Artist: Killers And Kings  

Date: 21 November 2003  

MM - Introduce the band members to us and explain what each member’s role is.
Alex Kweskin on the drums he’s the unstoppable swinging swaggering backbone of the group. His duties include keeping the studio stalked with various beverages and locating parking at our local blues haunts. Chris Wulff on the rhythm and lead guitars his role consists of all things pleasurable whatever that may be at the time. A brilliant aspiring chef he is as well although he gets a little liberal with the spices sometimes being of Latin decent.

This brings us to myself, Hello I’m Kyle and I sing and write songs, how are you? My role is to be gotten a hold of first and foremost I suppose. But as far as the dynamics of the band goes its works kinda like this you see. I write a song bring it to the lads and the ancient form of weaving begins ya know? And vice versa when Chris or Alex write a tune. We are currently combing the world for the perfect fit guitarist and bass player to join the K & K. So send all entries to the address below kids. killersandkings@cox.net

MM - What motivated you into forming a band in the first place? How did you all hook up with each other and exactly how long ago was this golden moment?
Alex and myself were keen to music from a very young age and it remained a bond we shared through the years and we just egged each other on ya know like listen to this record and things like that. I loved watching bands and I think part of me took a good look at the guys on stage playing whoever it may have been and I said “Yeah I could do that, I think I could do that quite well."

So at the tender age of 13 Chris Wulff entered our lives stage right and began to teach me to play the guitar after my interest and drive kinda broke down any walls. He was very patient with me and the guy just has a knack for teaching and sharing any knowledge he can it’s a very beautiful treated. Alex got wind of Chris and I jamming together after school time and time again and wanted to be a part of the ruckus. So low and behold one day he just sat down behind an old drum kit in the garage and he had a sort of natural timing and our first band was born.

That first time we all played together we jammed what little we knew which was some God Awful version of Jimi Hendrix famous "Hey Joe" and a four chord wonder we whipped up. This golden moment (if you can call it that ha) was the fall of 1997 I believe. And from that moment on being in a band playing and writing music has been our main thing ya know it’s what we did. It’s a very joyous thing to play music with the guys ya know your best mates.

MM - Where did the bands name ‘Killers & Kings’ come from and what does it signify to you?
The second song that was written when Robbie and I joined forces and began the band in 2002 was a song called "Poisoned Playground" a song about the death or withering if you will of a Midwestern city. Ya know like a ghost town that was once something beautiful with hope taste and elegance. Well anyhow the song had a chorus that dealt with that kind of idea; ya know the simple idea of good and evil. “I’m a killer, I’m a king, I’ve never had a chance at this. So will I live to see these walls come crashing down."

Rob and I were sitting on the idea of what to name our band and he called me one day and said Kyle it’s been right here under our nose the whole time, "Killers & Kings" and it sounded perfect for our outfit and our approach. Everyone fancied it and it stuck.

MM - Who writes the songs that you perform? Is it a solo or a joint effort?
It’s both I suppose, I write the bulk of the tunes that we perform or record but that’s not to say the other cats don’t do more than there fair share of working on the tunes. Let’s say I write a tune ya know it’s usual a basic foundation I’ve come up with ya know a chord scheme a melody whatever. Usually just bare bones verses and choruses and I'll take that to the boys and Alex may change up the beat which changes the song and Chris writes his guitar on top of what I’ve got.

Chris and I also collaborate in the opposite way where he writes the music to a song and I come up with the lyrics and the melodies and maybe change a few things here and there to fit what he’s got going. We really got a tight filter ya know only the best songs get through that thing ya know. To assure that there’s no bullshit coming out on stage or in the studio ya know. But as far as the writing goes it’s a very natural organic type thing that we don’t like to fool about with.

MM - How would you describe the style and the sound of your music and who do you think it would most appeal to?
This is always a rough question for me to answer. Its heavily blues based ya know that’s way any rock n' roll band I’ve ever liked approached it. Its just rock n' roll the way we play it its heavy blues influenced as well as many other things ya know whatever were feeling at the time. That may be reggae, outlaw country, punk rock or what have you.

After playing for going on two years I’ve heard all the comparisons ya know people say you guys very Stones or you guys got a Stooges thing going on, or Kyle you got a Rod Stewart type voice. Well its like thank you those are very nice complements I mean were flattered. But the best way I can say it is just it’s the music that inspires us that’s what we make however it comes out ya know.

MM - What bands/artists have shaped your playing or your attitude to music over the years? Who inspired you to become musicians in the first place?
The Stones would be the obvious answer here but that’s just cause we have a very similar approach to our band as they do. Collectively no one band or person inspired us to be musicians it’s was just music itself. Like hey if I pick that thing up I could play whatever I want and that’s a beautiful thing.

But to name a few of our favourite bands and musicians its goes something like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Son House, The Stones, Taj Mahal, The Stooges, The Faces, Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, Johnny Thunders, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Hanoi Rocks, Sam Cooke, Keith Richards, and that’s just to name a few the list goes on and on.

MM - Are you signed/unsigned at the moment?
Unsigned. Not that it matters much to us as long as we can play all night. Don’t get me wrong we wanna spread our rock n roll across the land and absolutely will as soon as all the pieces fit. There’s no big rush to us at the moment we got plenty of time to worry about "making it" and everyone knows anyone who worries about that sucks anyways.

Our average age is 19 years old so who really cares at this point ya know. We’ve had offers but it’s like let's wait till the ball is in our court and we can make the best album possible and so forth.

MM - When you sing, every song is infused with emotion and passion. How do you maintain this level of intensity?
Why thank you, you’re too kind. I mean what I say and I say what I mean. I write about things that mean something significant to me, I write about what I know and every time you sing a particular song you wrote it sort of a transporter back in time to how you were feeling when you wrote that song like a musical journal if you will.

Ya know on stage you like to rock n roll you dance you sing and when there singing back it means even more too you. Your letting em all in and they dig it that’s pretty intense if you ask me. Bless you.

MM - Are the band optimists or pessimists? Is your glass half full half empty?
It depends on the drink of choice ha. No, but for real we are optimists hands down. I think to have to be to have yourself a good time you must be. Like if we play a gig and there’s five people there and there going bonkers then its complete fun times for us. If your walking around thinking every things shit your not gonna last doing this music thing ya know. And pessimists are a drag aren’t they? It’s a big waste of time to be an asshole ya know.

MM - If you could perform with any band out there right now, who would it be and why?
I don’t keep up to much on the bands that are coming up. Maybe I should I don’t know I just have so much older music that I’m still discovering and getting into that’s its like well if these bands stand the test of time hey then hey I will buy there record. Unless I hear something that just completely blows me off my rocker.

But let’s see opening for the Stones or Iggy Pop would be a dream come true. We really enjoy playing with friends bands there’s always a good common vibes going on. I’d love to share the stage with some of the blues greats who are still around ya know BB King, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy cats like that. As far as all the new bands go I suppose wed play with any of em as long as it’s a decent fit. I don’t know you tell me?

MM - If you could do a cover version of any one song what would it be and why?
We love to cover the blues. We’ve done a small handful of covers. We’ve done "Bitch" by The Stones and Rod Stewart’s "Hot Legs" ya know good crowd numbers that getting em dancing. We jam on everything in rehearsals we might play a bit of everything like some blues or a Johnny Thunders tune or a Yardbirds jam whatever ya know. I’d really like to do “bright lights big city" by Jimmy Reed. I know Alex wants to do a version of Elton Johns "Country Comfort" that would be a good call. We’re not big on doing covers live but it’s always a good laugh if nothing else to throw a few in.

MM - What's the 'grand plan' for your band? Are you aiming for anything like fame, fortune, artistic acceptance etc?
It’s all about preserving a lifestyle. We’ve all grown accustom to. Which is working as little as possible at a day job and putting all our efforts into our rock n’ roll. I know we’d all love to live off of it at least semi comfortable. I mean fortune, hey that’s just a good way to be able buy friends gifts and drink your favourite wine and travel to wherever ya want that’s the beauty of that.

We’re not too fixated on it money or acceptance from anyone but ourselves. It’s nice to be recognized by people you respect musicians artists and things like that. When it comes down to it were going to take it as far as we possibly can ya know play our cards right God willing.

MM - I think the bands logo looks really cool, who designed it?
Yeah me too, and yes I’m glad you dig it. Our tattoo artist did that logo for us when we first started out. We all see the same guy for our tattoo needs. Steve Shultz at Costa Mesa tattoo. He’s a lovely guy and rumour has it he’s inked a few different people with our logo which is very cool. If you wanna get tattooed from a very gifted artist check out the links section on our website and he will dial you out.

MM - A lot of what you guys do is based on your appearance and your attitude and everything like that. Is there a fine line between keeping what the band looks like and the music they play separate?
It’s really not that thought out it’s not like; hey you’re wearing that shirt so we gotta play like this no. We just wear what we dig and we play what we dig. I mean the two kind of coincidentally coincide but it’s not a worry or a thought even. It’s not like we tell each other to wear or anything like that. It’s just like who are and the way you dress I suppose can have some kind of reflection on what kinda person you are. But no fine lines there just like Chris may dress and play a certain way you know that’s who he is or whoever for that matter. Attitude falls in there too I mean your raised on rock n' roll and it’s your life its gonna show in everything you do.

MM - How would you describe the Killers and Kings live experience to the uninitiated?
Its good times cause we like to keep any barriers nonexistent. It’s hard for me to say cause I’ve never been in the audience at one of our gig unless I jump off stage which may be often. I mean the people shake it they dress sharp they sing along. They leave all the shit at the door and come in and rock around the clock we all dance sing and do whatever the fuck we feel like doing.

It’s just rock n' roll and it’s always a good time and a very interactive type of thing like bringing people up to do whatever play sing dance sometimes they just make out with each other. Ya know come find out come have a good time there’s always lots of energy in the air that results in a frenzy.

MM - How do you feel about the internet and the effect it is having on bands and independent music?
For us it’s a lovely thing it’s helped spread the word on us quite a bit. It’s a really good tool to spread the word and get yourself out there. I don’t know how I feel about kids seizing to buy records cause there downloading all the tunes and making CDS. To me that’s just in poor taste cause the act of buying a record is always a lovely experiences it’s exiting.

Ya know you go to the store you buy the album you take it home listen to it read the liner notes and it’s inspiring you get the full effect which is the beauty of it. It’s like you listen to it the way it was intended to be listened to. Not like you download the single and listen to the songs all out of order on your computer that just ain’t hip if you ask me.

I mean let’s hope they just get it under control somehow like the kids just learn that ain’t the way to go about it. There’s no support there, if there’s a band you really love and your not even supporting them then how they gonna last. But on the other hand a record costing 20 bucks its complete shit. Fuck that man lower those prices and things will change. At the end of the day you just hope the fans got to scene to support you a little bit.

MM -If you could describe your music as part of a woman’s body, what part would you choose?
The Legs with out a doubt ya know we keep you moving and were the road to where ya wanna be. Which is just losing yourself and forgetting about everything for those few moments. Unless of course you fuck that up and you get kicked in the face haha. Ya they legs we keep your feet moving and plus legs are sexy aren’t they. I’m only kiddin we don’t take ourselves this seriously.

MM - What are your views on the current music scene?
It’s fucking terrible isn’t it? In popular music however there is always going to be lots of shit. Everything that is really popular has to suck for some reason I don’t understand that and I certainly don’t like it. You have to be a bit of an inspector to find the real shit ya know. Like you got to going looking for it, which is what I’ve always done.

It seems there’s some real people coming up that are making a bit of an influence like there talking about people like Johnny Cash and The Rolling Stones and the Blues I think it’s good when they open people eyes a little wider.

Of course it’s like fast food the popular music here today gone tomorrow but there’s good real shit out there ya just gotta go and find it. One thing that pisses me off is all these bands who clutter the scene and they aren’t really taking it seriously at all they know they suck and they want everyone to come to there shows its like just go be a plumber or something pal you just making it harder for people to find real musicians. There’s a lot of good older bands still trucking and some of the new ones make honest music which is refreshing.

MM - What one possession could you simply not live without?
For me its not a possession it’s more like people I couldn’t live without ya know, people I’m close too. But I’d hate to live without some kind of musical instruments around and my record collection. ‘Cigarettes are very important to me my whole day is fucked if I don’t got that and my tea. Oh and wine too, ha I’m very guilty on this one huh?

MM - Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to all our readers out there?
Well if you’ve made it this far I truly appreciate it you’ve got taste kids haha. Thank you and anyone who took the time check us out at www.killersandkings.com feel free to drop us a line and we can send you some music killersandkings@cox.net. God Bless we love the lot of ya.

 

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