KING’S X plays The Coach House Mar. 3
After working for months on side projects and solo work, King’s X are reconnecting and will appear at The Coach House on Mar. 3.
“Indescribable” is the only word that seems to truly capture King’s X’s genre. They are a band filled with intricate guitar and drum solos contrasted by deep and soulful lyrics. They are a blend of Pearl Jam meets 80’s hair metal, or, wait, Dream Theater meets funk? Every song is basically a new experience with King’s X. They are a band that you should listen to and know that you can’t predict anything. Every note and every finger pick is its own creation to a song that may be progressive metal, or soul/funk, or rock, or whatever else you could imagine.
“People have been trying to label us for years and years and years, to the point where I think there’s like eight different names mixed together,” bassist, Dug Pinnick said. “But we just call ourselves a rock band, it’s just plain and simple, and we let everyone else name it because I don’t know how to put it, we’re just rock and roll. (laughs)”
DUG PINNICK of KING’S X
With no new record to promote, the band holds true to the “fan favorites” when writing the setlist for their upcoming shows.
“We’re pretty much sticking to the old set list that we do,” Pinnick promised. “We hand-picked a setlist that we thought was sort of eclectic and we thought gave a round impression. Most people that come see King’s X are longtime fans, so instead of always just doing the hits, we also do a lot of not necessarily older stuff, but the things that the fans love.”
The band recently re-released Gretchen Goes to Nebraska (1989) and Faith Hope Love (1990) on vinyl via Metal Blade records. Vinyl sales, according to Pinnick, are at their prime, selling better than simple CDs.
Gretchen Goes to Nebraska is a prime example of their eclectic musical stylings, from Pinnick’s unmistakable, soul-filled belting of poetic lyrics, to guitarist, Ty Tabor’s string-picking masterpieces, all backed by the incredible drumming of Jerry Gaskill (who also happens to have a killer voice as show in his solo project).
The album was a turning point for King’s X as a second album. It helped to build their fan base from their first release Out of the Silent Planet by showing their ability to transition from slow-paced to fast-paced music in each song. Even without an overall theme, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska was a hit-after-hit album that landed King’s X on the map of the music world.
Once it was time for a third album, Faith Hope Love had high expectations to live up to. It hit the mark with a perfect taste of the talent this trio has in and out of their comfort zones. The album presented an eerie collection of lyrics and harmonizing to create songs such as “Faith Hope Love” and “Six Broken Soldiers” (a song you can hear Gaskill’s voice, front and center!).
Albums aside, performing live, no matter how big or small the venue, is the love of the music life.
“It’s more like a release to be able to get up and sing and play for people and get that energy out of your system that’s been pent up,” Pinnick said. “Because all of us artists are like that. We’re pent up with all this energy and we have to get in front of people and let it out. So that’s my outlet. That’s what I enjoy most, just playing for people and seeing them smile no matter what song it is.”
With the rekindling of the band, King’s X is setting forth to create a new album that is sure to draw in a new generation of fans and create, yet again, their own genre of music.
“We have plans to start writing a new record. It’s been about seven or eight years since we’ve put a record out, so our fans are getting upset!”