Kyng Frontman Eddie Veliz Talks Life on the Road, Writing New Music + More

Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Rock trio Kyng  had a busy 2012 and if last year any indication of how this year will be then Kyng have a eventful road ahead of them. Loudwire recently checked in with the band’s frontman Eddie Veliz, who talked all about the ups and downs of life on the road, while also looking back at the release of their debut album, ‘Trampled Sun,’ and mentioning plans for a new album. Kyng have been on the road nonstop, what do you love most about touring? It’s awesome – you get to meet a bunch of people in the first couple rounds and then the next time you come around you consistently run into these people, like you – even though you didn’t recognize me. I was like “Hey! It’s you,” and you were like, “Who are you?” but now you’re cool – yeah it’s all that, we get to come back and they’re more excited. The sucky part, but also good part, is that everywhere we go we have friends and all they want to do is feed us and get drunk. It’s like, “Let’s go eat ribs” and barbeque galore and it’s nonstop and we’re just getting fatter and fatter. It’s good and bad. What do you not like about touring? Just being away, being away from home – we don’t have all the luxuries of your typical rockstar. We sleep in our four star or four wheel home which is the van and it’s just us out on the road – it’s a lot of work. We’re just kicking butt, selling out our merch, checking out gear, performing and driving and that could take a toll for sure. We just start getting beat up after every tour. You have toured with so many great bands, including your recent trek with Megadeth… Who? Who’s that, I don’t know about that – that’s so weird. Yeah the whole Megadeth thing was outrageous. We’ve been so lucky getting super cool tours with bands that we actually grew up listening to, like the whole Clutch thing, the whole Orion thing, the Megadeth thing – it’s crazy. How is it happening, I have no clue, but I’m glad it is. Luckily on the tour with Seether, who are awesome dudes, they gave us all the amenities we needed like, “Our techs will help you out, use our dressing rooms, whatever you need.” They welcomed us with open arms, that was the first time we met them and we’re like brothers. Kyng’s debut disc ‘Trampled Sun’ had its one year anniversary in the fall. Not as the band’s frontman, but as a pure music fan, what do you love most about the album? The thing I love most about this record is that every song on that album had its own identity – it’s like a bunch of super heroes, they’re all different and they all have they’re own little superhero powers. The song ‘Takes It Toll’ is much different from ‘Shoreline’ and ‘Bleed Easy’ is much different from ‘Pushing and Pulling.’ We’ve gotten word back from friends and family and fans who are like, “I just take that album in and listen to it in its entirety” and I think that’s attributed to the fact that all the songs are different – a lot of the songs aren’t going in one direction and it’s not just straightforward. One thing about this album is that my favorite song on the disc constantly changes, because there are so many different elements and moods on this record. I love that about certain albums, there’s Chris Cornell’s ‘Euphoria Morning’ does that to me. I listen to that all the time and every time I listen to it, different songs on that album become my favorite. I really wanted to accomplish something like that and it just so happens, thankfully, somewhere along the lines our first album is kind of like that for some people. What are some 2013 plans for Kyng? We’ve been writing like crazy, Tony [Castaneda] and I – getting some new music for the new album. We really want to get something out – I don’t know when it’ll be out but I want to be in the studio and finished a ton of music to just start touring away. We got about four or five songs in the can, we’ve recorded about three and they’re sounding really good, we’re just picking up where ‘Trampled Sun’ left off. When would you have to like it out by? Man if it was up to me, we would’ve had one out already. I wanted one so fast – I wanted to do that whole Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath thing – when they hit the scene they had two albums out in the same year. I would have loved to have done that but obviously people were like “You’re dumb, don’t do that.” We took our time, we went out and toured as much as possible, we didn’t have time to get into the studio. If it was up to me, I’d want to be in the studio now and get one out as soon as possible. Do you usually write on the road? Music writing, it’s so weird, I’m able to hold and retain songs in my head and I’ll pull out my phone and record riffs just to have them there and once I get home, I’ll get songs and put them together and show the guys. I’m constantly writing all the time whether it’s for Kyng or just for myself – I have a ton of acoustic songs, a ton of riffs and melodies and lyrics and things just gathered up. It’s easy for me to just sit down and write a song but to make it perfect, that’s the problem. It’s quiet writing on the road because all you can do is hum to yourself — you’re in a van just driving down the road. There’s no amps plugged in so you just have to hum into your phone and save it and just keep adding until you have enough parts to pick apart. It’s great though. So Kyng doesn’t have a driver, huh? No, it’s literally just us. It’s funny because everyone’s always wondering, when people come and hang out with us, they’re like “Is that person with you? Is this person with you?” No it’s just us three – Tony, Pepe [Clarke] and I. We take turns driving, I usually take the night shifts, Pepe’s in the morning and Tony’s in the middle of the day, we sell our own merch and play shows and do our thing. I saw someone saying somewhere, “Hey those Kyng dudes are making a ton of money,” and it’s like you are so far from the truth. We have zero crew, we have no bus — it’s literally us and a sack of coins but we do what we love to do and that’s all that really matters to us. We’re rich in stories, my friend. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/megadeth-kyng-deliver-powerful-performances-at-new-york-city-show/” title=”Check Out Photos of Kyng Performing in New York City with Megadeth” align=”center”] Watch Kyng Perform ‘Falling Down’ in Concert

Go here to read the rest:
Kyng Frontman Eddie Veliz Talks Life on the Road, Writing New Music + More

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.