KING KING is one of the UK’s most essential hard rock bands and in their latest album ‘Exile and Grace’ they’ve produced a masterpiece. We caught up with vocalist/guitarist Alan Nimmo ahead of their 2018 tour to find out all about the making of that album and the music that inspires him.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to The Rockpit today, what can we say? ‘Exile and Grace’ has to be one of the finest and most complete albums we’ve heard in a long time.
First of all, thank you for your kind words. I’m glad you like the album. Yes, I think it is a very proud moment for us. We’re very happy with the album and how it turned out. There is always a better song inside me though, so I relish the challenge of making the next album even better but right now these songs are the best we’ve written and we’re proud of that.
After three wonderful albums where the sound has evolved and the songs grown stronger with each release what are you feelings about ‘Exile and Grace’? Is it your proudest moment musically?
It has to start with some inspiration and when you find that then the song writing juices can start to flow… I have no particular order in which to write a song. It can start with a little guitar riff or a single line of lyrics or even a melody in my head. From there we start to piece it together and like most songs they evolve naturally through time and with the more you play them together. When it comes to recording then we’re a band who likes to pay attention to detail in order to make a great and complete song so we tend to produce as we go! I would say that we always end up putting ourselves under pressure to get an album done in time for hand in but songs are always a work in progress for a long time so sometimes that gets In the way of deadlines but, I’d rather be late and have a great album than early and wish I’d done things differently!
Take us inside the process of making the album? Where do you start? How do the songs evolve?
The one thing we always try to do when recording an album is to try and see it the way the fans would. We never want to have filler songs on there that people end up skipping past. We want you to listen from start to finish every time. That’s one of the main reasons we don’t put too many tracks on either. Sometimes albums can be too long and you get bored!
What does it feel like as an artist waiting for the songs you’ve lived with for some time to get released to the fans? Is there a sense of excitement or a little panic in there too?
I get really excited before release day. I’m always curious to see and hear the fans reaction to new songs. You always want to know if you’ve done the job well enough and you really want the fans to understand and hear the songs the way you do!
The lead single ‘(She Don’t) Need No Lovin’’’ could well be our song of the year how does it feel when you hear that final playback on a track like that?
I remember when we got the final mix of “She Don’t Gimme (No Lovin’) “sent back to us, it was the first track to be mixed by Chris Sheldon and I played it on my home stereo. I turned the volume up and I almost forgot that I was listening to myself! It sounded so cool and had this big hard hitting rock edge to it. That put my mind at ease immediately and I knew we had a good album on our hands.
How do you feel the band has grown since 2015’s ‘Reaching For the Light’?
I think as a band and as individuals we are always growing and learning new things either about music and playing or writing, producing and even about the music business. I think that as a song writer I am pleased with the progress from reaching for the light to Exile and Grace. “Reaching For The Light” was a great album for us and turned a corner for the band. We created some really cool music on there and those songs are becoming firm fan favourites everywhere we go but we’re already getting to that point with the new Exile tunes and we haven’t really started to play them yet so that’s a good sign.
How much stock as an artist do you put by reviews? Do you read them or let them pass you by?
You know reviews are one person’s opinion and that’s just fine. I’ve honestly not really seen or read any negative reviews of our stuff but I’m pretty sure someone somewhere has probably written some but I wouldn’t let that worry me as I’m confident enough that we’ve done a fairly decent job so far and luckily enough there are a bucket load of great raving reviews so I’m happy with that.
You sadly had to cancel your tour recently due to issues with your voice. Is the recovery going well? Are you feeling confident you’ll be OK for the rescheduled dates in January?
Yes, we did have to cancel some shows due to a problem I had with my voice after I had an operation to remove polyps from my vocal chords but everything is getting back to normal and I’m getting stronger every day so we’re now looking forward to the new re scheduled dates in January! It was a very difficult time for me after the operation and having a couple of setbacks. It worried me greatly to be honest. You start to question yourself and whether or not your career would be over and I was thinking will I ever be able to sing again and that knocks your confidence but I worked hard on getting my voice back into shape and it seems to be working out ok.
The UK has a wonderful rock scene at the moment and there are a number of great new bands playing the sort of music we love. Does it feel like a special time at the moment? Can you feel Rock rising again?
Yes, the rock or “classic rock” scene seems to be thriving at the moment in the U.K. and that can only be a good thing. I think that this kind of music is something that people start to crave after a while if it’s been absent and at the end of the day fashion fades and style remains! People want to hear this style of music because it’s honest and passionate! It’s timeless!
With an album like ‘Exile and Grace’ how on earth do you choose what to play live – what makes it into the setlist and how hard a decision is it?
Well, it’s natural for us to want to play all the new songs but I don’t feel that it’s the right thing to do! We choose to lace the new songs in through the set maybe two or three at a time so that you mix the new with the old. We don’t want to overwhelm our fans by giving them too many new songs to contemplate at once! We still have to be entertaining and we want them to sing along and enjoy their evening out so some familiarity with songs they know goes well with the odd new one strategically placed in the set and from there we can phase in the new ones over time.
What are the best and worst aspects of touring and playing live?
Playing live is what we love to do because you can engage with the audience and feed off one and other! It’s great to be up close and personal with the fans and the energy that we can put in to a show is the best feeling. Being away from home and your friends and loved ones is something I find more difficult the older I get but that’s just the way it is this industry and we are lucky enough to get done time off through the year so we get to relax and enjoy life doing the normal things like going to the supermarket and having little breaks here and there!
What music moves you? Has it changed over the years?
Honest and passionate music moves me the most if you mean it, it will come across! It all started with “Free” for me! Paul Rodgers voice was and still is outstanding and what Paul Kossoff did on guitar was spine tingling! There are many bands and artist I have loved over the years like Thunder, early Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Bad Company, The Cult, AC/DC, The Eagles….right up to today’s artist like Chris Stapleton, Amos lee, Guns n Roses… I could go on all day! I have a varied taste in music from Frankie Miller to Prince to Dolly Parton!
Are there any artists that you just can’t go without? As a guitarist and a vocalist who created that spark and who continues to inspire you?
Whitesnake 1987! I can play it anytime anywhere and it still makes me gasp at how great it is! But I can also do that with lots of albums. Thunder’s “Laughing On Judgment Day” AC/DC “Back in Black”, The Rat Pack “Live At The Sands” is truly magical!
Take it all the way back for us – what was it that made you realise that music was going to be your life? Was there a defining moment or a gradual realisation?
I think that as time went on as a kid it was a gradual realisation through hearing more music and picking up a guitar and learning to play but when I look back at it now there are probably one or two moments that planted the seed in my head even if I wasn’t aware of it at the time! One was when I was very young and heard Queen’s “I want to break free” and the other was when I heard the likes of Free’s “Fire & Water” and Peter Green’s “love that burns” they got in my head and stayed there!
If we had to put you on the spot and ask you to name one single song that really exemplified your feelings about music, it’s power and emotion what would that be today?
“Love Walked In” (Thunder)
If you could have been a fly on the wall for the creation of any great album just to see how the magic happened what would it be and why? What’s the album that still resonates with you?
Tough question but I would have loved to be there at Croydon and Sunderland when “Free” recorded their famous live album! There’s such a chemistry between the four guys in the band and that to me would’ve been better than sitting in a studio watching something being recorded.
What is the meaning of life?
If I knew the meaning of life I’d be immortal! I just say treat people the way you expect to be treated and fill your life with love! Don’t sweat the small stuff and be a food guy! The rest will fall in to place!
King King are on tour in January. Their tour kicks off at the London Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 17th January.
Tickets: www.kingking.co.uk/tour
