Alternative pop punk emo's KING OF CUPS recently released their debut track "Back To You" but previously have released other music before this as well. The band has plans to write and record even more music, having said music come in the forum of an EP or even album. The band chats about music, achievement, and much more below.
1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?
We thought King of Cups looked and sounded cool. We wanted to be the king of people's emotions because that's what music is. We thought about King of Hearts, but there are a million bands called King of Hearts. We looked into another way of saying King of Hearts and King of Cups came up through what the playing card suits came from. So, King of Cups it is!
2. Why did you want to play this genre?
We love Pop-Punk, Emo, and Alternative from the early 2000s era. This style of music is easy for us to write, so we go with it. We love it, so it works out. Also, I (Shaun) worked really hard to get my voice to work with this genre. Now that it does, we have to do it! Voice lessons paid off!
3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?
Yeah, we knew each other before King of Cups. Bryan was in a band with a friend from my high school. That's how I met Bryan. I joined that band after their bassist moved away, and it quickly fell apart. Then Bryan and I started Scarlet's Sonata. Then Bryan started a band called Astill, and I filled in the bass for that one. Then we were in Black It Out. After that, we were in If Looks Could Kill. Then after that, we were Black It Out again. We've known each other since 2005, so it's been a long time. We wanted to change our band name because Black It Out has a real Metalcore vibe. We're going more for a Pop-Punk, Emo, and Alternative thing.
4. Who or what inspires you to write songs?
Bryan has been writing most of the music so, you'll have to ask him about that. I think it has to do with songs that inspire him. He takes that inspiration and writes something that works for him. He works on them until the music feels right for what he's going for.
For me, the lyrics have lately been about positive things. If they aren't positive, I put a positive spin on them. I do my best to make the lyrics more relatable than my past lyrics. Every line has to be good enough to be put on a T-shirt, tattooed on someone, or even scribbled on someone's binder.
5. What are your songs about, do they cover any specific topic?
As I said in the previous question, I try to make our songs as relatable as possible so anyone can project themselves into them. That's what music does, right? It takes you on a journey, so we make it easier by making the lyrics very general but with specific emotions.
"Back To You" is about when I met my wife. I met her twelve days before I was going to move to a different city. So, I had to turn the rizz to eleven. Somehow it worked. Anyhow, I constantly thought, why am I moving? Why am I moving from this lady? Well, lucky for me, I moved a mile from her mom's house. So, we ended up together, and our relationship started as long distance.
After a while, I came back to work in her area, and we've been together ever since. The song was released on our 10-year dating anniversary, so that's super special! In fact, she sang backup vocals in the song!
6. How about your latest release "Back To You", tell me about this track and it's accompanying music video?
Our latest track is getting a lot of love from the community. We made in New Noise Magazine, Vents Magazine, and Tuned Loud to name a few. We've been very lucky! "Back To You" has an interesting back story. Bryan wrote the music for it in 2011. We've often revisited it, but I couldn't put good enough vocals to it, so we tabled it. I was finally able to make it happen! I also worked super hard on making the lyrics and melody catchy and relatable.
During the bridge and last chorus, we had my wife, my voice teacher, and my mom sing backup vocals. Then, we hired a Nigerian choir to sing the backup in the bridge and last chorus too. The music video was all Bryan's vision. Bryan is great at that sort of thing. The story goes, I'm traveling to the show that we're going to play while I'm writing the song's lyrics in a notebook. So, a lot of it, I'm at a train station. I get to the venue, I knock on the door, Bryan lets me in, and we totally rock out on stage. It's awesome! Our music video is slated for release on August 2nd, 2023. Don't quote me on that. That's all Bryan's doing. So, it could be a week later, but I remember him saying August 2nd, 2023.
7. So this is the band's first ever release, why release such a track and does the band have anymore music in the pipe line?
Yes, this is our debut track as King of Cups, but we brought tracks we liked from when we were Black It Out. "Back To You" is a great track to start with. We do have a follow-up single coming out on September 13th, 2023. It's called "Missing You." I won't give any more away, I want people to be intrigued enough to want to listen to that too!
8. How would you say you differ from other bands and artists on the scene?
That's a tough one to answer without sounding pretentious. But, I feel like our music has great universal appeal where people who don't like Pop-Punk or Emo still enjoy our music. Think early 2000s TRL when Blink-182, Good Charlotte, Sum-41, and other bands like that were all over it. We also won't commit anything when we're recording unless it is absolutely going to get stuck in people's heads. Every riff and every line must be iconic and must be catchy!
9. What do you want to achieve as a band?
We've achieved a lot so far. As I said earlier, we got featured in New Noise Magazine. That was a huge dream of ours. It's amazing and surreal to know we've accomplished that. Now, we need a larger cult fan base who will love our music, share it and support us. We already have amazing fans. We'd love to have more, and we'd love to hear that King of Cups is someone's favorite band. That'd be a phenomenal feeling.
Maybe, even playing a sold-out show as King of Cups might be something we should strive for.
10. What does next year hold for King Of Cups?
As in 2024? We're probably going to write and record more music! Maybe, we'll even play that sold-out show. Who knows! I know we have an EP or album in store as soon as we're done recording all our singles. 2023 has treated us well. We know 2024 will be just as awesome! Maybe, we'll even answer more interviews and be on awesome publications like this one!
Thank you, Natalie!
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