A Chat with London Rockers “King Nun”

Alex Matthew

We spoke to Theo, guitarist and lead vocalist, of King Nun before their set in Glasgow this month during the group's first UK headline tour. He was on fine form as he commented upon the aforementioned debut tour, discussed his superstitious pre-show rituals and delivered some tasty information about what's up next for the group.

King Nun are known for their energetic and often chaotic live shows as well as their solid base of impressive singles which vary nicely in style. The four piece have toured with other fellow UK bands such as funky two piece "Superfood" and exciting alternative group "Pale Waves". They are currently signed to "The 1975" label "Dirty Hit" who they released their debut EP, “I Have Love”, through this month.

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THEO:

I think when you start doing art in the first place, like whatever you choose to do, whether it’s painting or whatever there’s something that you want to express and then you find that you can sorta try to get there with art and so that’s how you do it. I think everything that we draw from, everything that we’re going after and trying to capture in the songs is coming from this place in our childhoods. I can’t imagine rediscovering music in the same way that I found it initially, one of the bands that first appealed to me, that first struck me, was an ACDC live CD of my dad’s. The energy in that CD and the way it just struck me straight through the head at that time is gonna stay with me through my whole life and that’s why we’re doing this today. We all have that experience in different ways across the four of us. I don’t think that changes in age, it’s the origin of why we started doing this. I think you’re always after things you can’t fully recapture or you can’t always relive. We’ll always be hunting for that first initial spark and trying to recreate that song that made me do this (motions guitar playing) and give it to other people.

How’s the tour going so far?

This’ll be our fourth show. I’m feeling unusually knackered but luckily enough for me, every time I walk on stage there’s a complete refill of everything. I’m just waiting to step out on that stage and get my energy back and have a good time for the fourth time in a row.

How do you cope when the touring gets tough?

Straight up, just love of music. I’m exhausted now but like now, just talking about music and performing just brings you back up like that! Two hours ago I was like, “How am I gonna move all this equipment into the venue? I can’t pick up my arms right now!” Yet I have complete faith as soon as I step on that stage because you get hit with a bolt of lightening. It’s amazing. I think if the music wasn’t there it would probably kill you!

How did you get signed for “Dirty Hit Records” (The 1975’s label)?

We made this music video in basically the cupboard of our drummer’s house and then a manager saw that somehow, I think it was through a mutual family member or something…. So then he started using his connections to begin sharing around that video and then we got to go and record a track at an actual studio because of that video. Then that actual track started getting shared around record labels, so we started meeting a bunch of guys in suits about who wanted to come and let us release a single or something like this. I always found myself in the interviews with these record label people asking ”Have you heard the music?” They’d sit there and say what they wanted to say, over a drink or whatever, and they’d keep buying you drinks and keep cracking jokes. It was like, “Mate, what is this? We’re a band, talk music!” The one day, Dirty Hit wants to talk us and we’re like “Aw fuck, this is crazy!” So we went and spoke to them and they were nothing like any of those other labels, they were people who had serious passion for music. They had creative brains and they were like us, they were artists. We went spoke to them and it was an absolute no brainer, we pretty much signed with them as soon as we stepped out the office. We were like, “These guys are incredible and the label is amazing, we have to sign with them”. The advantage that Dirty Hit brings to us is that passion that they have for music is the same as us. We don’t ask for advice from guy’s in suits we ask for advice from music fans and people that are really into their shit. It’s a fantastic advantage, the best we have outside of the group itself.

Why do you think your songs vary so much in style?

That’s kinda intentional. It would be stupid to say that we’re not a rock group but the way that we wanna voice that is to change the cliche of what makes that rock group that rock group. It factors into distortion on the guitars or the mixing of the whole track or even the language that you use in the track. The thing that we wanna do is write the acoustic song that is undeniably a punk song. So without even hearing it, if somehow you detach your senses and see it, you would know by looking at it it was a fucking rock song! You’d see the violence and you’d see the energy in it! It’s not intentional that we glide around but it is intentional that we’re trying to defy our own genre and still very much be a part of it.

Do you have any pre-show rituals or superstitions?

I actually had to tone it down a lot because my rituals would be insane. It would be like tapping the tops of doorways and ringing my fingers, whistling all the time. We’ve condensed it down now, so I’m not fretting about the show all the time, into a chant that we do. The chant is very secretive amongst us, the words would be very embarrassing if people overheard us and we shout it as loud as we can. It’s like whatever happens in the show, it probably won’t be as silly as this right now. My superstitions play into it because I dunno, maybe it puts us at ease with the music god haha!

What’s coming up next for “King Nun”?

Now that we’ve done this first headline tour, we wanna headline tour all the time! I would love to get that in order for next year. Also, we’ve been in the studio for like a month and we’re gonna be in the studio until early next year. We’re working on our next releases, it’s just like a bunch of songs. They’ll definitely be lots of shows potted around and a tour.

Are you thinking about recording a debut album?

I’m not allowed to say yes.

Anything you’d like to add?

Our EP “I Have Love” is out, I have a feeling you’ll like it!