KING CITY are a five-piece Ragtime/Tango/Latin/Spaghetti Western, instrumentally-based, bonifiedly warranted excuse for a good time.
The music at times is fast, fiery and whimsical in a Carl Stahling chase scene in a circus type of way. It playfully swings and then suddenly beckons of the convulsing tightrope walker above you: "Will He Make It?"... and surprisingly, he does... or does he?
At other times, it romantically invites the listener to slowly waltz on a tear-stained velvet dance floor, or Tango in Trinidad under the pale light of a Balinese moonbeam. From neck brace cartoon rags to entrancingly deep-green mood ballads, King City covers both the Highs, the Lows and a few points in-between. The band likes to say that there's no such thing as mistakes in King City's live performances. "It is as it is, and was as it may be"...they like to say... and it is as it is.
Fronted by local electric guitar Guru and Bodhisattva Rich Morin, King City are the result of an instrumental recording that Rich composed, performed, recorded and sent as a gift to his father in 2002.
The recording came out so well, that in early 2003, Rich assembled most of the musicians who played on these rarely heard recordings and decided to give it a go live-and-in-person at the local bars and haunts of the Mission District of San Francisco. Conclusion: He had a good time. The band had a good time but most importantly, the audience had a really good time and, low and behold, it sounded good. If it sounds good, it is good. It's just simple science... and if you're having a good time and I'm having a good time, doesn't that make it our good time? Hence...King City, bastard that it is, was born.
Over the last 4 years King City has become a band that truly writes, plays, drinks and sounds musically connected by a rare instinctual alchemy. Perhaps it's a testament to playing, living and touring with each other in a number of live loud bands, past and present for almost the past 20 years. Whatever is it is, it works and rarely does one see and hear an instrumental band that can captivate an audience for more than 10 minutes without a yawn or a belch or a hurled vintage tomato.
Strangely, King City consists of local Punk and Metal musicians: Rich (Osgood Slaughter, Breakout, The Other, The Big Meat Combo.) swoons, sways and lickety split picks the melodies through a stumbling Les Paul and a broken (borrowed) tube amp, as Boz Rivera (R.K.L., The Other, The Mad Caddies) counters with polyrhythmic lightning rag-swing/Latin based acrobatic drum feats while Joe Raposo (R.K.L., The Real Mackenzies) percussively and tonally holds the low end and plays the living B'jesus outta the stand up Bass. Chris Rest (Lagwagon, R.K.L.) steers the solid, tricky-but-steady harmonic foundation of second acoustic guitar with an unflappable grace, while Chewy Marzolo (Hammers of Misfortune, Pantz Noyzee, Breakout, Acid King, Familiar, Django Obscura) clacks, slaps and smacks kitchen utensils, guitar (back and front), and the dregs from the land of unwanted toys.
A seemingly strange conglomeration of personalities that all congeal to weave in and out of Django Rienhardt meets Spike Jones instrumentals that land 3 points on a dime tossed by Ennio Morricone.
As of this summer (2007), King City's first official C.D. titled "The Last Siesta" will be out on Spencer Murray's Antebellum Records. It was recorded LIVE by Justin Wiess at Trakworx and has some guest trumpet tracks by Keith Douglass of The Mad Caddies...and if that wasn't enough, the cover was painted by local hero, graphiti artist stalwart, Twist! (Barry McGee)... Holy Cow.
kingcitysf.com
myspace.com/kingcity
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