Formed in 2015 by two Scottish sisters Brèagha Cuinn (Guitar and vocals) and Onnagh Cuinn (Bass and vocals), Bratakus release their second album Hagridden via Venn Records on 13 February. It follows their self-released debut album Target Grrrl which the duo released via their own label, Screaming Babies Records, in 2017. The siblings reputation was growing resulting in support slots for bands like Propagandhi, Bis, and Discharge. Indeed supporting The Hives led to their drummer Chris Dangerous guesting on single ‘Turnstile’ from the new album, alongwith bassist Johan Gustafsson on production duties. The Decibel Decoder had to find out more and Brèagha duly obliged.
Welcome Bratakus and congratulations on your second album Hagridden. As way of introduction where did the band name come from? And did you have a long list of ideas?
Hey, thank you so much! So, Bratakus was a joke word that our Dad made up when we were younger, if we were misbehaving he would laugh and call us ‘Bratakus’. I had always thought it would be a good band name, so when we had been practicing for a while and had to come up with a name, we went with that. It’s a blessing and a curse, it’s good because it’s a made up word, so we’re the only band called that, but at the same time no one is sure how to spell it, or pronounce it, hahaha!
You were born and bred in Tomintoul, a small whiskey village in the Scottish Highlands, and formed Bratakus in 2015. Bearing in mind how remote this is, what were your influences and what was the driving force to start a band?
Our parents have always been closely involved in the punk scene, and we grew up in a house where there was always bands rehearsing or coming to stay, so we were always around music. I think that probably influenced me from a young age because I don’t really remember a time where I didn’t want to play music. Even before I could play guitar I was always coming up with little songs and writing them in my notebooks, or trying to get all my friends together when we were about 7 years old to start bands and rehearse, and then being frustrated when they weren’t that committed to the band, haha. I think my two big musical influences for Bratakus when we were starting were probably The Distillers and The Ramones. They are both bands that I have loved since childhood and they really shaped me from a young age.
Bratakus had a DIY ethos from the very beginning, including setting up your own label Screaming Babies Record. You self released your debut album Target Grrrl in 2017. Why did you decide to set up your own label, and how difficult was it to gain a spotlight for your music?
Someone was asking us this the other day and it’s funny because I don’t think it even crossed our minds to release that album another way. We were raised with a very DIY mindset, so when we wanted to make an album, we just booked studio time, recorded it, and then set up a label to put it out. It just seemed like the natural progression. We wrote to some distros, record shops and stuff and distributed some of the records that way, but the main way we got our music out there was to just say yes to every gig that was offered to us, play non stop and get our name out there that way.
Do you get many comments about not having a drummer!
All the time. It’s very divisive, haha. Most people are either really into it or so against it! For us, it started out as a logistical issue, living in the middle of nowhere and not knowing anyone who wanted to drum in a punk band, but now it feels like it really defines our band and shapes our sound, so we’re sticking with it!
Bratakus signed with Venn Records, with a roster including CLT DRP, Meryl Streek, Aerial Salad and The Nightmares, in 2025. What has this given you as a band moving forward?
It’s definitely been different, we were so used to doing absolutely everything ourselves, so there’s a bit of an adjustment period to get used to that not being the case anymore, but Venn have been so amazing. They’re really open minded and give us complete control over our release and how we want to represent ourselves which has been so good. We definitely couldn’t have worked with a label if this hadn’t been the case. Our record doesn’t come out till next month, but so far I think what it’s given us is a further reach. When our singles come out now, they’re being written about and shared by much more people on much bigger platforms. It’s kind of opened us up to a different world outside of the DIY scene we have grown up in and it’s nice to get the messages we sing about out there to a wider audience.
Did you approach the creation of Hagridden differently to Target Grrrl? Is there a thread that runs through the album or is it a collection of songs?
They were very different albums to write. Target Grrrl was a collection of songs that I had written over the years, some as far back as when I was 13, so I didn’t actually sit down to write an album with that one and most of the songs were written before Bratakus was even a band. I then struggled a lot with the second album, I wrote a whole album quite soon after Target Grrrl came out, and got really down about it. I just felt like it had no new point of view and was so uninspired by the songs. So, I scrapped it, spent a couple of years writing loads of other songs, in a variety of genres, anything but Bratakus, and then one day I sat down and I had so many new ideas for Bratakus songs. I think I got really bogged down in the rules of how a Bratakus song had to sound, but also that I felt like I had to be putting out this whole new fresh sound at the same time, and after that break I came back much more excited to write and with the outlook that I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, I also didn’t have to stick to strict rules, I just had to write the best Bratakus songs that I could, and that’s what I tried to do.
There are so many highlights on this album. Please could you share the background on ‘Hypocritical’? And I have to say I love ‘Worth It’ – those stops before “Is it really worth it?” totally emphasize the question.
‘Hypocritical’ is Onnagh’s song, but I’ll try my best to talk about it! The song is based on a lot of experiences we’ve had with guys coming to gigs and making us feel uncomfortable. There’s a really strange part of the scene where some guys come and see bands with female members under the guise of being supportive, but it ends up feeling like they have an ulterior motive. It becomes clear very quickly that they aren’t just there to enjoy the music, which can just make you feel uneasy and like you’re being treated as an object. We’ve spoken to quite a few other bands who have experienced the same thing. So, I suppose the song is just calling that out for what it is.
If I looked in your fridge right now what would I find?
I’ve just been on a shopping run to get some marked down Veganuary goodies, so lots of reduced Aldi and Lidl vegan stuff! Bargains always taste better.
For more information on Bratakus please check their instagram and facebook.