles, or perhaps a singles title, sooner or later. I might like to go to Japan once more with each God’s Hate and as a wrestler, and to play Sound and Fury once more and see how we might step it up. I don’t understand how, however perhaps somebody will carry a tank within the fucking pit this time. [Laughs.]
I additionally should ask, how did you find yourself doing a cameo look on season 2 of the Netflix sketch comedy sequence I Think You Should Leave?
My good friend Madison [Woodward] (who helps guide Sound and Fury, works for [the creative collective] Brain Dead, and performs in a bunch of bands) used to run a wrestling firm known as Suburban Fight. I’ve been with him for the reason that starting. A producer from I Think You Should Leave got here out to one of many exhibits, and proper earlier than the pandemic, they despatched him an e mail asking if he knew any wrestlers who could be curious about doing a skit for the brand new season. [Madison] reached out to me and I used to be like, “Absolutely,” as a result of I already beloved the present. I forgot to inform anybody about [the cameo], and then the trailer got here out, which I’m in. It grew to become its personal factor and now I’m in a sketch with [comedians] Tim Robison and Conner O’Malley, which is unbelievable.
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