The King Must Die is a thrash metal band formed in 2011, and operating out of the San Francisco Bay Area out of Northern California. That said, guitarist Mike Sloat, discusses the band's beginning's middle's and end's? Naw, just the future possibilities!
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Mike: We began in 2011 as a three piece, just to see what would happen and where it went. It started out as myself (Mike Sloat, guitar), with Scott Paterson on Bass and Corky Crossler on Drums. After the songs took shape, Corky brought in his old friend/former bandmate Doggie and he nailed the vocal feel and flow we wanted. Kent Varty became available a few months later (another old friend/former bandmate of Doggie and Corky) and it all just fell into place. Scott and I have played in several bands together since the late 80s, as had Doggie, Corky and Kent.
2. What ’s the origin of the band's name?
Mike: Doggie came up with the name; The "King" represents whatever is an overwhelming negative power in your life or in society in general, and the meaning for us is that you have to take over that power and put it down.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
Mike: We are based out of the north-bay area (Petaluma-Cotati-Santa Rosa), about 50 miles north of San Francisco. I think there's a great scene here right now; lots of variety in music, though we really could use a few more all ages venues. Bands we know and love up here are Infex, Oden Sun, Trial By Combat, Hellbender, Toy Called God, Ancestor's Wrath, Cultural Warfare, Hand on FireÉthere's just so many great bands in the bay area right now!
4. How would you describe your style?
Mike: We all grew up in the San Francisco bay area thrash scene, so that's our base for what we do. All the bands from that era have always been a huge influence on us; Metallica, Testament, Death Angel, Exodus I'd say our style is very much tied to that era, but with a definite modern twist here and there, plus many modern influences, classic rock, metal (Maiden, Priest).
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
Mike: We put out a very rough demo in 2012, but our first album "Sleep Can't Hide The Fear" came out in 2014, and we just released our second album "Murder All Doubt" this past April, 2016. The first album is very "thrashy" and fast, and the second album definitely has more Iron Maiden-style guitar harmonies and a little more melody to a lot of the songs, but still very heavy. We have always done standard guitar tuning, but the new album has our first two Drop-D tuned songs ("In Blood" and "Reflection Spills"), so that's something we'll probably explore a little more on the next album.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?Mike: We're still pushing the new album, since it's only a few months old. Probably by the end of this year we'll start working on new tunes for a third album.
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
Mike: We all have full time careers/day jobs, and LOTS of kids among us, so touring is practically impossible with our schedules! We are venturing out more this year and trying to hit places within a few hours of our home base, and getting on bigger local shows. In lieu of that, we're putting out more music videos and lyric videos. My day job is as a video director, so I take the lead on these projects and try to do as much as I can.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
Mike: Another album, more local and regional shows and as many music videos and lyric videos as we can possibly get out, and pushing our writing process and style even further in the next year.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Mike: We are on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tkmdband
bandcamp: https://tkmdband.bandcamp.com/
CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thekingmustdie1
CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thekingmustdie
As well as iTunes and Spotify
10. What is it you'd like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Mike: I would hope that listeners would hear the wide variety of influences and styles that we take in and turn into what we are; we listen to so much different music, and I think it shows in many of our songs. We feel that we're a very solid, hard working and performing band, and hopefully that energy comes through on our CDs.
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