INTERVIEW: King’s X are back with ‘Three Sides of One’
Photo: King’s X have a new album, their first in more than a decade. Photo courtesy of Mark Weiss / Provided by New Ocean Media with permission.
King’s X, the legendary rock band featuring dUg Pinnick, Ty Tabor and Jerry Gaskill, are back with a well-received new album called Three Sides of One. Fans can check out the entire recording now that it’s been released, including previously released singles “Let It Rain” and “All God’s Children.” The band will also play a few select concerts in October and November, bringing their classic tunes and new songs to adoring audiences.
“We started before the pandemic and finished it right before the pandemic started,” Pinnick said in a recent phone interview. “And Michael Parnin, who is a producer, started to mix it right when the pandemic was starting to happen, and then he had to shut it down. So it took a while to finish it.”
Pinnick said the recording process pre-pandemic was one of the best times he’s ever had in the studio. Perhaps that love of being with the guys in the studio had to do with the long time between albums; King’s X has not released a recording of original material in more than a decade.
“We’ve been a band for so long that we’ve all learned what works and what doesn’t, so there was no conflict or problems,” he said. “We just kind of went in and just went with it. Everybody kind of locked in. We took what we had and tried to make it the best we could. … We play within each other’s nuances, I always say. I’m so used to those guys that we chew off of each other in subliminal ways that creates this thing that we create together, which I really love being a part of. … It’s been 14 years since we made a record, so I’ve been doing lots of projects with other people and other bands and things like that. And it just gave me a real appreciation for the band that I play in and why.”
The origins of King’s X dates back several decades. Their first full-length album came out in the late 1980s (Out of the Silent Planet), and then came the acclaimed Gretchen Goes to Nebraska, according to press notes. Who could forget them being included on the soundtrack of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and their gig at Woodstock ’94. Their last recording before this new one was 2008’s XV.
“I wanted to make a record every year, like I always do,” Pinnick said. “[The other band members] didn’t want to make a record because they just felt like we didn’t have much to give right now, and they just wanted to be inspired and do their thing for a while. And so I kept pushing, and they kept saying, ‘We’re not ready.’ Finally one day, I said, ‘Let’s do this.’ And everything worked out, things fell into place, and we made this record. And everybody was ready and wanting to do it and felt like we had something to give. I mean, after being in King’s X and the things that we’ve been through and the acclaim that we get and as many records as we put out, we didn’t want to put out just another record just because that’s what you’re supposed to do. This could be our last record, so we wanted to make it the best in our minds. And so that’s what we did. We love this record, and we think it’s the best thing we’ve ever done. And that’s our opinion, and whatever anybody else thinks doesn’t matter.”
Pinnick, who plays bass and provides the vocals for the band, said that he loves everything that he writes, otherwise he wouldn’t release the music to the fans. However, rather than using the word “love,” he prefers to describe his songwriting like looking in the mirror at oneself.
“It’s hard when someone says, what do you think of something that you’ve done,” he confided. “Are you happy with it? Yes, I’m happy with the song [for example, “Let It Rain”]. I’m happy how it came out. It’s just another song where you’re spewing out what I think about life in general. It was fun to write because it’s a hard-rocking song. When I brought it to them, and they said, ‘Let’s do this one,’ it just ended up what it was. I’m happy with it. We took out the bass and the verses, which seemed to work. It came out better than I would have expected it.”
When King’s X played a few gigs earlier this year — the first time in several years due to the pandemic — the guys were pleased that the new tunes sat nicely alongside the classic songs.
“We hadn’t played in two and a half years, so playing those three shows, I was too busy trying to remember everything,” Pinnick said. “It’s like running a marathon that you haven’t done in four years or something. I don’t know. We went out there and did what we did, like we always do, and people love it. We go away thinking, OK, I guess it’s OK even though we hate it because we are perfectionists. We never walk on stage and go, ‘Oh, we’re rocking tonight. We’ve got it. These people are going to love it.’ We just go out, going, ‘I hope they like us,’ and no matter what we do, they seem to like it. So be confident and try to do your best. That’s the way we look at things.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywodSoapbox.com
The new album from King’s X is called Three Sides of One. Click here for more information.
