DoubleView of Kyng
at Rocklahoma 2014
When I listen to Kyng, one of the first things I think is, There are only three people in this band? Their sound is so full that it is practically impossible to tell. Also, when performing, they own the stage so it doesn’t feel empty with only three people.
“When we first started, I thought, ‘Woah, this is gonna be so awkward,’ cause the stage was so big,” comments Castaneda. “But then I started owning it and stomping around.”
The cover of the album is extremely cool and artistic. “It’s actually a sixteen by sixteen painting condensed down into the cover,” says Castaneda.
“Rex and I are friends now. He’s a huge fan of our band, he tells everyone about us. He holds the flag high,” says Castaneda proudly. “The day before the show he sends me a text. He says, ‘P.S. I know ‘Hot For Teacher.’ Hint hint,’ cause he knows we play it. I ask, ‘Do you wanna come play it with us?’ and he says, ‘yes.’ And what’s funny is that the day before [the show]…was April Fools. It was confirmed, but when I told the guys, they thought I was joking. They just said, ‘Yeah, yeah, cool, Rex Brown is gonna play ‘Hot For Teacher’ with us. Whatever.’ So the day of, for some reason or another, the guys never went up to the dressing room…Well, upstairs in the dressing room was Rex and I going over ‘Hot For Teacher’ on my bass acoustic. So when it’s time to go on stage, my drummer is on his drum riser and he asks, ‘Is Rex gonna play ‘Hot For Teacher’ with us?’ I reply, ‘Yeah, he is.’ And he says, ‘No, really.” And I say, “Yeah, he is. I was just upstairs going over it.’ He questions, ‘Are you serious?’ I answer, ‘Yes, I’m serious, dude.’ And he tells my guitar player and he asks, ‘What? Really?’ When we start playing they still aren’t sure but…Rex comes over and has his knee leaning against the stage and he’s just watching us and they’re like, ‘HOLY CRAP.’”
“I didn’t pick up the bass guitar until I was twenty-one,” Castaneda continues, “Black Sabbath was a huge influence. Geezer Butler is my favourite; listening to him when I was a kid in high school, I wanted to play music but I never got into it. I picked up the bass one day and I started learning how to play all by ear, I don’t know how to read music. People started telling me, ‘Dude, how’d you learn so easily?’ And I would say, ‘I don’t know, doesn’t everyone do it like this?’ They replied, ‘No man, you got something.’ So I started playing more and more and more and I got together with Eddie…and we formed a band. Later I went on tour with my first touring band with my drummer. I got the two together and we formed Kyng. Eddie and I have a very classic rock influence…and our drummer is a very metal influenced drummer.”
Castaneda spoke a lot about his love of Sabbath and laughingly said, “There’s so many riffs that you accidently make and you’re like, ‘That’s so cool!’ and then you realize Sabbath already did that.”
Kyng will rock your mind.
Zoe Adler is a music journalist from Long Beach, California. Besides her website, which is her pride and joy, she works with the GRAMMY Foundation and the Long Beach Independent. Additionally, Ms. Adler is a musician, spending half of her time playing the flute, piccolo, trombone, and marching baritone. She has been with TeenView Music since the very start and hopes to make something of it in the future. |