5 minute read
King Nine
King Nine is one my favourite NY hardcore bands of the modern era. Their record ’Scared to death’ was definitely one of the best hardcore records to be released in the last years. I sent them over a bunch of questions and they were cool enough to not miss the deadline. The photos they sent me are not the typical photos you see in a hardcore fanzine, though, so I used just one of ‘em.
www.facebook.com/kingninenyhc
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Hello! It’s been 5 years since you started the band, did you ever imagine you are gonna get that far?. By the way, how did you come up with such a name? Are you interested in poker/playing cards?
No way. We started playing together in each other’s basements and I can honestly say we never thought we would do much more than that. It’s a privilege to get to do what we do. We’ve all played in bands before this so we know what kind of work it takes to get noticed but we were lucky, that work actually paid off this time. This band has had a longer list of members than some may know, and one of the original members who are no longer in the band came up with the name which derived from a Twilight Zone episode. Poker’s cool if you have a lot of free time but I’m not a huge poker guy, I’d rather throw dice.
You just released a new song online that is going to be on a 7” you are working with Closed Casket Activities Records. Give us
some more info about the upcoming release and your co-operation with the label.
The 7” was actually a spur of the moment decision. We were working on demoing some songs with Taylor Young (The Pit Studio) while we were out in California with Gods Hate and we all agreed we needed to put some material out since its been awhile since the release of Scared to Death. The release is called “The Art of War” which is being released by Closed Casket Activities.
You are based in New York, a place so much connected to the living history of hardcore. How’s the scene there nowadays? Which bands of the past do you still follow and which new ones should we check out?
There’s a lot of kids starting bands which is great but the lack of venues in the New York area that will cater to small local hardcore bands is at an all time low. There’s more ways to support the scene other than going to shows and playing in bands. If you have the smarts to organise a show at a venue go for it.
How’s life in New York 15 years after 11th September? Is the state of fear still present? How connected to this were the lyrics of your latest album ’Scared to death’?
I work in NYC and have been for the past 4 years now and I see the difference from what the city was like when my dad took me to the Twin Towers where he worked for 11 years. I’m an electrician so I’ve been dying to get on the
jobs to help build the new Trade Center. I have def seen the emotional damage it did to my father and my girlfriends’ father, and the look they get whenever it is brought up. The fact that they have a gift shop at the museum makes me sick but that’s another story. Looking around now you don’t see a lot of people that were living in NY so it’s hard to imagine a lot of these people were affected by the attacks or understand it the way native New Yorkers do. But that doesn’t dis-
miss the fact that people are scared. Penn Station and Grand Central Station have constant surveillance from police to military. New York isn’t the same since 9/11 and it’s hard to imagine it will ever be the way it was again. Scared to Death is definitely influenced by the attacks because those attacks changed the world. It begun a war that should’ve never been started and who knows will ever end. When the attacks happened the band and I were middle school
I’m a union electrician which is a pretty demanding job. You aren’t promised a steady income for your whole career so taking off from work to play shows isn’t always an option. As a band we all have jobs and have talked about what it may be like if we were a full time touring band. We all believe that it shapes us differently than bands that are on the road all year round. We’re part of the normal grind that everyone in society is involved in so we never lose the sight of what we talk about in our music because we still are embedded in it.
Lately the scene is overflowed with tons of labels, most of them merchandise ones, what do you think of this? There’s also many booking agencies and I’m not talking about the small scale / DIY ones. Is hardcore another kind of alternative business after all?
Cocksuckers.
and high school kids, so we’ve spent half of our lives in a war. That brought questions that we’ve yet to have answered and we’re always left asking why.
I guess you are gonna tour more from now and on, and you also play shows regularly. What do you do for a living and how easy or hard is to keep a balance between your ‘normal’ life and touring? Are you involved
An odd question… Your logo is a graffiti tag, are you into graffiti? Moreover, lots of bands and hardcore kids nowadays are into hip hop music & style (they imitate even the dress code style). Do you listen to hip hop? Do you think both hardcore and hip hop movements are affiliated?
Yea I think it’s safe to say we all used to go out and do graffiti as a band, It’s a big part of NY culture. Hip Hop is also a huge part of NY culture so it’s easy to say both of those things influence us. I personally am a huge hip hop fan, I listen to Kendrick Lamar at least once a day and always have Biggie’s “Ready to Die” in my car. I made sure I could recite every lyrics off that album when I was in high school. I don’t really think the hardcore scene and hip hop scene are too closely affiliated but I think the underground hip hop scene and hardcore scene share a lot of the same values.
Donald Trump for president. Your thoughts on this?!
He’s a loser, and a disgrace to the USA.
