King's X On The Verge Of Disbanding? Posted By: David Priest, Editor In Chief June 17th, 2006
King's X frontman Doug Pinnick
has issued the following statement in response to rumors that the band were on the verge of breaking up: "I wish I could set down and
answer all the questions, and speculations. I will try to make light of some of
the things said and suggested. You guys are wonderful so please don’t take
anything I say as negative or bitching... There's no anger here... just love. "Here goes... We never fit in;
no matter what we do, we can't get the masses on board, and we've done
everything there is. I know you all have suggestions of what we could do do get more successful, but we have done everything there
is to do! Or at least inquired about it all... We just can't get the folks on
board. "Management? We have had people
check us out and they say were doing a better job by ourselves than they could…
after they see what we have to go through to get a gig and keep the boat
afloat. Others say we're perceived as an old band and they feel they can't help
us. "Record companies? We tried to
give "Booking agent? They say they
can't get many promoters to bring us; they all think they will lose money... "Deep Purple? We're trying to get on that tour,
and any other opportunity we can... but we have to pay to play, it's all
political… That's the way all bands are treated now, they all pay, Ozzfest...
The record companies pay to get all the bands on the tour. We don't have the
$$. We opened for many bands in the past to no avail. A few new converts, but
not enough... "Paul Shaffer [of the 'Late
Show with David Letterman'] plays 'Born to be Loved' all the time... but to get
to play live on the 'Letterman' show? Practically impossible. "I wish you all could
understand how impossible the situation is these days for many bands. It sucks!
The rejection to King's X is overwhelming in the music marketplace. You
can imagine how it makes us feel. "Christian music scene?? Yeah,
we could have been maybe the biggest band in Christian music, but we're not
hypocrites, and when the Christians find out that we drink, smoke weed and I am
gay, they would turn on us anyway, so why go there? That just hurts. Besides
that, they rejected us anyway after they learned who we were. They're human,
they hide it. We're not like that, we're too honest. That's why I am down on
Christian music. In the name of truth they live lies. That's never been me, or King's
X. It's one of our biggest faults. The Christian music scene was a dead end
for us no matter what had happened in our career. I am agnostic now anyway. We
just couldn't justify being a Christian band. It just wasn't the truth. I was
raised Christian and have seen the Christian music scene first-hand. I can't be
a part of it and I couldn't back then either... and we're still called a
Christian band to this day. It wasn't kosher back then either. I remember so
many people saying that they couldn’t get their friends to listen to King's
X 'cause we were Christian, even though Stryper were successful. Now
it's accepted being a Christian band, but we're not one of those bands. What's
done is done and it's the past... "Downhill career? Manic
Moonlight was a good CD; I don't care what anyone says... I put my heart in
that CD and wrote some songs that I am proud of. There was some wasted space on
it, but isn't that the way most CDs are? We really did our best with what we
had and who we were at the time. This band started out downhill, now we're in a
hole. We couldn't get the $ for a producer for years, so we did it ourselves;
at least we tried. Then we paid for Michael Wagener out of our own pockets, and
finished the CD paying for it ourselves. We are really trying to do the right
things, but all we get are walls. There's only so much we can do without money,
record company support and attendance. We have maybe sold a million CDs
combined from day one! That's not many in the real world. And "I know some of you think there
are things we should be doing, but trust me; we have tried or checked out all
the possibilities, it's just not as easy as you may think. We need all-ages
shows, and it's almost impossible to get them. That's just fact. It sucks
playing at such late times when people have to go to work or drive hours to
attend. We always ask for early shows and all ages, it just doesn’t happen.
Bands that are successful without airplay or much promotion? It's a mystery.
We're doing what they did and here we are. We're going home from this tour
broke. I get no $ when I am off tour, I have to fend for myself. That's life, I
guess. Same as everyone else, I wish it wasn't so... "25 years of doing this with King's
X... When in the early days before the record deal, we couldn't get good
attendance doing covers when the other bands we competed with packed the
clubs... It's always been this way, we just don't appeal to the masses. Maybe
if we had about 10 million to promote us??? But there's no guarantee. We're perceived
as an old band in the marketplace that is well respected but not a moneymaker.
Bands try to take us out with them but their management always reject us. We may not tour for a while because of all of
this...we can't. "We have made mistakes, for
sure, in our career, but we have really tried to do the right things. We're not
the same people as we were when we started this band, and we always try to do
our best and make the best music we can. Sometimes it didn't seem like it was
the best effort at the time, but if you were there, you would understand. "We are so thankful for the
support from the faithful. We wouldn't be here if it wasn’t for all of you
people. The band is really down these days, frustrated, and out of money and
ideas that will work. We're not young upcoming wide-eyed kids anymore, and this
music biz is obsessed with youth. The whole "It's not over until the fat
lady sings, they say... Well, she's at the mic… "I have had a wonderful
adventure being in this band and being me. I have been blessed more than most.
I take nothing for granted. We could go on and on about what we should do and
what we haven't, but at the end of the day, we have done the best that we could
with what is before us. "We're not done; we're not
breaking up… We're still hoping to be the biggest band in the world, and I have
many more songs in my head and on demos to throw out there for you guys… good
or bad, you can decide. I will make music as long as I can breathe. "I have questioned my whole
life and this band's place in the world. It's still a mystery to me. This band
I have invested 25 years of my life to... and I think about my place in this
more than anyone could possibly know or understand... and still don't know why
no one really gives a feck on a major scale. And
people wonder why I have low self-esteem. I am one of the biggest losers that
there is, and I don't know why. No one in King's X knows why it hasn't
happened for us... but I will keep doing what I do because I know nothing else
and I love making music. "Thanks for letting me ramble.
Thanks for hearing me out. And like I said before, without you guys I probably
wouldn't be alive. Thanks for saving my life. I love you all. Keep the faith.
It's not taken for granted." |