Excited to be home after a stint in the US, Kingswood have teamed up with Calling All Cars and are back on the road with new single Sucker Punch in hand. Flying in from a studio in Nashville, the gritty indie rock four-piece from Melbourne had a chat with The Echo about their upcoming Byron gig.
Do you think there’s something different to a run of summer gigs? What kind of spirit do they have in comparison to the live shows you do at other times of the year? That is the most interesting question I’ve ever been asked, so well done! Contrary to what you might think, we detest the summer. This is because we all wear boots, extremely tight jeans, thick flannel shirts, denim vests, ties and thick leather jackets when we play, so we overheat. Winter gigs are the best.
How was the US? Were they open to your particular sound? Had they ever heard of a Kingswood? The US was amazing. We spent most of our time in Nashville, so we changed our set a bit to include Ring of Fire and Sweet Home Alabama. And we changed our name to El Camino when we were there because who has heard of a Kingswood.
Tell me about recording with Vance Powell in Nashville. How did that come about? Recording with Vance was both foreign and great. We recorded the album to tape, which was in itself an incredible learning experience. This, along with the huge amount of gear at Blackbird, were big factors in what made
it an excellent and fulfilling experience. How did we get Vance? I think our EP was getting circulated around a little and he heard it and showed interest, got in touch with us and boom!
Is it hard to keep up the energy for rock – especially if you have a bit of tour fatigue? How do you pace yourself when you are on the road so you don’t end up cactus?
We are sponsored by Banana, so it’s been pretty good since we snagged that one. We also regularly participate in group exercise, namely golf and air hockey. Both great for the heart.
Who are your rock heroes? I have a big crush on Alex Turner. I’ll bet you do too.
If you weren’t playing in Kingswood, where do you think you’d be? In a very bad place, but most likely with more than $18 in my bank account.
What should we expect for your Byron show?
None of the tomfoolery above of course. A bunch of new tunes from our forthcoming album with a few extra surprises.
At the Hotel Great Northern on Friday.
Find this and many other great gigs in Echonetdaily’s North Coast Gig Guide.
