MM -
Introduce the band members to us and explain what each member’s role is.
Alex: Gem Watson plays bass, Dan Whiting plays drums
and electronic
percussion.
I’m Alexander King and I play guitar, synth and sing.
I also “write” the “songs”.
Dan: My role, to muck about and upset Alex as much as possible.
MM - How long have the band been together and how did you all come to join
forces in the first place?
Alex: I formed the band in 1999 as a side project of a band I was in at
the time.
When that band ended, AKP became my main focus. I went through a lot (and
I mean a lot) of musicians until I found the right people to do this with.
I firmly believe that any band is first and foremost a collection of
people, and if you don’t “gel” you’re wasting your time.
Dan: Alex and I met in Baby Rawsonators outfit; Circadian Rhythm.
MM - Where does the band’s name 'AKP' come from? What does it represent, and
why did you decide to use this name as opposed to something else?
Alex: AKP originally stood for “Alexander King Project” which is precisely
what it was. Over time, the meaning has become irrelevant and we put AKP
forward as a word in itself, albeit a difficult to pronounce one. We’ve
billed ourselves as “All Kinds of Problems” occasionally, because that’s
usually closer to the mark. We’ve been toying with the idea of renaming
the band “The AKPs” in order to garner more commercial success.
MM - Who writes the songs that you perform? Is it a solo or a joint effort?
Alex: I write the songs, lyrics, chord structures and melodies, then bring
them into the rehearsal room and Gem and Dan’s input changes them, often
dramatically. The meanings of the songs come from me, but what you hear
and see is a group effort, definitely.
Dan: Alex does 90 % I decide how fast it goes.
MM - Who are you aiming your music towards? Who is your target audience?
Alex: Basically, we don’t care who likes us (or who doesn’t), so you could
say that our target audience is “people who like AKP”. I very strongly
believe that you should make music (or any creative endeavour) for
yourself, and if other people like it, that’s a bonus.
Chasing trends, trying to second guess the public etc. is pathetic. As
soon as you stand on a stage or get in a recording studio you have a
responsibility to be true to yourself. You won’t be if you’re trying to
plug your sound into a niche you think already exists.
Dan: Ourselves.
MM - What bands/artists have influenced you the most over the years?
Alex: Personally, there are a few bands, artists and individuals who have
profoundly shaped the way I live my
life
and approach everything I do. Valor Kand from Christian Death,
Genesis P-Orridge from Psychic TV, a variety of Symbolist artists, David
Bowie, Bruce Springsteen etc.
I don’t really like anything being produced musically at the moment – it’s
all so derivative right down to the production.
If I wanted to listen to the Stooges I’ll listen to the Stooges, not some
band from Rhyl singing in American accents.
Gem: Old and new such as Muse, My Vitriol, Deep Purple, Guns and Roses,
Motley Crue, Radiohead. Could go on forever ever so ill stop there.
Dan: The Cure, RATM, Mansun
MM - Are you signed/unsigned at the moment?
Alex: Technically, we’re signed to our own label “Essence Recordings”
which I set up to release AKP material, and stuff from my powernoise side
project “Seppuku”.
In time we hope to grow and be able to release material from other bands,
we know a lot of excellent bands who need some backup. The beauty of this
arrangement is that we have complete freedom to record and release
anything we want within an established framework. We also run a rehearsal
room and we have our own studio, so we’re completely independent in the
truest sense.
Dan: Are you offering?
MM -The band has a 4 track EP currently available called “The Joy Of
Desire”. Would you like to tell us a little bit of background about the EP
and also explain briefly what each song is about?
Alex: The EP is a story – not quite a “concept” album, but there is a
narrative thread going through if you read the lyrics. It’s subtitled
“What happens to your dreams when you wake up?” and it’s mainly about how
achieving your dreams can be just the start of your problems. It deals
with subjects such as betrayal and dishonesty.
The title of the EP relates to the fact that often wanting something is
better than actually getting it. I’d like the people who listen to it to
make their own minds up regarding the interpretations of the individual
songs as well.
MM -Hailing from York which can at times be a hotbed of new and promising
talent, have you found it to be a bonus or a hindrance to your career so
far?
Alex: I’ve found it largely irrelevant. We’ve sold more CDs in Arizona
than we have in York by a factor of 3. From the start we wanted to be an
international concern, and we are. The global philosophy/discussion site
affiliated with the band (http://www.akpcep.com) has over 500 members from
most countries on the planet. I think it’s tremendously limiting to think
of yourself as a “York band” or a “Newcastle band” or whatever. It doesn’t
really mean anything.
Gem: Don't think it matters where you are from really! If you are a good
band and people like you, you will do well. I think if you’re talking
about hitting the big time, you need connections and LUCK!!!!!
Dan: York is a bit small-minded about music. When we first started AKP we
tried to push the boundaries of alternative rock, for example, we'd put
loads of rhythm changes in the songs and I think it threw a lot of people,
maybe put them off. We'd be supporting really mediocre indie bands and 90
% of the people in the room would just be totally confused, preferring
more regular types of bands.
MM - Do you generally feel there is enough support out there for new talent
to break out of the local scene and into the bigger scheme of things?
Alex: Yes and no. There are some awesome promoters out there, independent
people who just love putting on shows.
A lot of bands put a lot of hard work into organising things, I think at a
grass roots level it’s all there for the taking.
It’s a bit depressing the way some venues want you to bring 30 people to
fill their club up for them before they’ll consider giving you a support
slot with an “up and coming” band, but we just don’t play those kind of
venues. I think if you look towards record labels and so on for support
you’ll not get any apart from on their terms, and it’s not in their best
interest to take risks so you’d better hope you fit into the current
trend. I’d like to see the local scenes becoming the bigger scheme.
Gem: No, there is no support, you play gigs and do everything off your own
back and if people pick up on it then Bob’s your uncle!!
Dan: If there is, I haven't witnessed it. Sure some people have been
really supportive. Tim from Fibbers likes us, we can always get a gig with
York Arts Forum and Radio Humberside keep pestering us for new material
and to do sessions etc but they’re all small scale. The only time I’ve
heard of there being a scout in Fibbers was when he’d been chased down the
street by a bunch of Girl Guides.
MM -
Which ONE band do you dream of touring/performing with?
Alex: I’d like to tour with Dido, putting her bottom of the bill and
giving her a portaloo for a dressing room.
Gem: I Don't.
Dan: I'd love to support Muse I find their energy and creativity unmatched
by any other mainstream band at the moment. I’m told we sound a bit like
them. As long as no one thinks we're just copying them I’ll take that as a
compliment.
MM - If you could ask one of your heroes/someone who's inspired you a
question, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Alex: It would be Fernand Khnopff, and I’d ask him “How did you really
feel towards your sister?”.
Gem: Um ......don't know I would probably go quiet and shy.
Dan: I'd ask Robert Smith what he uses on his hair.
MM - With all the changes that music has gone through over the years, what
do you personally think of the current music scene?
Alex: I think as always there are some great unsigned bands playing all
over the country. Regarding the charts, it’s as shitty and trivial as it
always has been, and always will be.
Nothing will change that. I find the current trend for retro bands
extremely tiresome… It’s like recycling has become so trendy people have
started applying it to music.
Gem: Um it's not really my musically taste the new music scene, it's all
garage rock stuff and it's not my thing. The only new band to really
inspire me that's new are Interpol. Not into Franz Ferdinand, or the Raveonettes etc
Dan: I think it's great in many ways; rock music is making a comeback.
Most guitar bands of the last few years like Travis, Coldplay and Oasis
have just been really dull, the same three chords, the whiney/depressing
voice and the uninspiring drum beats. Then along come Funeral For A
Friend, Lost Prophets and Muse and once again rock music is exiting,
dynamic and spontaneous.
MM - What's the 'grand plan' for your band? Are you aiming for anything
like fame, fortune, artistic acceptance etc?
Alex: The only aim for this band is to get our stuff heard and appreciated
by as many people as possible. I don’t care if I get rich or not, famous
or not.
We make music we like and to find a large amount of people who happened to
like it too would be great. We love the process – writing, rehearsing,
recording, playing shows, and as long as we can get booked or get
distribution we’ll be relatively happy. The music and the messages within
it are bigger than anything else, and we’ll be as big as they are whether
we like it or not.
Gem: I just like playing my bass and getting better at it. If we do well
in the future that's cool. If we don't that's cool too.
Dan: AKP will lead all other bands in to what will be known in years to
come as the 'Rock Revolution.' Probably.
MM - How do you feel about the internet and the effect it is having on
bands and independent music? In particular how do you feel about music
sharing programmes such as WinMX and Kazaa?
Alex: The only people file sharing is hurting is the majors. It doesn’t
affect independent music one bit. As a result I think it’s great. It means
major labels have less money to pump out shit like Justin Timberlake.
Sure, the teenaged girl demographic may suffer but you never know they
might start going to local gigs instead.
Our first release was absolutely free, and we encouraged people in the
liner notes to share the music. We even included mp3 versions of the
tracks on the CD. We recouped costs many times over and probably spread
the music twice as wide as a result.
If the majors weren’t so greedy and closed minded they would have embraced
the technology when it was in it’s infancy and compromised. Things like
iTunes would have a real foothold by now and they’d be making serious
money. Instead they choose to make criminals out of 12 year olds. It’s
because they’re scared.
Gem: I work in an independent record shop and I haven't seen an affect yet,
it's always busy. I personally would much rather own a product with the
art work than a download.
Dan: I think it's great, I just wish people would stop putting really bad
rips in their shares folder. It can take loads of failed attempts to get a
good copy of a song. I wouldn't mind having our own stuff downloaded
either. If it's good music, people will buy it. If it's not, they'll buy
even more of it
MM - How can people keep in touch with what the band are currently up to?
Alex: We have a website at
http://www.akp.org.uk where people can sign up
to our mailing list etc. We keep it fully up to date with gigs, news,
pre-release mp3s etc.
MM - Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to all our readers out
there?
Alex: Keep going to gigs, keep supporting bands you like, because it’s the
audiences that make the bands. Spend that £3 on a demo CD, pass out
flyers, spread the word, do what you can and we can start to take
ownership of the music industry.
percussion.
I’m Alexander King and I play guitar, synth and sing.
I also “write” the “songs”.
and approach everything I do. Valor Kand from Christian Death,
Genesis P-Orridge from Psychic TV, a variety of Symbolist artists, David
Bowie, Bruce Springsteen etc. 
