Little King: "Amuse De Q"
We had the pleasure of checking in with the El Paso band Little King in advance of the release of their next album “Amuse De Q” and they were kind enough to respond a few interview questions:
Tell us how your new album, “Amuse De Q”, will be different from your previous albums?
Good afternoon...great to be with you!
It will always sound like Little King, which is dynamic, diverse, a little progressive, and challenging to the listeners on a conceptual level. For better or worse, don't really make background music, so I ask for a few minutes of our listeners' time to dive in and take a ride with me. As such, there will always be twists and turns and a lot of different moods and topics covered through one release. That's what make me, well...ME!
If anything is different, it is that Amuse de Q is the most confident and intricate album I have ever made. I am THRILLED, thus far. This is the first time in 23 years and 7 records that the lineup has been exactly the same from one record to the next. We released Occam's Foil less than a year ago, and people seemed to really love it. Amuse builds on that cohesion and momentum, and our fans will hear the results soon enough and judge for themselves!
What is your favorite song on the album and why?
It's very early to give the game away! So far, though, I have special love for a tune called "How Could You?" The music and lyrics are a very good fit, and it's a song with some deep meaning. All of the songs on Amuse de Q will relate to issues confronted during Quarantine - isolation, social media, the BLM movement, alcohol issues, and more. "How Could You?" is a narrative about domestic abuse and how it is so hard to escape. It's a pandemic of its own, for sure, and I can't emphasize enough how many women I know who are in abusive situations and feel they have no way out. They DO, and I hope to give them some hope through my music.
Tell us about your creative process, is it different with each album or the same?
It is essentially the same, although the Q disrupted that a bit. I always sit on my bed and pick up an acoustic or classical guitar and just flow. Sometimes it comes easily, sometimes not so much, but I know that if I work really hard and play a lot, things take shape eventually.
There were very few leftover bits from Occam's Foil, save one song, so the new album is all fresh. I write and edit and re-edit the songs on the guitar until they make sense to me. It's a blend of math and creativity, right? Like, the chorus makes sense this long, the intro should be this many bars, this solo is too long, and on and on. I have written so many songs now since 1996 that I have learned to trust the process, and this album certainly came along quickly. I am thrilled about that.
Once the music is written, Manny (Tejeda, bass and backing vox) comes in and we rehearse. This time, with masks and 6 feet apart, but that didn't really affect us much! We drill and edit together, and he writes his parts with me playing along. We have awesome synergy, and so that process is quick as well. Finally, we traveled to Texas to meet with Eddy (Garcia, drummer and studio engineer), and he learns the songs and cuts his parts.
When all of this is over and I have a decent mix, only then will I write and finalize the lyrics and vocal melodies. In fact, I am doing that as we speak...it's a process that I love. But it's hard, and I don't mail it in lyrically. So, there is a lot of angst at this moment!
What inspired this album?
Like everyone, 2020 has been a pyrrhic nightmare for me. But I have taken time to consider how to make it work for me. In life, it's usually about the approach and consistency therein, and not necessarily about the problem at hand. I don't want to discount how brutal COVID has been, and my life is no different. But we can control a few things, and how we react is at the top of the list. That's undefeated logic.
I was inspired by the news, current events, and the changes in my life. Sobriety, moving AGAIN cross country (back to the west, where I belong), my business crashing and then rising again from the ashes, homeschooling as a full-time single parent, our egregiously awful current political climate, and more. If you can't be inspired now, time to hang it up.
What has it been like doing this album during Covid?
See above! LOL I wish we could have toured. It was setting up nicely with the momentum from Occam. We had festival dates, club dates, press and radio, and the whole machine firing on all cylinders. We even had a setlist rehearsed and ready to go, and I was so proud of it. Worked our butts off to get it right. So, when things crashed and burned, it was either sulk and fail or pivot and create. I chose the latter, and the rest is history. Because Manny and I lived (until recently) about 10 minutes apart, that didn't change. And Eddy has always been in El Paso, so with 5 albums now under my belt with him, there weren't a lot of surprises. Again, I think the results will bear out that synergy.
We heard you have been traveling the country - tell us more about that experience.
Manny and I packed up a 6x14 trailer full of my stuff and loaded up my son and my music equipment and BAILED on August 17. I had just sold my house, my furniture, my toys, and we just split. It was time to leave Delaware, and I haven't looked back since. The state of Delaware and I are a bit at odds, and I am currently sans license. Hoping to change that soon, but as such, Manny drove us the 2112 miles to Eddy's studio and we cut the 7 songs. Most of them, anyway. My son Asher was along for the ride and actually has a piano part on one of the tracks, which is a thrill as well. A dream, really! We went through Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, and then later through New Mexico and Arizona. COVID is real, and these states all had slightly different approaches. What is uniform, though, is the kindness and genuine curiosity that we encountered wherever we went. Our story is compelling, and people want to know what's up. And Manny is only too glad to go on and on about it! I kid hahaha...
When can fans expect the album and where can they find you online?
I am taking my time, but I would expect Amuse de Q to be released in late February or early March. That's a guess, but we are ahead of schedule. I don't need to over-cook it, but I want it to be perfect. There's a balance that needs to be struck! But, I want the album to have a full 10 months or so of "looking new," in that it still looks like a new release in December of 2021 even if it's released in February of 2021. I didn't do that last time, and it was a stupid rookie move. After this long, it's like, "REALLY?"
While you’re waiting for the release of “Amuse De Q” have a listen to “Occam’s Foil” and connect with Little Kind on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/littlekingtunes/?ref=hl
