What is bristol known for? A big bridge made by some Brunel bloke, a tonne of those Banksy things, and losing in the playoff final to a wonder volley by Dean Windass (I’m sorry). It’s beginning to build another kind of legacy though, an arts and music legacy, one that The King Dukes are part of. We thought we’d see what was happening from the locals themselves...
Hello! Welcome to the Rodeo! How are things with you lot? What have you been up to?
Hi Guys. It’s the Summer! We are just kicking back and relaxing! Seriously, summer is a busy time this year, we have been building up to this album release for around a year and now we are rehearsing hard to promote it in the autumn and forward into 2020
You’re a Seven-piece, that’s a big band by my standards, how long have you known each other? how did you start ‘The King Dukes’? Tell me about your love story haha
It’s a band that happened by accident! I (Marc) swapped a guitar for some studio time with Scot McKenzie at New Cut Studios in Bristol. The intention was to go and record some tunes I had that had been knocking around for a while without homes. When it came to actually laying it down I took a drummer and a bass player into the studio to help give the tracks body and depth and it grew from there. It’s a good job it did as I’m no singer-songwriter, I need a band to make it interesting. The guys I put around me were all veterans of bands I had played with before, I knew them all really well. I even drafted my partner (April Jackson) in to sing backing vocals. She’s an amazing frontwoman in her own right and used to front a band we were both in (Screamin’ Miss Jackson and the Slap Ya Mama Big band). So there is a love story there!! Ultimately we have all known each other for ages, a decade or more in some cases, so we were all pretty comfortable with each other.
I see you’re doing a residency and grew up in Bristol, how has the place influenced your music? Maybe it hasn’t at all?
You can’t help but be influenced by Bristol. It may not be apparent but Bristol’s music scene is so supportive and inclusive music thrives here. I came to live here for 18 months and stayed, now I’ve been here 12 years. I have met my partner and every member of my band whilst living here and I don’t think it would have been able to get this band off the ground anywhere else. Bristol has so many good venues to play it helps foster and support bands, allowing them to get better and grow in front of audiences.
What was your first ever experience at a gig? Who did you see? Where was it? Don’t worry if it’s embarrassing we won’t judge…
Status Quo at the NEC Birmingham with my family aged about 12. Safe to say it didn’t spark my musical journey… I saw a Local Spanish band play a street festival a couple of years later whilst on holiday, they were just doing 60’s covers but I really wanted to be doing what they were doing, playing in front of people. That was a bit of a moment for me personally.
Rhythm and blues music is going through a difficult time broadly speaking, so you’re a fresh sight for sore eyes, what do you think is so important about keeping that sort of music alive and new? What draws you to it also?
Well for a start Rhythm and Blues music has been squeezed over the years. It’s seen its fan base slide away into newer forms of the genre, RnB (as we know it now), Hip Hop, Neo-Soul, and this is right and healthy. All these new genres are lineal and all point back to Rhythm and Blues, and even further back to Jump Blues and eventually Robert Johnson and the Mississippi Delta bluesmen. Evolution of music is brilliant, I love listening to Janelle Monae and hearing Prince, Disco and even Motown in her Music. We, however, decided to take a bit more of a ‘Heritage’ approach born out of the love of a certain type of R’n’B from a certain era. Even down to the way we recorded it and the type of instruments we played. We wanted a Vintage but still contemporary sound, and I think the album reflects that. So if you like 60’s Soul and R’n’B with a modern twist you should like this, think Daptone, James Hunter, St Paul and the Broken Bones, if you need a reference.
Marc, can you please explain why you’re riding/swimming a horse through water? It’s pretty badass. (I will embed the facebook post here)
It’s not cause I’m a fan of Vladamir Putin! But seriously what red-blooded man or woman who hasn’t wanted to ride a horse through water? You have to take these opportunities in life when they arise…
What do you want your music to do? What do you want people to get from hearing you?
What does any artist want from their music? I want people to listen first and hopefully it will move them in some way. I think that with the advent of social media peoples reactions to art and music are getting flattened out and dulled in some senses. It’s as if with our shortening attention spans, our ability to appreciate things is also compressed, hopefully taking the approach to our music we do and putting as much love into it that we can then we can counteract some of that. (I’m fully aware of the irony as this interview will be viewed and read exclusively on social media)
Finally, what’s the plan now for the rest of the year? Now the Albums out and all…
We have a big hometown show planned for the end of the year, it’s yet to be announced but it will be fun. Until then its gig, gig, gig… but that’s what we love doing.
Listen to The King Dukes on Spotify and Apple Music. To pre-order their debut and keep up with gigs and that check out their website.
