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Hi Dave, good to talk to you. Best place to start has to be the recent King Creature tour with Northern Irish legends Therapy? That must have been an incredible experience. There are not many bands from that era who are still held in such a high regard as Therapy? “Yes! It was an honour and privilege to tour the UK with such an awesome band. They are lovely guys, and they have a great crew that made it a real joy to be a part of the tour.” You’ve opened for your fair share of legends. Motörhead obviously springs to mind. Do you get a chance to soak all that in… make mental notes about surviving in the cut-throat music business? “Most of the time, yes. You can’t not try and soak it up. We’ve had some moments where we have had to pinch ourselves, for sure.” King Creature are signed to Marshall Records. How did this come about, and what does it mean to be associated with such an iconic name? “It’s a bit of a long story, but I’ll try to condense it down. Marshall amps were a fan of King Creature and saw something in us, so helped us record our debut album. Once that was done, they figured they could either look for a label for us or start one. We love being part of the Marshall brand story. They treat us like family, and that goes a long way.” King Creature’s latest EP, ‘To The Bone’, is out now. It features some reimagined acoustic versions of previous album tracks, along with some new tracks, ‘World Of Sin’ being the lead single. How long have you had that particular one brewing for, and what can you tell us about the other new tracks? “World Of Sin’ was a track that our guitarist/vocalist Matt brought to the table backstage at last year’s Planet RockStock. We had been thinking about recording some acoustic tracks, and it seemed to fit really well with the theme. As for the other tracks on the EP, I think there is something there for all tastes.” ‘World Of Sin’ reminds me of Alice In Chains… the ‘Sap/Jar Of Flies’ period (along with MTV Unplugged) especially. Jerry Cantrell has to be one of the most under appreciated vocalists/guitarists ever, surely? “A lot of folk have picked up on an AIC feel, but really i think it’s just the harmonised vocal from Matt and myself that gives it that. For sure, Jerry Cantrell doesn’t seem to get the recognition he deserves.” An EP is quite a crucial tool in keeping a band in the public eye while another full album is a while away. Social media is another crucial marketing tool. How hard is it to, first of all, capture that all-important fanbase, but then to keep them interested? “We find the whole social media thing quite difficult, in all honesty. King Creature now have some great people involved who help us out with it. The thing is, we started a band to play music and that alone, but times change, and we have had to adapt and be more active online. As for keeping people interested; all we can do is be ourselves and make music. If people dig it, then great!” You’ve also got a show with Von Hertzen Brothers looming. From Therapy? to Von Hertzen Brothers, that shows just how well King Creature can fit in with such varied bands. “It’s something we are proud of in King Creature. We bridge a few different genres in our music, so there is usually something for everyone.” Your end of year bash was at St Austell Brewery. A night to remember, or perhaps a foggy memory? Daft question, but why a brewery? Good acoustics maybe? “Haha! Well, it’s in our hometown, and it’s a big venue. We sold out our usual hometown venue two days running last Xmas, so we had to upscale this year so as not to disappoint our local fan base.” Riders To Ruin and Torqued also appeared. Geography was never my strong point, but that’s all three bands from the South West, yeah? Geographically, that area seems quite isolated, and I would imagine that you would have put some mileage in over the last year? “Yes, all three bands are from the South West, and yes, it is isolated. There aren’t a lot of venues for original music down here, so bands have to work twice as hard to get noticed. There is a hotbed of talent in the South West right now. As for mileage, we sure have covered some!” On the subject of touring, Lily Allen joked that if she won the Mercury Music Prize, she would spend the £25,000 prize money on post-Brexit visa applications. As a touring band, how much of a concern is the threat of additional costs and red tape that Brexit might bring? Is there a risk that it could make Europe as inaccessible to fledgling bands in the same way that America is? “Of course, it’s a worry. It was my main reason for voting to remain. Touring in a band is expensive and hard enough as it is, and if it goes that way, I think it will have a devastating effect on the amount of live touring bands we’ll see in the future.” With the news that some media outlets are banning ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’, as some people now deem it to be offensive, what song (if any) offends you, and why?! Anything by The 1975 doesn’t count, as everything that they have done is offensive! “Being offended is subjective, like art. The whole world seems to get offended by anything these days. People are even offended on behalf of others that aren’t, which seems bizarre to me. As for music, it is just that… it’s music.” Lastly, what are the plans for King Creature in 2019? What can we look forward to? “Well, we kick off the year with a few acoustic shows, then we are off to LA to play at the NAMM show! We’ll be looking to get ourselves out in front of as many music lovers as we can! We have also been working hard on album number 2, so you have that to look forward to!” Sounds ace, Dave! Good luck with the EP release, and all the best for 2019! More information on King Creature here.]]>
