This is great! So informative and entertaining! As a bass player, i just learned so much. Dug has always been the man, and his tone is probably my favorite of all time. Thanks Jon! Keep 'em coming!
Great interview! I ran sound (monitors) for kings x a few times between 96-99 I believe. I was the chief engineer at the Backroom in Austin from 95 - 00. Our 1000 seater was the perfect venue for a powerful and inviting act like them. Up close and personal. dUg and Jerry and Ty were consummate pros and friendly. I sincerely miss those days in my music career. I wanted to open for them with my own band Outland many time but the scheduling never worked out. I considered kings x the salvation of modern hard rock when Gretchen came out. The genre had gotten bogged down in formulaic bleached teeth banality and their delivery, themes and inventiveness (and Ty's incredible gtr tone) enthralled me and I was convinced they were the future if only enough people in the biz would recognize what they were hearing.
King’s X never made it cause society has a broken barometer when it comes to what is good music. Those three have been bringing it big time since the 80’s.
1st time i saw Kings X they opened for Billy Squire & LA Guns '89. i thought i had just saw the new Beatles. i left when they left the stage. It was one of the most emotional shows i've ever heard or seen. dUg is the Groove Machine! Long Live Kings' X! Great interview
King's X guys should be rich by now. They are the most underrated band of all time. Here in Brazil wasn't easy to find bands like that but yet I managed to find them in 93 and they had become one of my top 5 bands. Now I buy everything from Poudhound, Platypus, Jelly Jam... I hope king's X come to Brazil some day cause I don't have the money to go to Usa to watch them. God bless these guys.
I live in Houston, Texas where they lived for a long time and I have seen them live like 10 times over the years. I even got to sing Goldilox on stage with them one time. They are incredible live and the crowd is always full of musicians.
@@smflyboy They've been my favorite band since '89 and seen them more than 10 times as well. I got to sing "Goldilox" with them on stage at Trees in Dallas. I had an arm around dUg and got moshed into by a drunk fellow long-haired dude. He flipped his hair back and it was Dimebag! That was such a wonderful experience and I will treasure the memory always.
There is still something special about the self titled album that I've come back to over and over. The sound, the songs, the message. Dogman sounds mushy by comparison. Great interview. I'm 69 years old. Doug seems so young!
"Shoes"....from Dogman. One of all my all time favorite tracks. Man I would love to hear that live again. Dug you are so amazing. I truly hope you know that. You really are the heart of King's X. Ty is an amazing player, writer, engineer, etc. Jerry is a great writer in his own right and amazing drummer but Dug is the heart, wearing it on his sleeve....always the truth. PLEASE for the love of GOD release the new album SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Things are crazy. There's no sign of it slowing down at this point. I'm SO READY for this!!!
This is one of the best interviews I have listened to in years! Dug is such a warm, open, dynamic person. I really appreciate the spiritual conversation. Thanks for having him on!
I want to hang out wit dug! What a great interview! King's X is the most underrated band ever, followed them for so long, it was great listening to this!
Back in '88, I went to see Anthrax, and a band that I'd never heard of called Kings X were the support act. Anthrax were, well, Anthrax, and were great, but I came away from the gig BLOWN AWAY by Kings X.
Dug....you always bring it! If people don't get it...it's them! You never fail to blow my mind! Best in the business! You can't put out records fast enough! I buy em all. I hope you never stop.
I saw KING'S X in the nineties, and yes. They were the loudest band I have ever seen. To this day, when I can't hear someone's words I say "sorry, too many king's x concerts in the nineties, can you say that again?" 24 7 spies was pretty loud, but these guys were the loudest.
Well I’m glad Dug is a me , me , me , person who just wants to get up and deliver … like the most masterful rock performance one may have heard . Ever . Thank you Dug .
Those old SVP PROs were awesome! I had a buddy that had one with a phenomenal bass tone. I’ve personally been using the same Tech 21 preamp for 15 years- so glad Dug uses them too
Thank you for this! Ever since I first saw the video for “Over my head” I have been hooked. I was so happy to finally see dUg on the Experience Hendrix tour.
Kings X coming to Scotland later this year and Doug can have all the whisky he wants . The last time Kings X played Glasgow was one of my favourite ever shows . The band looked shocked that people knew the lyrics ! Loved it 👍
Great interview - I appreciated Dug's insight and the way he speaks honestly and authentically - and some great wisdom for musicians and frankly, human beings in general. Interesting about Christianity putting a cramp in the early musical efforts - its the toughest thing for musicians to gain acceptance in that community-you can have any other profession and no problem - but be a musician and you're instantly suspected of worshiping the devil. Whatever the group or clique, we need to support and encourage our friends and young people with unconditional acceptance. I tuned into that aspect of the interview also because I recognized themes from allusions to the book of revelation and the second coming in the KXM "Voices in the Sky" - and realized that this is someone who has studied the scripture.
I saw Kings X at the Stone in SF, it was the Gretchen tour. I remember some guy in the crowd yell out “Gretchen goes to Nebraska!” Doug says to him, “This is California dude!” LOL!
dUg is so right about the sonics of Black The Sky being the absolute pinnacle (should that be PINNICKLE?? There's an album title for a "dUg best of" right there). I wonder if it's aided by Jerry keeping the hi-hats closed a bit more to begin with so the other frequencies of the guitar and the bass come through. In addition to that, the single most groovy section of music King's X have ever done is the verse AFTER Ty's solo on Black The Sky. Jerry drags it and puts it deeper in the pocket. It grooves so deep that it brings tears to my eyes.....just THINKING about it!!
This interviewer pitches his conversation with dUg JUST right. Natural and easy. There's none of that 'yohhhhhh dude, dUg Pinnick are yoo KIDDING me....YOU guyz!!"....and all that RUBBISH that we get so tired of. Especially those of us who aren't American!! We just want to see a nice conversation and some interesting insights arising from it. And that's what it is. I wrote that after five minutes, Now I've watched the whole thing I would say this is the best interview with dUg I've ever watched. dUg himself loved it and he could've done another hour I reckon!
I love Dogman, but the production of Gretchen, FHL and King's X are unique and awesome. Ty's tones are just butter, and the mix feels great. But I respect your thoughts and we know that all artists look at their own work through a crooked mirror.
Thank you :) as far as "Black the Sky"for you sounds best in all frequency parameters, don't forget that you all grooved very well and help amps to deliver the right processing frequency ;) ..
I'm so glad. I'm sat here, I'd poured myself a inch or so from a fresh bottle of Bunnahabhain whisky and had JUST been thinking I wonder if dUg still drinks (seeing as he keeps himself so healthy), sipping....what's the first subject? Whisky. Hooray!!!
Look at all the power trios through out rock history and in most cases the bass is very prominent and really carries the band especially when the guitar drops out for a solo. I was a bass player / lead singer for 12 years in a local So.Cal. acid grunge band.
the most Talented, real, Down To Earth celebrities that rightfully is in a class of his own. This grown-ass man has more life lessons than those boys that Lost their lives, never learning the lesson. dUg is straight up and down like 6 o'clock. Don't just hear his words, catch his context. Wisdom'ed .
Mr Pinnick was one of the first bassists I noticed. I’ve been playing now for 3 years, should’ve been 30... but Doug certainly continues to inspire my playing. Great interview!
Just listened to EMPIRE. The Bass is there but not like I DONT BELIEVE IN LOVE. I agree that bass must be present in the mix and that it’s been lost for the sake of ----- Fill in the blank There are lots of reasons and I am guilty of it but no more!
Great point about I don't believe in love, being a great showcase of Jackson's bass, I think he was referring to the Empire album overall as a tone that was important to holding songs together, not just rhythmically playing the root notes. I'm was just stoked to have someone just mention Eddie.
Ask the average person on the street if they've ever heard of King's X and most will say "no" but if you ask them if they've ever heard of the bands that were influenced by King's X (Pearl Jam, Souindgarden, Alice in Chains) of course they've heard of those bands. And if you ask any legit rock star if they've ever heard of King's X their eyes light up. I worked at Bob Hope Airport for many years and met tons of rock stars; I was always asking if they'd ever heard of King's X; never met a rock star that wasn't a fan of King's X.
Man. When he talked about the first 4 albums then going into Dogman after, it just makes me sad. I came to King’s X at the Faith Hope Love album and growing up in a Christian home, I hooked unto it immediately. I can’t tell you how many times I listened to the song Faith Hope Love with headphones on and felt so convicted (this was before I was saved and came to Jesus) I had tears streaming down my face during the revival part with a second coming theme at the end. I know things changed with them, and Dug especially but from this interview, it seems like the Christian part was to keep those around him happy but not being happy himself and not being who he really is. I wish the opposite were true.
One big reason is that as a gay man, he never felt like he could be himself because of his strict Christian upbringing. Once he let that go, he could be himself.
Bear in mind he did say sonically, i.e. from a musical mix point of view. I can see Dug is more invested in making sure the sound on record reflects how they sound on the stage and that to me is so important. Yes, they were trying to keep those around them happy - it's human nature. But there comes a time when you have to love yourself and that helps on the way to truly loving others. Don't feel bad about investing so much of your feelings in those records because that was the mission - it made you feel something :-) Kings X is about LOVE. While the fan-base might not be huge, that love has made Kings X fans the most loyal of fans and that speaks for itself
I agree he was really taking sonically. It's not like he's disowned the first 4 albums. Black the Sky, which he specifically calls out in this interview, is on 4, and he just posted on Facebook a link to FHL with the comment that there is more good than evil, in response to the civil uprising we've experienced in the last week. So he clearly has strong feeling for the first 4 as well.
Agreed he said sonically as well. Trying to find the segment again but failing to right now. They talked about the first 4 albums being very positive, then came Dogman (Black the Sky was on 5, not 4) and it was a big departure from that. I think everyone can agree that Dogman is where the Christian aspect of the band pretty much died. Hearing Dug talk about it, that's where he felt he could be himself and break out from what others expected of him (Christianity). Being a gay man must have weighed heavily on him. As someone who has had the "come to Jesus" moment, it just hurts the heart when others stray or denounce it. I guess that's all I'm trying to say. I know we all have our own choices to make. This interview as well as some others make me believe maybe he never was saved. Maybe he never had the moment. I mean, talking of how he wanted to stay far away from being labeled as a "Christian Band" because that meant certain disaster.... In essence, denying Christianity for personal success. It just makes me sad because those first 4 albums, especially FHL, had such a positive influence on me. I'll keep that memory of it even though it sounds like it was all an act to keep the people around them happy. Here's another interview where Dug discusses it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0I0Gv8tv480.html
I have to disagree with Dug's assessment of Ty's Dogman tone. It is extremely sweet and wraps around your soul like the sun.The tone on their follow up,Ear Candy, however, IMO is a bit scratchy and not as inspiring.Love Dug and KIng's X. Just my 2 cents.