When King 810 announced they will be hosting 4 special dates of avant-garde immersive performances this December, they managed to stir up more questions than they answered. We know this unique presentation will surround the band's latest album, La Petite Mort or a Conversation with God, but with very little information otherwise, we felt it was an opportunity to reach out.
Good friend, and OG King 810 fan, Nick Emde grabbed a few minutes with David Gunn to talk about the special performances, the importance and inspiration behind performance art in King 810, and a little more on what to expect from the future of the band.
Nick: First off I'd like to say congratulations on the new record! It's something different than what anyone is doing. I've been a fan since Midwest Monsters and the band growth from then until now is monumental. Are you happy how it's been received so far?
David: I would like to thank you then for supporting the thing. I can’t really say I know how it’s been received so far. I guess I don't pay too much attention; but whether people love it or hate it, neither of these things would bring me happiness so I guess my answer would be ‘no’ in a way.
Nick: Listening to the album, I could imagine a performance art presentation would fit nicely with it. You were incorporating some of that on previous tours, for instance on mayhem fest with the splits in the set with the masks/dance in between/ coming out with mud later in set. You guys are always artistic in your performance, where does the inspiration come from?
David: That would be ideal yes. Playing instruments is the afterthought for the performance art presentation. In a way, us as people were not the focus, but the work itself was the focus. Of course we are the creators of the piece, but more times than not I am more comfortable and content being an orchestrator, like a maestro or a producer, of what is happening rather than being the centerpiece or the screaming idiot making the noise. As far as the inspiration goes, it comes from all things in life, musical and non-musical. I can't imagine creating songs or stories or pieces without there being a mood for it, without there being a sound, or a pallet or without there being a color or a tone or a character, or something visual. I think when you're a storyteller and your stories are not vivid enough to induce a mood or a feeling or move the listener, or if they don’t have these well vetted characteristics and properties, then you’re probably not shit for a storyteller. So when there are songs being played and the people playing them are leaving it up to the crowd to decide how they feel about their lackluster, haphazard representation of their own work, that gets kind of sad. I've never created without these things in mind and that’s why I've drawn the comparison to other groups, because I couldn't imagine being that shallow. As you mentioned, we had a couple small pieces in our sets in the past and with these upcoming shows we will expand on those pieces throughout the duration of the set.
Nick: Does the performance art ever inspire the writing of the music?
David Gunn: Inspiration comes in all forms and from all things. All of the stories I tell are about real people and real things that have happened. That’s the biggest inspiration during writing. When I write I don't use a pen and paper, I just walk outside and stroll around my neighborhood for a few hours and if it’s that kind of day, songs just pour out. It’s very simple to understand the songs because of their non-fiction nature and having been there, I know what everything looked and felt like from my own perspective. I know the smell and the taste and the reactions of the people involved in the stories, etc. These are all relatively easy to conjure up. When we go into a live show environment then it becomes a translation task and that’s where performance is challenging from a logistics standpoint. We will be incorporating several performance artists in the upcoming shows, where we will be conveying these stories within the music visually, via each performance artist’s own unique medium.
Nick: Awesome! Sounds like a really unique show. The advertisement trailer says this will be in 360 sound.. so will the audience be participants during these shows?
David: Well I hope the audience is a participant in every show. I am working on breaking down that wall though, yes. The quadrophonic sound is not something new but I feel like it’s something under appreciated. For example, Pink Floyd played with this idea, to have sound surrounding the audience- behind them, in front of them, above them, etc. This way the individual is more immersed in the experience sonically before all the theatrics even come into play. As far as the shows go visually, it will not have the traditional feel and style of a show where the band runs through a bunch of songs on stage and the crowd stands on the floor moving if they choose to or staying still if they don't. There will be a lot of theatrics involved and an effort to break down that wall, that should allow the experience to become immersive. Perhaps this will get the fuckers to stay off their bullshit phones and things like that in this kind of atmosphere, but as with most things, I find myself wishfully thinking.
Nick: Nice! The band is presenting itself in a very unique way that definitely makes you stand out from the pack. Has this always been a goal of yours to perform at this level?
David: I guess this is just a result of who we are. We have never met to discuss how we can stand out from the pack. People sadly enough do that, and it’s contrived and fictional and not felt. Aside from that, when you really are different from the pack you stand out naturally, but with that being said I don't think we’re special in any way, I just think people may not understand there is a good chance we belong to a different pack than they assume. That aside, no this has not been the goal. We are still currently working toward the goal in small and very annoying steps. This is just the next small step towards the ideal performance facilitation. You know, to get from A to Z you have to maneuver from B through Y kind of thing. This is a step towards that- we will be bringing into the show all these extra elements like a string section, acrobats and dancers- these kinds of things. I don't want to give it all away but the collaboration aspect adds a bit more to hosting the show than usual.
Nick: Did you guys decide to play these few shows in these particular cities for a reason?
David: For a handful of obvious reasons being that this is where we began and where we're from. These people we know want to see us and we had the inclination to give them the show first. I only imagined being able to put on this kind of show with our resources in small strings of 3-4 dates at a time, rather than an extensive 6-8 weeklong tour where there was a good chance we couldn't deliver this show every night. These few dates gives us the chance to focus on all the facets of the show from the audio to the visual theatrics, and really try and get it right and up to par. Also the fact that we have so few targets at a time allows us to specialize each show so none of the 4 shows will be the same, and they will all be their own kind of experience. The idea is to begin in the Midwest and see if we are satisfied with our work, and if we are we will go elsewhere and do a few more, and then a few more.
Nick: Where would you like to see the band in the next few years?
David: Sitting on a porch on the north end of Flint town.
Maybe we'll be playing spades.
There will be trash lying about from old food and shit no one took care of.
Maybe a shitty acoustic guitar.
Maybe a few friends will just be getting out of prison by then.
Maybe some friends will just be going in.
We will talk about all the serious shit we got away with and how funny it kind of is that we were caught doing something so petty.
Maybe there will be a lot of girls there.
Maybe we will talk about an idea for a song before quickly dismissing the thought of working on music at a time like this. Maybe all the kids will be a few years older and they'll probably be running around getting bitched at.
Maybe a lot more people will have an understanding of what exactly we were trying to do musically.
Maybe we still couldn't care less.
Probably a lot of groups with less integrity will become popular singing stories inspired by ours.
Probably will look something like it does today.
Nick Emde: Thanks for your time! I look forward to seeing you live again, soon!
Grab you tickets to these special performances right here!
DECEMBER 15TH IN CLEVELAND, DECEMBER 16TH IN VALPARAISO
DECEMBER 17TH IN DETROIT, & DECEMBER 18TH IN CHICAGO
