Five Questions With The Crash Kings
Every day you’re bombarded with bands who want to be in your iTunes and in your LIFE. Every once in awhile, you get drawn in by some lyrics or the mood of a song and you think, “Well, what’s this band all about?” Which is what what happened when a friend linked me to The Crash Kings, an L.A. based band currently on Chris Cornell’s tour.
We shot ’em 5 questions, and Tony Beliveau, who mans the keys and vocals, shot back.
Q. Your first single is called “Mountain Man”. Can you explain some of the imagery you use in it? What inspired the song?
A. The song, “mountain man” was inspired by an experience I had last July when I went on a solo hiking trip at yosemite. I hiked and camped by myself for about 3 days. It was such a beautiful release and I was sitting on the top of this one mountain looking out for miles. The sun was perfect, there was an amazing breeze, and it was one of those moments when I thought, “this is one place I would love to be right after I die”. I’ve had this same feeling in the ocean, and in the mountains skiing, but at this point in my life, it meant more somehow. If I could just take a sip of that moment, and bottle the rest up and leave it for the morning of my first day in the afterlife…
Q. Right off the bat, the fact that you don’t have a guitar player sets you apart from many other rock/alternative bands. When you were forming your band did this come up as a potential issue? or did you hit on your “signature sound” right away”
A. My initial vision for the band was to create a massive sound with the absence of guitar. Mike and I knew we wanted an overdriven electric bass sound, and that this would compensate for the lack of guitar. When Jason stepped in with his big drum sound, we never felt like we were missing anything. Less is/was definitely more.
Q. Tony, can you explain a little about what makes your piano unique? How have people responded to it?
A. The intrument I use onstage is a Hohner Clavinet d6. It has been hot-rodded with a whammy bar that allows me to pitchbend 60 guitar strings simultaneously. There are pickups just like on a guitar. I run it through distortion and a Fender Bassman 410 amp. It’s basically a guitar in a box. Most people have never seen one because there are less than 100 in the world that were modified like that in the 70’s by the company, “Castlebar”. People’s reaction to it always makes me laugh! I see them pointing at it during the show, and mimicking the way the whammy bar functions. I’m often asked if it is a theramin of some sort.
Q. What’s it like opening for Chris Cornell?
Opening for Chris Cornell has been incredible. His crowds are responding so well to us! Chris and Vicki have been so supportive of Crash Kings, as well as his band and crew. We’ve been able to hang out with Chris a few times on this tour and that has been such amazing. To hang with one of your favorite rock singers of all time, well, there really aren’t words to describe that…
Q. On this chris cornell tour you’ve been making new fans across the country, can you tell us a little bit about what that’s like? What is the most surprising thing about meeting your new fans/friends?
A. On this tour opening for Chris Cornell, it seems like we went into fast-forward mode a little! This is the first time Crash Kings has ever really toured. So we literally went from playing to around 100-200 people to around 1200-2300 people within a month! It’s a trip when we finish a show on this tour, and people are coming up to us and shaking hands, taking pictures, and asking for autographs. But we’re not gonna lie, it’s pretty awesome! It makes us think, “Who are we?” A few weeks ago we were just a few guys from suburban America rocking out in our little studio in LA. Now we’re in a different major city everyday playing to enormous crowds in beautiful venues. But it’s really our new fans and friends who are making the whole experience so amazing.
Get familiar linkage:
Their debut album hits shelves this month.
