VOID KING (EN)

– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you guys currently up to?
Right now we’re really trying to get our setlist super tight, and balance writing new tunes with playing out the new record. We’re constantly putting new riffs and songs out there, but we have this whole new album that just came out. So it’s always a struggle not to leave a song behind.

– First off, could you make some history of the band?
So this kind of started as a side project a few years back with our drummer, Derek, and myself. We were in a regular ol’ rock and roll band, and we decided that we were going to do a two man doom band thing. We did that for a minute, but I kind of wanted a bass player because the sound seemed to be lacking and I wanted some harmonies and bass runs and what not. That was great for a little while and we tried out some other guitar players to really thicken things up, but that never seemed to work out just right. Somewhere along the line, we decided that the songs needed a vocal line to really round things out. I shot Jason a message one day about something unrelated to music, and we started yapping about the supernatural, and then music…and then he asked if we wanted someone to sing. It was weird. Late last year, our original bass player, the guy you hear on the record, decided he was going to go back to school and that he couldn’t handle the band and school, so he regrettably had to bow out. Right away, we asked my brother to audition. It was a natural fit.

 
– How could you describe your sound?
Someone once described us a “Stoner Doom and Roll”, and I think that fits us quite well. All of us listen to such a wide variety of things and I think it meshes perfectly. Ultimately, we’re loud. And as stupid as that is to use as a descriptor, it’s kind of what we love the most. Metal, doom, sludge, rock, alt…the common thread in the things that we love seems to be volume. That really comes across when we play live.

 
– What are the band’s main musical influences?
I don’t know if you can say that we have a “main influence”. If I really think about it, we all love Red Fang. That seems to be the crossroads of our musical taste. I tend to listen to more extreme music, while Chris, our bass player, listens to more technical and proggy music. Derek is a true blue rock and roll guy. And Jason tends to tiptoe more on the alternative side of the house, with a whole lot of stoner rock influence.

– How is the feedback for your new album being?
We’ve been shocked at the reception. People really seem to understand where the band is coming from and what the record is about. And I don’t mean that from a thematic point of view. We’re not trying to blow anyone anyway with some crazy message. We’re playing loud music and trying to have a good time doing it. At the end of the day, I think that people feel that vibe in your tunes.

– And are your personally satisfied with the final outcome?
We just couldn’t be happier. Carl Byers from Clandestine Arts did an amazing job. He made the record sound like us, and that’s literally all we could have asked for. You hear these dudes go in the studio and come out with this super polished, overly produced thing that doesn’t capture them at all. We avoided all of that completely and really got the meat of everything that defines Void King.

– How could you describe this opus in just 3 words?
Loud riff mania.

– How has the production process for your new release been?
It’s been trying at times figuring out how to release this record and which format it should be released on, and all of that. But at the end of the day, digital downloads and cassette tapes are what we decided on. We have recently inked a deal with a small label in the Netherlands that is going to put out the record on CD and Vinyl, so that has been most helpful.

– And how do you use to work on the songwriting?
The eternal question. Most of the time someone comes in with a riff and we play it over and over until someone naturally comes up with a complimentary part. It’s like a “choose your own adventure” book. But there have been times when something strikes one of us as we are driving to rehearsal, and we snag a guitar as soon as we get there and try to bang it out on the spot. Jamming is the best way for me to write personally. I have a lot of nebulous ideas that I need a drum beat for. Even if it’s just a simple 4/4 beat, it helps me get the riff from my head to my hands. If that makes any kind of sense.

 
– Finally, what are you near-future plans?
We’re going to do a lot of long weekend, out and back type shows in the real near future. From there we’re really trying to hustle to get on festivals next year, and hopefully get to go to Europe and play over there. Ultimately, we just want to make music that we love, at a volume that almost makes people uncomfortable. We want to bring people into the fold and feel like the songs we make are for, and even times about, them. There are a lot of things that we want to do. We have a lot to say and hope that people are inclined to help us praise the riff.

– That’s all from our side, thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions. If you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Void King is a lot of things. We’re a band, yes. But at the end of the day we want to be an experience for people. We want the listener to breathe a little deeper and catch the vibrations of the universe. There’s a lot happening in this life, but if we slowed everything down and made time for loud music, it would make a lot more sense.

http://voidking.bandcamp.com/album/there-is-nothing