Influenced by the style and swagger of 60's England, The King Zoots create a sound unmistakably British. Hailing from the same small, suburban town on the outskirts of London they have been widely touted as the rock n roll saviours the music scene has been crying out for. Now is a time where chart music has become unsustainably dull and bland. A nation that's lost its cultural identity. Devoid of the style and characters and personalites that made music that actually meant something to the people. They want this back. They want elegance. They want charm. They want charisma. They are The King Zoots.
We caught up with the band, chatted to them about a whole host of things including being a teenager, 'Definitely Maybe' and showering, read on to see how we got on....
Please introduce the band and your music in one sentence....
We are a Mod influenced rock n roll band, who conjure anthemic songs with a sound unmistakably British
You’re called The King Zoots how did you go about choosing this name?
We were originally known as ‘Jump The Gun’ after naming ourselves after the Mod shop in Brighton where we used to buy clothes from and loved the whole style, but decided we wanted to come up with something directly from us that would sum us up a bit better and people wouldn’t forget in a hurry. So we all started putting names together and went with the one we could all agree on!
Where did you record your EP ‘Staring at the Sky’ and what made you choose that studio?
We recorded the EP at Crown Lane studios in Morden. We’d previously come across our producer Matt Hyde (who’s also produced songs for Ocean Colour Scene and Razorlight among many others) through mutual friends, and Crown Lane had the best set up for what we wanted to record
What is the best advice you ever received and who was it from?
Always believe in yourself. That comes from my dad and I think with the right application and spirit anyone can achieve a lot more than they may think they can
‘Seventeen Again’ is a wonderful catchy tune, what do you miss about being seventeen?
We still do pretty much the same things we were doing when we were seventeen. The difference is then we would get off our heads whenever we wanted, without having to worry about going sick the next day or getting sacked from our jobs! We didn’t worry about the consequences of our actions or think about the future, just live for the day. We still like a good drink up but now I suppose we do think a bit more about what might happen in the future or if we were to get the sack!
Which act/band made you want to get your band together?
Growing up the first band I was ever into was Oasis. They were working class kids from council estates, so they just made it feel like anyone could do it.
In your opinion, what is the BEST album/record ever released?
Definitely Maybe by Oasis. I’ve thought about this question many times in the past, and on most albums there’s one or two tracks that you could take off. On Definitely Maybe every track is immense, and I don’t think you could change that album to make it better in any way.
Explain to the kids, what it is like to be a mod....
We take showers, wear smart clothes, listen to and play great music and look cool as fuck. What more could you want?!
I could sense a Richard Ashcroft (The Verve) influence within certain tracks like ‘Waiting for Yesterday’, do you feel Britpop is on a resurgence from the 90s?
Definitely among the underground scene. We’re a bit disillusioned with the shite that’s out in the charts at the moment, but that’s not to say there’s not great bands still out there. There are some top unsigned bands all over the country just waiting to break through, they just aren’t in the mainstream at the moment, but there’s definitely a feeling, certainly around the south east that good music is on its way back.
Being an unsigned band how hard is it to get noticed and how has social media aided your music?
It’s very difficult to get noticed these days as labels aren’t willing to take a chance on bands and only will if they are guaranteed a sure fire hit. Social media has been really helpful as it has allowed us to take a kind of punk DIY ethos to what we do and just release music ourselves, on our own terms, without the need for a label.
Do you own a record that you wouldn’t like to admit you have?
I don’t own any records I’m that embarrassed about to be honest, but I do have a copy of Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill album which maybe I shouldn’t have but I still maintain there’s some good tunes on there! I also bought Kaiser Chiefs first album when it first came out which perhaps I shouldn’t admit to!
What are the King Zoots adding to the world of music?
Something that’s been missing for a very long time. Attitude, personality, style and substance
Who do you think will win the World Cup?
As much as I hate to say it, Argentina
Is there something you would like to tell each of the band members that you haven’t told them before?
I’m always moaning to the band about something or other, but I’m genuinely proud to be in a band with my close mates and to have them standing side by side with me on stage. Each band member is a supremely talented musician so I feel very lucky to have these boys with me.
What classic song would you have liked to have recorded and why?
Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks. Would’ve been a great time to be alive and just a beautiful song
First gig you ever went to?
Oasis at Finsbury Park 2002, pissed down with rain the whole time but atmosphere was unbelievable!
Would you prefer to have a comb over or a blue tooth headset?
Blue tooth headset
Name three people (alive, dead or fictional) that you would like as party guests?
George Best - Good to have someone to chat about football to, looks cool, and reckon he’d be up for a good night
Rik Mayall - Not just because he’s recently passed away. The guy was funny as, and would keep the party in good spirits
John Lennon - Need I say more!
There are many good bands and musicians out there, who would you ask the readers of musicmuso to look out for?
There’s been quite a few bands we’ve played gigs with that we like such as Stone Thieves, The Last of The Troubadours, The Silver Factory, The Repeat Offenders, The Hollows, The Broxton Hundred, The Tones, The Spitfires, Trambeat to name a few. I’ve also liked what Paul Orwell is doing at the moment from what I’ve seen, and our pal in Brighton Chris Simmons is doing well for himself at the moment as well.
What are your plans for the remainder of 2014?
We’ve got a couple more festivals to play we’re currently sorting another Brighton gig and possibly another local one in Surrey. Then we hope to get to work on some more recordings and start working on some new tunes.
Before we parted company with the guys, we threw in a few quick fire questions....
Coffee or Tea? Tea
Coke or Pepsi? Coke
Drum machine or the real deal? Real deal
Mac or PC? Don’t own a mac so got to say PC really!
Sting or Phil Daniels? Phil Daniels (Sting can’t dance. And he was in The Police.)
Fry up or Sunday roast? Got to say Fry Up. Good hangover cure as well!
Lemmy (Motorhead) or Ozzy (Black Sabbath)? Ozzy
CD or Vinyl? Vinyl
Car or Motorbike? Car
Acoustic or electric? Electric
Shower or Bath? Shower
Tattoos or Piercings? Piercings
Robert De Niro or Al Pacino? De Niro
God or Google? Google
Interview by Mark Wincott
We'd like to thank the band for sparing their time to answer our questions, we look forward to receiving more newsworthy articles that we can share with you lovely people. Take a few minutes to check out the band in more detail, all of their links are below for you, just click them and the magic of the superinformationhighway will transport you there in no time at all....
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