DoubleView of Kyng
at Rocklahoma 2014
Tony Castaneda
Rocklahoma's Hard Rock Stage welcomed the Los Angeles based Kyng to the stage to re-boost the energy after a solid six hours of music. The throwback-to-Sabbath-days trio brings memories of true metal while still being original in their sound. Guitarist Eddie Veliz and bassist Tony Castaneda sing vocals, and reach for their inner Ozzy; Pepe Clarke, a true metal drummer, adds the finishing touch to the perfectly matched group.
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.”
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.”
Eddie Veliz
On April 15th of this year, Kyng released their second album Burn the Serum. The title track, along with “Electric Halo” and “In the Land of Pigs” are excellent jams featuring classic, undoubtedly-stuck-in-your-head guitar riffs. Although I only named three songs, every song is epic and worth listening to.
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.
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.
Kyng tends to cover “Hot For Teacher” by Van Halen during their sets, and has actually performed the song with Jesse Hasek of 10 Years and Rex Brown of Pantera. “It’s awesome,” Castaneda says. “You build this camaraderie…Most bands are just friends off of the stage, but we like to bring our friends onto the stage with us.
“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.’”
“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.’”
Kyng performing "Hot For Teacher" with Pantera's Rex Brown
Castaneda talked about how Kyng formed, from start to finish: “My father, he loved to sing. He sang at home, he had a great voice, but he never pursued it. My brother is actually in the radio industry…He sings very well, but he decided it was too hard to get to that [level], so he just went with the radio thing…I think it’s always been in the genes, but I’m the first one who’s ever pursued it.
“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.”
“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.”
It definitely stands out that Castaneda was able to pick up the guitar at twenty-one like it was nothing. “My sister actually dragged me off the couch one day,” he says about how he started. “Her friend was selling two bass guitars. She said, ‘Come on! You know you wanna play, just get up,’ and she dragged me off the couch to her friends house and she sold me the guitar for like 175 bucks. [The friend] said, ‘Take it, you can pay me in payments.’ Since that day, I literally locked myself up in my room and played every single day. I’d go to work with bags under my eyes ‘cause I’d played all night and I couldn’t wait to go home so I could plug in and play again. My parents, I remember them telling me at the time, ‘What are you doing? That’s all you do.’ I just replied, ‘You want me to be out there selling drugs or something?’” His parents decided that since he was working, it would be alright if he spent every free moment playing the bass.
"Electric Halo" the first single released from Burn the Serum
Kyng is becoming the king of new-old music. On the Hard Rock Stage, Kyng performed in front of a massive audience. Their music made the old guys missing the old days happy, and made the youngsters head bang, too. Forget electronic music, Kyng brings it with just three instruments and the power of their voices. Raw sound and pure love of music and performing impressed everyone.
Kyng will rock your mind.
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. |
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