King Shelter - Sound In The Signals Interview

Orange County's salad rock band King Shelter recently finished their West Coast 'Preoccupy My Brain' Tour and released their latest single, "Preoccupy". The song brings into question the culture of America's nightlife, specifically in Los Angeles. It's insightful and leaves the listener thinking long after the song is over. They were kind enough to tell us what inspired "Preoccupy", what salad rock means, and how soon we can expect more music.

King Shelter is a self-described salad rock band from Orange County,  California. You just released your latest single. Tell us more about your background and how you formed for those who may be unfamiliar.

I recently moved out to Orange from south Florida, and shortly after i met David, Adam and john. The four of us started playing some shows and it naturally progressed into something much more important to us.

You just released your new song "Preoccupy". When discussing the song Taylor Hecocks has said, "what are we trying to gain? Why do we keep doing these things? Why are we intentionally hurting other individuals for a temporary preoccupation? But most importantly, how can we be better? Because we CAN do better, we just have to try". Tell us more about writing this song and how you think we can make a difference.

Preoccupy is essentially discussing some social issues that became very prominent to me since moving. Women are treated very poorly, certain people have found a sense of entitlement or privilege. There's a huge division in humanity, a giant division in American culture. I feel that we can't make any progress towards a better society until we bridge the gaps. We need to understand each other, we need to know each others perspectives. Maybe then we can show compassion and sympathy, and maybe then we can look at others with the thought of how can I help as opposed to how I can gain.


The cover artwork for "Preoccupy" is interesting. Who came up with the idea and can you explain the concept and design?

Our homie, Kathryn Ashford did the artwork. She does amazing abstract pieces. We wanted her visuals to represent the track and we essentially gave her the reigns.

Your sound is described as salad rock meaning it's a mixture of different sounds and styles. How would you describe this to someone who doesn't know about it? Where does this mixture come from; are there any influences from different genres?

The initial name came from a frustration of classification. But we all listen to pretty different music from different decades. I kinda feel the combination of all of our individual influences lead to a big ol melting pot of rock. Or a salad, I guess ...

You just finished your West Coast 'Preoccupy My Brain' Tour. How did this experience go? Any key moments or memories from the tour and/or shows?

The tour was a very wonderful and fweaky time. We got to hit a lot of new cities and meet a ton of new people. It was tite. It got pretty rowdy. I'm answering these questions from the ER right now after taking a sweet spill at the dunes (on stage) in SF.

Your EP, Failure, came out in 2015. You released two videos for songs "Failure" and "People Change". Were you pleased with the response to the EP? How do you plan to build upon that success?

The EP and all the videos were DIY stuff, we did that whole EP at my house in La Mirada, mixed and produced myself. So to get to this point from a fully DIY EP is pretty encouraging. Since releasing this new single, which we ended up doing with Adam Castilla of the Colourist in a real studio, we have been getting some neat feedback. We're just stoked we're able to make music.

"Preoccupy" is your latest single. What's next for King Shelter? Can fans expect more music soon?

Yes, yes. We have recorded some more tunes. We plan to release a follow up single in the next month or so and then plan to release our 5 song EP by the end of 2016...Lord willing.

Thanks for the interview. Do you have anything else you would like to add?

Tell your mother you love her. Throw your pennies out, they're irrelevant.

Find "Preoccupy" on iTunes and Spotify.

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-L.Burden