Hello Rockstars!
I wanted to start a new weekly article (or monthly, not sure yet. lol) Called Behind the EP, which is a snapshot look into a band or artist, and talks about the process of their EP or Album and what makes them tick.
I thought I would kick off this new series with Indie rock band King Fossil. They just released an EP titled “Scrap Metal Motifs and Etc”, where we talk about the creation of their music, their beginnings and what the future holds for King Fossil. Enjoy!
Please go check out their show tonight at The Usual Place!
It’s an amazing lineup of Holy Wave, The Patterns and King Fossil, you definitely don’t wanna miss this!
Details:
Date: Saturday July 20th, 2024
Time: 8pm
Place: The Usual Place,
100 S. Maryland Pkwy. Suite 110
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Age: 21+
Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door.
Purchase Tickets here:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/dirtyrockroll/1293302
VMS:
“Tell me about your EP: “Scrap Metal Motifs and Etc”.
What was the inspiration and process of writing it.”
King Fossil:
“After moving back to Las Vegas in 2020, during the pandemic summer, I started writing more as a way to spend my time more productively. This led to a rather giant batch of riffs, words and ideas that just needed structure and arranging.
I picked the ones that I thought made the most sense as a collective whole for the EP, however we already know how to play a good chunk of songs off the next one, so some of these songs are already, well, scrapped from a live performance perspective.
The title comes from someone merging into my old car and totaling it last year in a brutal accident. When I bought a new car with the settlement money, I had a year of rough luck with basically every part of it. A mechanic friend just put a new engine in it a few weeks ago; As he was on his final test drive he was rear ended and the back of my car was again completely scrap metal essentially.
When I used the phrase in a poem earlier this year, it seemed to conceptualize well with the songs selected and the “and Etc” was just something I thought made it sound more poetic and abstract.”
VMS:
“What’s your writing process and inspiration for your lyrics.”
King Fossil:
“I try to read a lot and admire the works of many French surrealist poets from the 1920s. Other poets or artists that have had a strong influence on my writing style are Zachary Schomburg, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Uri Hertz, Stephen Malkmus, David Berman, etc.
Lyrics aren’t poetry, so I usually write in poems and then take lines to complete songs later. As I start to build a song with the riffs and what the arrangement will be, I might have a working title or set of lyrics I feel pairs well.
This approach, which works for me personally, is very nonlinear and the lyrics are collaged together to fit a meter of the song. I don’t view a song in lyrics at all; music always comes first and the guitar tones are most important to me. Because of this, while I have an idea on the meaning of a song, I like it for it to be the listener’s jigsaw puzzle to get a deeper meaning in the lyrics if they choose to do so. Hopefully not, because my singing voice is awful.”
VMS:
“I love your songs “Time is a Drill”, “Pieces Don’t Exist” and “Zodiac Ribbon”. What is the inspiration or story behind these songs.”
King Fossil:
“Thank you, I’m glad you enjoy them. “Time Is a Drill” seems to be the favorite from the EP; it’s Cameron’s (King Fossil drummer) favorite to play and the one I get asked about the most.
As for meanings…. I suppose “Zodiac Ribbon” is about trying to find a deeper connection with life and the universe after you face many changes; it’s trying to figure out who you are and your identity.
“Pieces” is probably about my divorce from 2020 and the challenges to wonder if I would ever feel “whole” again after all the reflection.
“Time Is a Drill” is about living in the past, present and future all at once and reflecting upon memories you can’t forget; they’ve infiltrated your dreams and subconscious. But again, it’s your jigsaw puzzle. The words are what they mean to you.”
Listen to Their EP: “Scrap Metal Motifs and Etc” On Bandcamp:
https://kingfossil1.bandcamp.com/album/scrap-metal-motifs-and-etc
VMS:
“What artist or bands inspire you and your sound.”
King Fossil:
“I suppose the three bands my writing gets compared to the most are Pavement, Polvo, and Swirlies so I’ll get those three mentioned now to get them out of the way. Obviously we have a clear Sonic Youth and Unwound influence as well.
Other artists that really shaped my guitar playing and style with technique and whammy bars would be My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Slowdive, Built To Spill, and the guitar work of Rowland S. Howard (Of the Birthday Party), to name some theoretical reference points.
My bass influences are more UK 70s and 80s post punk; Steve Hanley (The Fall), Peter Hook (Joy Division and New Order), Simon Gallup (The Cure), and for the mid range grit Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr).
Perhaps because of me only playing bass live previously, King Fossil doesn’t feature any bass guitar; some of the tunings are just detuned to the point of being low end sounding. I see no reason for there to be a bass player just because conventional music says so, and hopefully there are more to the songs than lack of bass.”
VMS:
“When did you start writing and performing your music.”
King Fossil:
“I learned guitar in middle school and played bass guitar in my school’s jazz band. I tried writing songs as early as I got an electric guitar, but obviously most of it was derivative trash. When I got better equipment in my early 20s that became key to my sound, plus the use of various different guitar tunings is when my writing world really opened up. The concept and name of King Fossil existed as far back as 2010 or 2011, but those songs and any recordings are all trashed away.
I started performing locally in 2017 with the loud post-punk band Orange Eats Creeps with my twin brother Matt Shaw (of Dream Martyr) and Howie (drummer for Close To Modern). We seldom play shows, usually when it’s a cool band touring. Around the same time a bit later I joined Homebodys on bass for a maybe a year. All the while I was stockpiling guitar tunings and writing King Fossil stuff.
I do write for Orange, but it’s a much different writing process as Matt won’t put his guitar in anything other than standard. Eventually Orange will do a record, but time remains to be seen on when the three of us really take it to that level and set aside time for it.”
VMS:
“Do you have a favorite song that you like to perform.”
King Fossil:
“”Time Is a Drill” is a fun one for sure, Cameron and I are pretty sure that’s the song we are going to open with at Holy Wave. “Zodiac Ribbon” allows me to pretend to be Stephen Malkmus and Ash Bowie in the same song, so personally that’s exciting to improv over and mess around with the two lead breakdowns. We have some new songs, “Could Almost See The Sun” and “Memory Chain 2″ that we both enjoy the progression of and have been included in the sets.”
VMS:
“What do you want your audience to feel and experience at one of your live shows.”
King Fossil:
“Confusion on why I insist upon droning everything with a whammy bar and then fear when we launch into noisey sections. Then a few songs in, they turn to their friend and say “this doesn’t suck like I thought it would”.
VMS:
“What does the future hold for King Fossil.”
King Fossil:
“We are very selective about live shows, and we feel less is more in terms of performances; Some bands just play way too much. I like to keep some mystique and scarcity to our shows. We will have a follow up EP released later this year, and are planning some shirts and maybe cassettes for the novelty of it. It’s all one batch of songs at a time, I guess. We’ll see where the long road takes us.”
——–Vegas Music Scene.