King's X has garnered a rabid following and critical praise for their technical proficiency, solid songwriting and for making music "On Their Own Terms". Side projects have kept Doug Pinnick (vocals, bass), Ty Tabor (guitar, vocals), and Jerry Gaskill (drums, vocals) constantly moving and churning out new material over the past few years, but they always come back home....to King's X.
On September 25th, 2001 King's X released their ninth official studio album, Manic Moonlight (Metal Blade). Doug Pinnick, who has been busy with his solo project Poundhound, as well as other projects including Supershine, took a "rest" to speak with me from Metal Blade Headquarters in Los Angeles.
CS:The last King's X album had some weird stuff. For instance, what is the significance of a song called "Charlie Sheen"?
DP:We needed a couple of words to rhyme and Ty said "Charlie Sheen" and we looked at each other and we liked it. I think it was pretty cool actually. We do a lot of things like that where we'll get real deep into a song and there will be a line that just doesn't fit. We'll throw something else in there that'll just throw everything off center.
CS: So you don't actually know Charlie Sheen?
DP: No. I've seen one of the Sheen brothers one time, but that's about it. (laughs) Ty's sitting here. He said "Charlie's a good friend".
CS: The name of the new CD is Manic Moonlight...but wasn't it going to be called "DJ T"?
DP: We were gonna call it "Doug Ty Jerry" and before that, (consults with Ty briefly) we were gonna call it "Funkalicious" because the music so far had sounded real funky and groovy...but the record kind of progressed into some other things. Then we decided on "Doug Ty Jerry" and then that changed over to "Manic Moonlight" because there's a song on the album called "Manic Moonlight". After we worked on the cover and stuff, Ty came up with a bunch of different ideas and the one that we picked just gravitated to "Manic Moonlight".
CS: How is the new album different from previous records?
DP: Its not heavy. It's not "metal". I think it could be a perfect alternative record. To me, it's kind of dreamy. I really like it. I love listening to it, which is something I don't normally do with King's X music. We used a lot of drum loops underneath to build the foundation and then we just layered everything on top of it and it just took on a whole different vibe.
CS: How has the songwriting and recording process changed for King's X?
DP: The last three records, we've been writing together without any preconceived ideas or anything to bring to the table but just our hearts. It's been a lot of fun. I've enjoyed this much more, it seems like, because you never know what you're gonna come up with and when it's done you just smile, because it's a group effort and it's always a surprise. Before, we used to do demos and do each other's demos; and that worked for a while but we needed a change, I guess.
CS: When you write with King's X, do you just stay on bass? Do you only write on bass instead of guitar?
DP: Yeah. I'll play bass and Ty will do his guitar and we'll make it work. We won't predict what each other should play because the important thing about writing music together now is everyone putting their heart into their instrument, which will create a whole new kind of sound for us...for US, you know? Maybe not for the world, but us at least.
CS: What's the first single going to be?
DP: I hope it's "False Alarm" but I'm not sure.
CS: Are you playing any 12-string bass on this album?
DP: Actually, I play 12-string on "False Alarm".
CS: You used to play it a lot more. What happened to that?
DP: Honestly, I lost interest in it. But I've found a new found interest. I think I'm gonna start writing some tunes with it again. It seems like lots of people keep asking me "Where's the 12-string?" and they seem to get upset because they don't see me playing it. And, you know, I'm not doing it for them, but it's like "OK, that's an inspiration. Let's try it".
CS: I heard that you're going to collaborate with Chris Cornell (Soundgarden).
DP: We talk about it. Every time I run into him we talk about it but we never have sat down to make a final commitment. And he's off with Rage Against The Machine now, so I doubt if I'll see him for a while.
CS: That's too bad.
DP: Nah, that's not too bad. I've got other people I play with. I've got a lot of stuff going on. I'm going up to Seattle to do a record with Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) ...sort of a piano-based album. That one should be really different. It'll be fun.
CS: What about "Dimebag" (Pantera)?
DP: Yeah, I talked to Dime, since they only live in Dallas. We talked about me driving up one weekend and shootin' out couple songs and putting an EP out or something...have some fun. If we could ever get him to stop drinking so much, we could do something! (laughing)
CS: If you're a fan of King's X, basically you're a hard core fan of King's X. What do you think about some of the people who are saying that with all the side projects, King's X itself is becoming a side project?
DP: Ummm...You know, they're gonna say that, and as far as I'm concerned, if we didn't have side projects, we'd still be making the same kind of music...and they'd find something else to complain about if they wanted to. King's X fans are so rabid about us that they feel so threatened it seems like when we do solo stuff. They're "Oh god, they're taking away from King's X", and I'm going "I don't think so". And if they do, they do and there's nothing I can do about it. Because we gotta make music. The whole thing about King's X is making music on our terms and the people who like King's X like us because we make music on our own terms. As far as I'm concerned, most of the people who I've talked to online and stuff are excited about the side projects. They just think it's just more music from us, you know, and they're just real excited. I haven't heard anything about people complaining that our side projects take away, but I've heard in interviews, a couple of people have told me that people have said that to them. People are always going to put something negative into whatever you do no matter what and if you think about it and look for it, it'll drive you crazy.
CS: Who are you guys going on tour with?
DP: I think the band's called Moke. I've never heard them. Ty had heard them. He really digs 'em a lot, so I'll find out when I hear them. But, I'm looking forward to it.
